The investment comes as traditional financial firms increasingly back blockchain infrastructure built specifically for regulated markets. Tempo, the payments chain developed by Stripe and Paradigm, reportedly raised $500 million last year at a $5 billion valuation. Circle Internet (CRCL), the stablecoin issuer behind USDC, raised $222 million for its Arc blockchain at a $3 billion valuation, drawing backing from BlackRock, Apollo Funds, a16z crypto and ARK Invest.
The Canton Network was designed for big financial institutions to issue and trade tokenized real-world assets, such as bonds, loans and funds, on a shared ledger while maintaining privacy and compliance with legal requirements. It combines features of public blockchains, such as decentralization, with the safeguards required by traditional finance.
"For capital markets to move onchain, institutions need infrastructure that reflects how they actually operate – with privacy, compliance, scale, and interoperability built in from the start," Digital Asset co-founder and CEO Yuval Rooz said.
The firm said a16z crypto will also provide expertise in development, policy and research beyond the financial backing.
"One of the most compelling blockchain opportunities is no longer theoretical; it is emerging as real-world assets and institutional workflows move onchain," Ali Yahya, general partner at a16z crypto, said in a statement. "Digital Asset has built one of the clearest examples of blockchain product-market fit in regulated finance."
Read more: Why big banks are snubbing open ledgers to build their own private blockchains
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