Co-founder of Dialog Digital Asset: Making assets natively blockchain-based, the driving force behind institutional bull markets
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Co-founder of Dialog Digital Asset: Making assets natively blockchain-based, the driving force behind institutional bull markets
Follow Yuval Rooz's insights into Canton Network, the institutionally backed visionary reshaping the global financial system, exploring the technological prowess and market influence driving its mission.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy: TechFlow
From ETFs and RWA to stablecoins and tokenized stocks, we have truly experienced an institutional bull market.
Behind the narrative of institutions dominating the crypto market, there exists a key player dedicated to enabling institutional onboarding and catalyzing the full-scale explosion of on-chain finance.
This is Canton Network, which not only received investment support from YZi Labs but has also won the favor of prestigious institutions such as Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, HSBC, and Microsoft, all choosing it as their on-chain business partner.
What makes Canton so compelling for institutions seeking blockchain infrastructure?
On the ground at Korea Blockchain Week, we sat down for an in-depth conversation with Yuval Rooz, co-founder and CEO of Digital Asset, and the driving force behind Canton Network.
There are many projects focused on helping institutions launch RWA initiatives. When asked about the core differences between Canton and others, Yuval said:
Canton’s vision is to bring assets natively on-chain rather than wrapping them. Holding the associated token should be equivalent to holding the security in traditional markets. The way we’ve built our chain enables this—something others struggle to achieve.
When discussing the future of institutional onboarding amid increasingly regulatory-friendly trends, Yuval further emphasized Canton’s strengths:
Regulatory friendliness creates an environment where everyone is eager to participate. But institutions won’t abandon privacy or compromise on custody and protection of user assets just because “digital asset operations are now permitted.” This is precisely why I believe Canton holds an advantage: when regulators’ positive stance, growing client interest, and a blockchain that meets institutional requirements for compliance and privacy come together, it creates a powerful momentum for the future of on-chain finance.
In this article, let’s dive into Canton Network—the darling of institutions—through Yuval Rooz’s insights, exploring its core vision for reshaping the global financial system, along with the technical rigor and market expertise powering its execution.
Bringing Institutions On-Chain and Enabling Real Financial Liquidity
TechFlow: It's great to have this opportunity for an in-depth conversation. Some Chinese-speaking audiences may not be familiar with your background, so to begin, could you please introduce yourself and share some of your past experiences and current responsibilities?
Yuval:
Hello everyone, I'm Yuval Rooz, co-founder and CEO of Digital Asset, the team behind Canton Network.
My background is in electrical engineering. My career in crypto began at Citadel, one of the world’s largest hedge funds, where I worked as a quantitative researcher. I then joined DRW Trading to work on high-frequency trading. Later, I helped build Cumberland Mining, one of the largest OTC crypto market makers. Today, I lead Digital Asset and am fully focused on advancing Canton.
Our team brings together broad experience from both traditional finance and technology: One of my co-founders launched Cumberland Mining and has been in market-making since 2012; another played a key role in zero-knowledge proof development; our CTO holds a PhD in distributed systems.
Overall, our team is highly diverse, and in the context of bridging institutions and crypto, I believe our combined experience—especially in traditional finance—gives us a unique edge, making Canton the ideal infrastructure platform for bringing traditional assets on-chain.
TechFlow: If you had to summarize what Canton does in one or two sentences, how would you describe it?
Yuval:
Simply put, Canton is reimagining the global financial system.
We’re bringing institutions onto the blockchain and enabling real financial liquidity on-chain. Our clients are the major players in today’s financial markets.
TechFlow: As we understand, Canton’s initial concept likely started around 2023, when RWA was already gaining attention. Now, RWA is once again surging in popularity. Do you see any difference between these two waves of RWA discussion? Could you walk us through some of Canton’s key milestones over the past few years?
Yuval:
Although Canton officially launched in 2023, our whitepaper dates back as early as 2015. We’ve always focused on building projects with long-term sustainable value and impact—not chasing short-term trends.
