Goldman Sachs and Citadel Securities Join $135M Digital Asset Funding Round, Supporting Canton Network Growth

Goldman Sachs and Citadel Securities have invested in Digital Asset, the developer of the Canton Network, a blockchain solution for traditional finance. The $135 million funding round, led by DRW Venture Capital and Tradeweb Markets, aims to accelerate the onboarding of real-world assets onto the network. The Canton Network supports various assets, including bonds, commodities, and alternative funds, and has nearly 400 participants within its ecosystem. The funding validates the potential of blockchain solutions for regulated institutions.

Digital Asset, the developer behind the privacy-focused Canton Network, has raised $135 million in a funding round led by DRW Venture Capital and Tradeweb Markets. The funding aims to accelerate the adoption of institutional and decentralized finance (DeFi) on the Canton Network [1].

The $135 million funding round was supported by a wide range of prominent financial institutions, including BNP Paribas, Circle Ventures, Citadel Securities, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, Goldman Sachs, IMC, Liberty City Ventures, Optiver, Paxos, Polychain Capital, QCP, Republic Digital, 7RIDGE, and Virtu Financial. This strategic investment will be used to expand the integration of real-world assets (RWAs) onto the Canton Network, which supports various asset classes such as bonds, commodities, and alternative funds [2].

Digital Asset, co-founder and CEO Yuval Rooz, commented on the significance of the funding, stating, "This funding milestone validates the inevitability of what we envisioned years ago: a privacy-enabled public blockchain designed specifically for institutional adoption. Canton is already actively supporting numerous asset classes–from bonds to alternative funds–and this raise will accelerate onboarding even more real-world assets, finally making blockchain's transformative promise an institutional-scale reality" [1].

The Canton Network's approach to on-chain privacy allows institutions to configure confidentiality settings that meet their regulatory and operational requirements. The network claims to have nearly 400 ecosystem participants, including global leaders in both traditional and decentralized finance [1].

The funding round also strengthens existing ties with key participants in the Canton Network, including BNP Paribas, DRW, Goldman Sachs, Liberty City Ventures, QCP, and Tradeweb. Goldman Sachs Global Head of Digital Assets Mathew McDermott expressed his commitment to the Canton Network, stating, "Our longstanding relationship with Digital Asset stems from a deep conviction in the strength of their technology, which continues to be foundational to the development and ongoing success of GS DAP. We are pleased to participate in their latest funding round and to continue to support them as a critical player in the institutional digital asset ecosystem" [1].

The latest funding round builds on a $120 million Series D round closed in 2021. Digital Asset describes the Canton Network as "the first public, permissionless blockchain purpose-built for institutional finance," allowing for real-time synchronization and settlement across multiple asset classes [2].

With the recent addition of Fairmint to the Canton Network, which brings $1 billion+ onchain equity to the platform, the ecosystem continues to grow. Fairmint's Open Cap Table Protocol (OCP) enables programmable equity and the foundation for compliant DeFi in equity markets. This partnership unlocks the promise of regulated DeFi for equity markets, aligning with accelerating regulatory clarity [3].

References:
[1] https://www.theblock.co/post/359382/canton-network-digital-asset-raises-135-million?utm_medium=rss&utm_source=news.xml
[2] https://www.fintechfutures.com/venture-capital-funding/canton-creator-digital-asset-raises-135m-for-rwa-expansion
[3] https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/06/25/3105074/0/en/Fairmint-Joins-Goldman-Sachs-J-P-Morgan-and-BNY-Mellon-in-Canton-Network-s-Institutional-Blockchain-Ecosystem.html