ClearToken, a digital financial market infrastructure provider authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority, has formed a strategic partnership with Canton Network to introduce a new blockchain-based settlement framework for institutional markets. The collaboration focuses on deploying three Digital Asset Platforms built using Daml technology, named CT Register, CT Pay, and CT Settle, on the Canton blockchain.
The initiative seeks to establish a robust settlement environment for stablecoin foreign exchange transactions and tokenized cash flows. By integrating ClearToken’s regulated financial infrastructure with Canton Network’s atomic composability architecture, the project aims to enable more efficient and secure settlement processes within a privacy-enabled institutional blockchain ecosystem.
Through this arrangement, the partners are working to bridge the gap between traditional regulated financial market infrastructure and emerging blockchain-based financial technologies.
Digital Asset Platforms for Tokenization and Payments
The newly introduced Digital Asset Platforms each serve distinct functions within the broader post-trade settlement system.
CT Register has been designed to facilitate both tokenization and de-tokenization of financial assets. The platform supports the conversion of fiat currencies and stablecoins into blockchain-based tokens, while also enabling the reverse process. Over time, the platform is expected to expand its capabilities to include the tokenization of securities. Within the Canton environment, asset positions are represented as data tokens, enabling programmable settlement workflows that can be audited while remaining within ClearToken’s regulated operational perimeter.
Another component of the system, CT Pay, focuses on payment processing and cross-currency settlement. The platform enables both single-sided payments and Payment versus Payment transactions. This approach allows payment obligations across multiple currencies to be settled atomically, meaning that transactions are completed simultaneously on both sides. By ensuring that payments either execute entirely or not at all, the system reduces exposure to settlement failures and addresses risks associated with cross-border payment mismatches, including the well-known Herstatt risk in foreign exchange markets.
Settlement Capabilities for Multiple Asset Classes
The third platform introduced through the partnership, CT Settle, focuses on Delivery versus Payment settlement processes. This system enables net settlement of transactions involving fiat currencies, while also supporting settlement functions for crypto assets and stablecoins.
Through Canton Network’s atomic composability framework, all settlement components within a transaction are synchronized. This means that each part of the settlement process must be completed simultaneously for the transaction to finalize. If any component fails, the entire transaction is canceled, thereby preventing partial settlement scenarios and reducing operational risk.
By introducing these integrated services, ClearToken aims to provide institutions with a unified settlement environment covering multiple forms of digital money and financial instruments.
Addressing Infrastructure Gaps in Digital Finance
The partnership emerges at a time when global financial markets are increasingly exploring tokenized financial assets. The foreign exchange market remains one of the largest financial markets in the world, with daily trading volumes reaching approximately 9.6 trillion dollars.
Meanwhile, traditional settlement infrastructure continues to handle massive transaction volumes. For example, CLS Group processes gross foreign exchange payments totaling about 22.9 trillion dollars in a single day.
Despite the rapid growth of the stablecoin sector, which has reached a market capitalization exceeding 315 billion dollars, the digital asset market still lacks the same level of post-trade infrastructure available in traditional finance. ClearToken’s blockchain-based platforms are intended to address this gap by introducing regulated settlement systems tailored for digital assets and tokenized cash flows.
Institutional Blockchain Ecosystem
By deploying its platforms on Canton Network, ClearToken joins an institutional blockchain ecosystem that already includes major financial market participants. The network’s participants include organizations such as DTCC, Goldman Sachs, Euroclear, London Stock Exchange Group, and Tradeweb.
This environment positions ClearToken at the intersection of regulated financial market infrastructure and institutional blockchain innovation.
Benjamin Santos-Stephens, the chief executive officer of ClearToken, explained that the deployment of CT Register, CT Pay, and CT Settle on Canton Network would provide financial institutions with a regulated end-to-end settlement infrastructure. He indicated that these systems are designed to support tokenization by delivering payment certainty through Payment versus Payment mechanisms and final settlement assurance through Delivery versus Payment processes across various forms of digital money.
ClearToken is currently building a comprehensive post-trade ecosystem that spans tokenization, payment processing, settlement, and clearing services. According to the company, these services are intended to operate under regulatory oversight, with participating entities either authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority or supervised by the Bank of England.