After more than a decade of blockchain network tokenomics, there is one recurring glitch. While these incentive models have helped overcome the ‘cold-start problem’ of networks they’ve often concentrated value among infrastructure operators and early investors, leaving the builders and users driving real utility with little meaningful stake.

The Canton Network set out to rewrite that script. Its tokenomics are designed not just to secure the infrastructure, but to cultivate an ecosystem where everyone - infrastructure providers, app developers, and users grow in line with the network’s upside. It's a model built to incentivise real utility, cross-application collaboration, and to implement a sustainable economic model.

Taking its toll

Most public L1 networks are structured a bit like fee-paying highways: open, public infrastructure, maintained by miners and validators. Nearly all the economic rewards go to those building and looking after the highway. But little of that value reaches the businesses building on the network. And for those traveling on the road, it’s a cost.

Infrastructure is foundational but it’s applications and users that bring networks to life. Over time, blockchain networks have tried to incentivize activity with grants, foundation treasuries, or governance programs but these mechanisms are subjective by nature and hard to distribute fairly. 

Canton Coin: rewarding utility

Canton Network introduced a different approach. Think of the network not as a toll-road but a thriving city. Yes, it needs great roads and bridges, but it thrives because of the businesses, services, and citizens who bring it to life.

Every Canton Coin, the network’s native token, is earned - not pre-allocated. It’s continuously distributed based on each participant’s real contribution to network utility:

• 35% to infrastructure providers (super validators)
• 50% to application builders—those deploying smart contracts, tokenizing assets, and creating apps
• 15% to users—those transacting and engaging with apps (validators)

This design ensures that all participants are aligned to the network’s growth. The more your application drives activity on the network, the more you can earn.

Fig 1: Canton Network distributes rewards fairly among users, app builders and miners

Outcomes over speculation

Where many L1s rely on upfront token mints and centralized grants, Canton’s model is continuous and dynamic. 

Let’s take a simple example. For ease, imagine there were just two apps on the network. If App 1 generated 65% of the network fees in a block and App 2 generated 35%, then in the next block App 1 can mint 65% of the application reward, and App 2 35% of the application reward.

Your app is eligible to earn Canton Coin based on fees burned and the actual use of your application. In this scenario, if App 1 becomes wildly successful and suddenly earns 90% of the total network fees, it can earn 90% of the available featured app reward allocation. This constant competitive ecosystem fuels positive activity for participants, and rewards for all based on outcomes.

It’s a flywheel of utility: build something useful, earn rewards, reinvest into your service offering, and grow usage. In 2025, this framework has supported 40% month-on-month growth in validators and a 20x increase in Canton Coin transfers, now averaging around 3million ledger events daily.

Fig 2: Reward splits over time since genesis (July 2024). Source: Canton.thetie.io

Fair, transparent, and built for institutions

Canton’s tokenomics sidestep many of the pitfalls seen in earlier networks:

• No pre-mine, no VC allocations: Every token in circulation has been earned by delivering utility.
• Burn-and-Mint equilibrium: Usage fees are burned, and new coins are minted based on participation. This keeps supply responsive to demand and ties value to network usage.
• Enterprise-grade transparency: Even though transactions are private by default, reward distributions and Canton Coin fees are published, providing insight into what’s driving value without compromising privacy.

Looking ahead: Tokenomics that drive real growth

The success of any blockchain network hinges on high utility adoption, cross-network connectivity, and equitable value distribution. The Canton Network’s Global Synchronizer was purpose-built to support this, underpinned by a tokenomics model grounded in over a decade of industry insights.

Rather than just compensating infrastructure providers, Canton Coin aligns incentives across the ecosystem to promote active participation, innovative loyalty and incentives programs, and to fuel sustainable growth.

Canton isn’t just a pay-as-you-go network. It’s creating an on-chain economy that balances both individual success and collective growth.

Read the Canton Coin Whitepaper and learn more about The Role Canton Coin in the Network.