Key milestones over the years include: partnering with Chainlink, integrating multiple wallets and stablecoins into the Canton network, and connecting several DEXs.
Even without being listed on exchanges yet, Canton has become one of the top 5 most active public blockchains by on-chain activity. Our goal is to bring real-world assets on-chain and support a robust, decentralized application ecosystem.
Bringing Assets Natively On-Chain, Not as Wrapped Assets
TechFlow: From your introduction, we understand Canton emphasizes helping established traditional institutions go on-chain. Could you share the core differences between Canton and other RWA projects like Ondo?
Yuval:
Canton’s vision is to bring assets natively on-chain, not as wrapped assets. While wrapped assets represent progress, they aren’t particularly appealing to me.
Canton focuses on native on-chain assets—including U.S. Treasuries, U.S. equities, Chinese stocks, Japanese equities—where holding the token is legally equivalent to owning the security in traditional markets. I believe our architecture uniquely enables this, which others cannot easily replicate.
Also, we know many large institutions care deeply about “privacy,” not “anonymity.” Many existing chains today feel more like “anonymous chains” rather than “private chains.” Canton ensures compliance while preserving privacy—critical for institutions that prioritize both regulatory compliance and data protection.
TechFlow: You just mentioned the core distinction between native and wrapped assets. Could you elaborate on the specific advantages of native assets?
Yuval:
Let’s take an example: Imagine you hold a security and the issuer pays dividends. Legally, you have a direct claim to those dividends—you can assert your rights directly under the law.
But with a wrapped asset, you’re dependent on the wrapper issuer to pass on the dividend, because you don’t actually own the underlying security. Therefore, you lack legal recourse against the original issuer.
In short, wrapped assets create a disconnect between buyers and asset issuers—a gap we believe is unnecessary. We advocate for investors to maintain a direct relationship with the issuer. That’s the fundamental difference between wrapped and native assets.
Technical Strength Behind Top-Tier Institutional Partnerships
TechFlow: We know Canton has numerous top-tier partners, including Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Nasdaq, and traditional financial exchanges. Could you share one or two representative examples of what Canton has done in these collaborations and their outcomes so far?
Yuval:
There are many such cases with Canton.
First, the repo market: Banks and traditional financial institutions use repurchase agreements (repos) to lend and borrow funds and securities—it’s one of the largest markets globally. In scale: The U.S. repo market sees around $5 trillion in daily volume, and globally it’s about $10 trillion. In contrast, the crypto repo market remains tiny.
Through our collaboration with Broadridge, we’ve brought repo transactions on-chain. Today, we’re achieving approximately $300 billion in daily on-chain transaction volume, significantly improving the efficiency and quality of lending and settlement in traditional finance.
Another example is U.S. Treasuries going on-chain. About six weeks ago, we partnered with DTCC (Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation) to announce that U.S. Treasuries can now be natively issued and transferred on Canton. This means 24/7 trading of U.S. Treasuries—an important milestone in financial digitization. And many more asset classes will follow.
TechFlow: These partnerships wouldn’t happen without strong technical capabilities. We’ve previously written about Canton’s consensus mechanism. In your view, what are Canton’s technological advantages, and how do they contribute to growth?
Yuval:
All leading public chains have excellent technical teams—everyone’s achievements are impressive. Canton’s uniqueness lies not necessarily in having smarter or stronger engineers, but in our ability to combine a world-class technical team with a world-class market-facing team to amplify impact.
For instance, you might build the most powerful engine in the world, but if you attach square wheels, the car won’t move. The point is: even with a powerful engine, you need to know how to assemble the entire vehicle so it runs fast and reliably.
This fusion of technology and market insight allows us to build not just a powerful blockchain, but a system that truly meets the practical needs of institutional clients—understanding, adapting to, and fulfilling their operational requirements.
Additionally, we employ a high-performance BFT consensus design. A key innovation is splitting consensus into two layers: The first layer is executed by participants we call “super validators”; the second layer involves edge nodes reaching consensus on smart contract states and data. This architecture enables compliant privacy protection without relying on zero-knowledge proofs—one of our core innovations.
