For years, blockchain had promise in the finance industry, but lacked the liquidity and connectivity to scale.
Yuval Rooz, CEO and co-founder of Canton Network, believes that era is now ending.
The problem: Legacy friction
Traditional banking still depends on millions of costly, slow and error-prone messages as institutions attempt to reconcile fragmented records across systems.
Repurchase agreement (repo) trades highlight the problem. Moving cash and collateral typically requires multiple intermediaries, manual checks and settlement delays that can stretch for days.
Public blockchains such as Ethereum offer speed, but their full transparency creates a different obstacle, exposing sensitive transaction data that banks cannot legally or competitively disclose.
At the heart of the issue is a structural trade off. Banks need shared networks to scale efficiency, yet legacy infrastructure and open ledgers force a choice between operating in isolation or revealing too much information. The result has been a patchwork of private systems that protect data sovereignty, but sacrifice interoperability and efficiency.
Explaining how Canton’s technology removes that trade off, Rooz said:
“Banks built walled gardens because there was no way to share infrastructure without giving up control or privacy. What we’re seeing now is a gradual shift away from isolated systems toward shared rails where institutions retain sovereignty over their data, while still achieving interoperability.
‘That doesn’t mean internal systems disappear overnight, but it does mean the center of gravity shifts toward networks where counterparties can transact in real time.”
Canton’s solution: Privacy-enabled synchronization
Canton has created a shared ledger where institutions maintain private blockchains, yet synchronize seamlessly.
“I think critics misunderstand what financial institutions actually need,” Rooz explained. “Banks don’t want a system where everything is hidden, and they don’t want one where everything is public. They need a way to work together on shared processes, while keeping sensitive details private. That’s what Canton was designed for.”
In practice, JPMorgan keeps its ledger sovereign, while plugging into LSEG for atomic delivery-versus-payment (DvP) settlements, all without revealing private data. Sub-transaction privacy ensures only trade participants see details; to others, it’s invisible. This network of networks lets banks achieve interoperability without sacrificing control.
“(This) gives institutions a shared record they can trust, with configurable privacy at the protocol level to divulge transactional information only with involved parties. And because it’s built to connect different applications, firms can link markets and workflows together without sacrificing confidentiality,’ said Rooz.
“This combination is something traditional systems cannot offer and is why you’re seeing institutions move from pilots into production onchain,’ the expert added.
Live momentum: JPM Coin and tokenized repos
JPM Coin’s native integration is a strong signal that the market is maturing.
JPMorgan’s blockchain rail, with over US$1 trillion in processed volume, has fueled settlements across Canton’s ecosystem. Paired with LSEG’s tokenized deposits, which power live repo activity, there are now synchronized markets where DvP happens in seconds, not days.
Rooz highlighted the deeper impact, commenting, “Everyone notices the speed, but the collateral mobility is the substance beyond the headline. In legacy markets, collateral spends most of its life idle because moving it safely across systems requires messaging, reconciliation and time. Atomic settlement collapses those steps into a single transaction.’
He added, ‘When repos settle in seconds, collateral stops being static and becomes reusable. That improves liquidity, balance sheet efficiency and risk management.”
2026 outlook
JPM Coin and LSEG repos demonstrate Canton’s shift from pilots to production.
“We measure success by utilization,” said Rooz, adding, “Having Canton be the network where real transactions are taking place, and regulated assets are moving.’
He envisions steady expansion powering this transformation. Indeed, similar efforts are already live elsewhere, such as BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, which has tokenized US$1.7 billion in treasuries for 24/7 yields, and DRW Cumberland’s weekend repos, which use tokenized collateral with instant DvP settlements.
“I’d like to see more asset classes brought on to Canton, and the corresponding transaction volume we’re already seeing will continue to grow in the year ahead,’ said Rooz.
He sees this convergence accelerating across markets.
“Our ‘North Star’ is to drive the convergence of TradFi and DeFi onchain to create a new AllFi reality,’ he said.
Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.