As Tharimmune successfully secured $540 million to establish a Canton Coin treasury, the narrative surrounding the Canton Network illustrates that Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) aren’t the sole method to introduce new blockchains.

Canton Network emerges as a fresh contender in the competitive landscape of smart contract protocols, challenging more established platforms like Ethereum and Solana. Its development over a decade has led to its current position alongside other innovative networks like SUI and Aptos.

The rise of @CantonNetwork may seem fast, but it’s been a decade in the making. A decade of learning from the mistakes of others… — Robert Baggs (@rkbaggs) November 24, 2025

During an exclusive interview on Cointelegraph’s Chain Reaction daily, Yuval Rooz, who co-founded Digital Asset, shared insights into the Canton Network’s origins. He highlighted the deliberate decision to avoid launching an ICO during its extensive development phase.

“Our thesis was focused on serving large-scale institutions. We’ve been very patient. We refused to do an ICO or a token pre-mine. We carefully considered the tokenomics,” Rooz explained.

This network is tailored for financial institutions, enabling secure and privacy-oriented transactions, and the protocol itself aims for real-world asset tokenization and settlement.

In June 2025, Digital Asset successfully closed a $135 million funding round to propel the Canton ecosystem forward. Subsequently, biotech company Tharimmune raised $540 million for constructing a Canton Coin digital asset treasury, intending to use these funds to secure CC tokens as a network super validator.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Rooz elaborated on Digital Asset’s cautious approach towards launching the Canton Network. A limited chain debuted in 2020 to assess functionality and user needs:

“It took about four years to build possibly the first version of the ledger, followed by another two to three years to prepare for a broader launch.”

The team drew insights from the early stages of other layer-1 protocols, noting the enduring challenges that public networks face post-launch, including the difficulty in implementing privacy enhancements.

Privacy on a ‘Need-to-Know’ Basis

Privacy has gained traction within the cryptocurrency discourse, with projects like Zcash gaining considerable attention. Rooz emphasized that while the industry is starting to recognize the value of privacy, many stakeholders have historically overlooked its importance.

“Every time we discussed the necessity of privacy with crypto experts, they asserted that ‘you don’t understand crypto. The essence of crypto is to be transparent,’” Rooz remarked.

He further stated that privacy manifests in various forms, with zero-knowledge proof technology, like that utilized in Zcash, prioritizing anonymity rather than privacy. Rooz articulated how Canton approaches privacy differently, emphasizing need-to-know information sharing that allows regulators to access user activity when necessary.

Digital Asset has garnered investments from significant financial entities such as BNP Paribas, Circle Ventures, Citadel Securities, DTCC, and Goldman Sachs during its fundraising efforts in 2025.