Canton Adapts to Diverse National Regulations, Excited About Asia’s Potential
TechFlow: Canton’s partners span the U.S., Europe, and Asia—we’re meeting here in Korea. From the perspective of institutional onboarding, are there regional differences in how institutions approach blockchain? How do you adapt your growth strategies accordingly?
Yuval:
This brings me to the inspiration behind Canton’s name:
The project name “Canton” draws from Switzerland’s “canton system.” Switzerland is a federation of cantons, each with different rules—different tax systems, languages, laws, and even different spellings for “canton” in their respective languages—yet they all operate within a unified national framework.
Canton’s philosophy mirrors this: Countries differ, regulations vary, but we aim to preserve individuality while enabling people, companies, and nations to converge and collaborate on Canton—this is crucial.
Take Asia: In Korea, we focus on currency regulation; in Japan, transparency and regulatory compliance are paramount. Canton’s flexibility allows it to adapt to diverse national regulations, making it an attractive option for global institutions. That’s why we’re making progress across nearly every continent—because we can operate within local regulatory frameworks. Going forward, our goal is to ensure compatibility and adaptability across jurisdictions.
TechFlow: When speaking with other project teams, many have told me that among Asian markets, Japan currently offers the most transparent regulatory framework. Due to regulation, some RWA projects choose to operate only in Japan, avoiding Korea or China. Do you agree with this view? What’s your perspective?
Yuval:
Japan has consistently maintained a relatively open stance toward digital assets. Regarding Canton’s development, I can clearly say we never assumed regulatory changes were necessary for Canton to function.
I believe a key driver behind the accelerating pace of institutional onboarding is regulators’ positive attitude toward the technology. But we’ve already engaged successfully with regulators and enterprises, demonstrating through tangible results that Canton can meet existing compliance requirements in various countries—even without new regulations.
TechFlow: Is this your first time in Korea? How has this visit been? Any interesting observations? Are you excited about the potential of markets like Korea or Japan?
Yuval:
This is my fourth time in Korea. The biggest takeaway this time? I probably need more sleep—ha ha.
This year’s Korea Blockchain Week feels more vibrant than ever. This morning I heard Canton hit a new all-time high—great news—but I don’t focus much on such metrics. I’m usually more interested in meetings and deep conversations with people who want to build or get involved.
Also, we’re seeing significantly more event advertising this year, especially outdoor ads, indicating broader public interest in crypto.
I’m very excited about the potential of markets like Korea and Japan—that’s one reason we’re participating in Korea Blockchain Week. We’re looking forward to the listing of Canton Coin in Korea and Japan.
Regulatory Friendliness Fuels Greater Institutional and User Participation
TechFlow: This year’s general sentiment is that crypto regulation has become more favorable. Does this hold true specifically in Canton’s domain? What challenges remain urgent to address?
Yuval:
What excites me isn’t just that regulations now allow digital asset activities, but that they’ve fostered an environment where everyone is eager to participate—this is promising globally.
That said, large institutions won’t abandon privacy or neglect custody and protection of user assets just because “digital assets are now allowed.” This is exactly why I believe Canton has an edge:
When regulators’ positive attitudes, growing client interest, and a blockchain capable of meeting institutional demands come together, it creates a powerful catalyst for the future of on-chain finance.
TechFlow: Retail users sometimes aren’t sure how to effectively participate in Canton’s ecosystem. Could you share effective ways for individuals to get involved, as well as upcoming events or developments worth watching?
Yuval:
We will soon launch a grant program for developers and contributors via the Canton Foundation website. More details will be available shortly on the Canton and Canton Foundation websites.
At the same time, we plan to list our token on major exchanges, allowing retail investors to participate and share in the network’s growth.
In addition, many applications will be deploying on Canton. Notably, Canton’s tokenomics will reward active users—with incentives given to those who engage with apps on the Canton network.
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