Canton Network Chosen for Participation in U.S. Benefits Pilot Program Across Three States

Digital Asset, in collaboration with the American Idea Foundation, has chosen Canton Network to implement a three-state U.S. benefits pilot slated to commence in the first quarter of 2027, pending federal approval.

In a statement released on Friday, Digital Asset and the American Idea Foundation announced their support for three states gearing up to pilot the Resources for Independence, Stability, and Employment (RISE) program.

The American Idea Foundation, established by former U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, is a nonprofit based in Wisconsin focused on economic policies and initiatives aimed at alleviating poverty. Digital Asset developed the Canton Network, which will deliver the technological framework to manage and distribute benefits during the pilot phases.

Pending federal approval, the initial programs are set to launch in the first quarter of 2027, although neither organization has revealed the names of the states involved, the federal agencies overseeing the approval, or the specific benefit programs participating.

RISE will integrate separate benefit payments

According to the proposed model, states could merge assistance from various programs into one or two monthly payments. Digital Asset and the foundation noted that current programs often feature distinct eligibility requirements, reporting protocols, payment schedules, and income thresholds, complicating the management for recipients and agencies.

RISE would allow states to allocate funds to categories like food, child care, and cash while maintaining the regulations associated with each program. The platform could verify recipients’ identities and participation requirements, offer mobile access, and impose spending limitations on how the funds are utilized.

As household incomes change, the system would automatically adjust the assistance available to families. The organizations emphasized that this mechanism aims to minimize abrupt drops in support when beneficiaries enter the job market or increase their earnings.

Paul Ryan indicated that the pilots would assess whether states can mitigate such penalties while ensuring accountability within benefit programs.

“By integrating fragmented benefits, decreasing penalties as families earn more, and rigorously assessing outcomes, these pilots can illuminate what a modern safety net should look like.”

Rather than keeping distinct records for each participating program, authorized agencies would gain access to consolidated information regarding deposits, expenditures, balances, declined transactions, and spending categorized by benefit type. Nonprofit case managers and independent investigators could access information pertinent to their functions.

Digital Asset stated that government dashboards would display enrollment records, pending approvals, completed tasks, eligibility for payments, and the total value of funds disbursed. Access would vary according to each organization’s permissions, thus limiting the visibility of personal or transaction data to those not directly involved in a case.

Canton Network will manage data access and payment regulations

Canton will oversee the regulations, permissions, and transactions relevant to each payment while ensuring the privacy of sensitive information, according to Digital Asset. States will be able to embed individual benefit criteria into the distribution framework rather than applying every rule post-payment.

Transaction records will provide agencies with an audit trail detailing how funds entered the system and where recipients utilized them. Digital Asset noted that involved governments could leverage these records to monitor compliance and pinpoint payments that deviated from program stipulations.

Yuval Rooz, co-founder and CEO of Digital Asset, explained that Canton permits approved participants to coordinate transactions and share regulations while maintaining the required privacy and oversight. RISE would leverage the existing permission framework of the network for public-benefit administration instead of capital-market settlements.

The assessment phase will likely track various metrics, including employment, income, benefit usage, education, training, housing stability, and household resilience. According to the announcement, both governmental bodies and independent evaluators will have access to transaction and compliance data throughout the program, rather than solely relying on retrospective analyses.

Insights gained from the initial three states will guide future pilots. The organizations mentioned that subsequent versions could be tailored to accommodate various state regulations, case-management frameworks, benefit structures, and recipient demographics, although they did not provide a timeline for additional rollouts.

Canton has previously experimented with private payments and government bonds

Canton has focused its earlier initiatives on regulated financial transactions that necessitate participants to share selective information without exposing full records on a public ledger.

In June, crypto.news reported that Visa and Brale commenced a private stablecoin settlement test utilizing SBC, Brale’s dollar-pegged token. This proof of concept explored whether financial institutions could conduct settlements while maintaining the confidentiality of sensitive transaction details for involved parties and authorized regulators.

In August, four Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group entities initiated a Japanese bond repo trial in collaboration with Digital Asset and Progmat. The project tests automated processing and real-time settlements for transactions secured by Japanese government bonds.

This initiative, supported by Japan’s Financial Services Agency Payment Innovation Project, also investigates the potential use of tokenized deposits or stablecoins for payment aspects in repo transactions. An earlier trial in April involving Japan Securities Clearing Corporation, Mizuho, Nomura, and Digital Asset explored whether Japanese government bonds could function as digital collateral while still adhering to existing legal frameworks in Japan.

Institutional access expanded once more in August when Interstice Digital launched a cross-chain swap engine, integrating Canton with Ethereum, Solana, and Robinhood Chain. FalconX provides liquidity for this system, while Interstice ensures that it doesn’t have to hold users’ assets.

Canton Coin establishes a direct U.S. investment pathway

U.S. investors can now connect to the Canton Network via the regulated securities market through 21Shares’ exchange-traded fund. Launched in May, the Nasdaq-listed Canton ETF, under the ticker TCAN, offers brokerage customers exposure to Canton Coin without the necessity of holding the token directly.

21Shares introduced the fund with a 0.50% gross expense ratio and touted it as the first U.S. ETF linked to Canton Coin. The issuer noted participation from institutions such as Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, and Deutsche Bank in network testing, validation, or governance, although they cautioned that this involvement does not constitute an endorsement of the token or ETF.

As of August 21, Canton Coin, employed for transaction fee payments via the network’s Global Synchronizer, was trading near $0.107. Market data indicated a market capitalization of approximately $4.2 billion, placing it at 23rd among cryptocurrencies, with a gain of about 9% over the prior week.