InterviewWall Street-backed blockchain Canton Network expands footprint in Korea

Many crypto projects have sought to bring traditional finance onto blockchain, but few have gained as much traction as Canton Network, a privacy-focused blockchain for institutional finance.

Already embraced by financial heavyweights such as Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas and the London Stock Exchange Group, Canton is facilitating more than $300 billion in daily value transfers while deepening its presence in Korea through partnerships with major financial institutions, including Shinhan, Hanwha and KB.

Yuval Rooz, co-founder and CEO of Digital Asset, the company behind Canton Network, told The Korea Times in a recent one-on-one interview that Korea is poised to play a greater role in global finance, citing its tech-savvy population and growing institutional interest.

"Once the regulation takes place, and I believe that it will, you actually have a market that is already ready for the technology," Rooz said. "In other places, regulation might be ahead, but the customers and the companies are not ready for the technology."

Korean financial institutions are already expanding their involvement in Canton.

Shinhan Financial Group signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Canton Foundation in June, followed by strategic investments in Digital Asset by Shinhan Securities and Shinhan Venture Investment in July. Shinhan Asset Management also became the first Korean financial institution approved as a Canton Network "super validator" this month, paving the way for its participation in network operations.

Hanwha Investment & Securities signed an MOU with Digital Asset in April and invested around 30 billion won ($22.44 million) in July.

In a separate interview, Viv Diwakar, head of the Canton Foundation, also highlighted the opportunity to connect Korean financial markets with international investors.

"If there's one thing that I would plant a flag in the sand for, it's the opportunity for Korean-issued equities to meet global capital," Diwakar said.

Rooz said much of the cryptocurrency market has been driven by speculation rather than lasting economic value, giving such activity a limited shelf life. He argued that blockchain's real opportunity lies in bringing traditional capital markets onchain, including stocks, bonds and repurchase agreements.

But moving traditional finance onto blockchain infrastructure requires overcoming a fundamental obstacle: privacy. Public blockchains are typically open and permissionless, posing challenges for institutions that must protect sensitive customer and transaction information.

"Imagine if someone came to a bank and said, 'Hey, I have a new database technology for you, but everybody will see all of your clients' information, and everybody can access your products whether you want it or not,'" Rooz said. "No bank would agree to that."

Canton addresses this problem by combining public blockchain openness with configurable privacy and access controls, allowing institutions to meet business and regulatory requirements across jurisdictions. Rooz compared the approach to the internet, where anyone can visit a bank's website but only authorized users can access its services.

Governance is another key feature that sets Canton apart from other blockchain networks, according to Diwakar.

Many public blockchains operate on the principle of decentralization, often leaving no single entity accountable for the network. Canton, by contrast, is governed by the Canton Foundation, an independent nonprofit organization whose members include major financial institutions and market infrastructure providers such as Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, HSBC and Nasdaq.