BNP Paribas and HSBC have joined the Canton Foundation, the governance body behind the permissioned, privacy-focused Canton Network. The move marks another step in banks’ push into tokenized finance and follows earlier additions this year including Goldman Sachs, Hong Kong FMI Services and Moody’s.
The Canton Network hosts more than $3.6 trillion in tokenized assets and employs a Global Synchronizer to coordinate trades and settlements across different ledgers while allowing participants to retain control over sensitive data. As a permissioned platform, Canton is aimed at institutions that require privacy, regulated access and operational controls rather than a public blockchain model.
BNP Paribas said membership aligns with its digital transformation strategy and opens pathways to build blockchain applications for client services. HSBC framed the decision as a way to improve liquidity in digital-asset markets and to support transactions that span multiple asset types and networks.
The Canton Foundation now counts more than 30 members — including Broadridge, Tradeweb and Digital Asset — and positions itself as a neutral governance layer to bring traditional-market standards to tokenized infrastructure. For banks and service providers, the appeal is faster, more efficient settlement and the ability to transact across networks without exposing proprietary data.
Risks remain: permissioned networks can create concentration risk around vendors and tooling, and cross-network settlement raises operational and regulatory questions for institutions adapting legacy processes. Still, growing bank participation suggests increasing institutional confidence in infrastructure solutions that enable tokenized assets at scale.
Source: CoinDesk. Read the original coverage for full details.