Canton Network vs. other networks
In the rapidly evolving world of blockchain technology, regulatory compliance emerges as a paramount concern, especially for financial institutions navigating the complex landscape of digital assets. The Canton Network sets a new standard in blockchain, not only designed to align with the stringent regulatory frameworks governing financial markets, it enables opportunities for new products, new clients, new revenue streams that only become possible with the Canton Network.
The Canton Network is the only network that offers true independent controls, privacy, and composability. Other networks cannot meet the requirements of regulated financial institutions.
Other networks
Many networks claim to offer privacy, permissioning, and control. Let’s examine these claims more closely.
Claim:
"We can provide robust controls."
Reality:
Their solutions often rely on private chains, limiting control and openness.
Claim:
"We ensure privacy."
Reality:
They typically use Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) for tokens and private chains, which does not fully address privacy concerns in complex environments.
Claim:
"We support smart contract composability."
Reality:
Their focus is on DeFi, which does not fully align with the requirements of institutional finance for seamless integration and interoperability.
Claim:
"We can provide robust controls."
Reality:
Their solutions often rely on private chains, limiting control and openness.
Claim:
"We ensure privacy."
Reality:
They typically use Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) for tokens and private chains, which does not fully address privacy concerns in complex environments.
Claim:
"We support smart contract composability."
Reality:
Their focus is on DeFi, which does not fully align with the requirements of institutional finance for seamless integration and interoperability.
Canton Network vs. Competitors: feature comparison
Ledger
Canton
Segmented model
Corda
Full replication model
Fabric, Besu, Ethereum, Polygon, Avalanche
Granularity of privacy and validation
Sub-transaction level
Transaction level
Channel level
(semantic variants include zkRollups, Subnets, Layer 2s, etc.)
Sovereignty and interoperability
No
Composability is only possible within a single Corda business network (i.e., Compatibility Zone).
No
Composability is only possible within a single channel and the validators of each channel are shared by all applications.
Composability with privacy
No
Everyone in a transaction can see all components of the transaction.
No
Everyone in a channel can see all data in the channel.
Privacy without security tradeoffs
No
Backchains and validating notaries break privacy. Non-validating notaries and reissuance break security.
No
There is no privacy within a channel, and crossing channels gives no transactionality or double spend protection.
Independent extensibility
No
Every participant in a transaction needs to deploy and run the flows and smart contracts for the whole transaction.
No
Every channel member needs to deploy and run the smart contracts for the entire channel.
For a detailed comparison, download the Blockchain Network Evaluation for Regulated Finance report.
Connect on the only network that offers true independent controls, privacy, and composability
Connect on the only network that offers true independent controls, privacy, and composability
How does Canton set a new standard?
Independent controls, privacy and composability are the standard in the Canton Network.
Independent Controls
To achieve independent controls, applications must operate in a permissioned manner. Canton integrates permissioned apps and subnets directly into the protocol, unlike other chains that require a private permissioned chain, adding complexity and reducing openness.
Privacy
Ensuring privacy within and between applications is essential. Canton provides protocol-level subtransaction privacy, a feature not found in other chains. Without such built-in privacy, users must resort to DIY cryptography or rely on future research advancements. This limitation forces users to restrict access to their private chains, resulting in expensive, isolated databases.
Composability
Unlocking the true value of blockchain technology requires seamless composability across applications. Canton facilitates atomic smart contract calls across independent permissioned subnets and apps, whereas other chains are limited to message bridging across private chains. This old-fashioned approach leads to the same reconciliation issues and silos that plague current financial systems, failing to deliver the promised efficiencies of blockchain technology.
We made it a reality, when others couldn’t
In late 2023, the Canton Network undertook a pilot to demonstrate how it meets regulated financial institutions requirements by simultaneously providing:
- Guaranteed real-time synchronization between independent users and apps
- Atomic smart contract calls between apps
- Independent controls for the individual institutions allowing them to fulfil their regulatory and fiduciary obligations under Basel SCO60
- Fine-grained privacy that provides confidentiality both between investors and between applications
Independent Controls
Paraphrasing the SCO60 paper:
- Control over access
- Control over stability
- Control over Finality
- Control risks (AML/CFT)
Privacy
Financial Assets need two kinds of privacy:
- Investors of an asset cannot see all other investors and their holdings.
- The operator of one registry cannot see the data of another.
Composability
A simple DvP between independent assets is the absolute minimum.
The pilot demonstrated 22 independent apps on “subnets” with these properties.
Without these independent controls, your tokenized financial asset will not be treated the same as the financial asset itself.
High-risk weights undermine the tokenization value proposition.
Each of the 22 apps had full privacy between users and between apps.
Without this, you are restricted to crypto assets that support radical transparency.
Atomic smart contract composability across the 22 apps, utilizing the Global Synchronizer for coordination.
Without this, you are creating new silos.
Everyone can spin up 22 separate private permissioned blockchains.
This includes rollups, groups, subnets depending on the ecosystem.
Nobody else* can offer any privacy within one of those blockchains.
Nobody else can offer atomic smart contract composability across those blockchains.
They could only “mock” it with asynchronous RPC via bridges, reintroducing settlement risk.
HTLCs and bridges are not atomic.
*R3’s Corda is the sole exception to this, but even that is limited to transaction level, and privacy leaks through backchains.
Independent Controls
Paraphrasing the SCO60 paper:
- Control over access
- Control over stability
- Control over Finality
- Control risks (AML/CFT)
In the CN Pilot, we demonstrated 22 independent apps on “subnets” with these properties.
Without these independent controls, your tokenized financial asset will not be treated the same as the financial asset itself.
High-risk weights undermine the tokenization value proposition.
Everyone can spin up 22 separate private permissioned blockchains.
Privacy
Financial Assets need two kinds of privacy:
- Investors of an asset cannot see all other investors and their holdings.
- The operator of one registry cannot see the data of another.
In the CN Pilot, each of the 22 apps had full privacy between users and between apps.
Without this, you are restricted to crypto assets that support radical transparency.
Nobody else* can offer any privacy within one of those blockchains.
*R3’s Corda is the sole exception to this, but even that is limited to transaction level, and privacy leaks through backchains.
Composability
It must be possible to compose two applications using atomic smart contract calls.
A simple DvP between independent assets is the absolute minimum.
The CN Pilot demonstrated atomic smart contract composability across these 22 apps utilizing the Global Synchronizer TestNet for coordination.
Without this, you are creating new silos.
Nobody else can offer atomic smart contract composability across those blockchains.
They could only “mock” it with asynchronous RPC, reintroducing settlement risk.
Canton is here!
Following a successful test period, the Canton Network's public infrastructure is moving into production. Request a guided demo to identify opportunities, explore the benefits of bringing activity and assets into the ecosystem, and find out about the production applications powering synchronized finance on the network today.