What Does the Canton Network Entail and Why Is a16z Crypto Investing $300 Million?

TLDR

• Digital Asset Holdings is raising approximately $300 million at a valuation of about $2 billion, led by a16z crypto.
• The funding round follows a $135 million raise in June 2025 and a $50 million raise in December 2025.
• Canton Network has processed more than $6 trillion in tokenized assets.
• Institutional investors include Goldman Sachs, Visa, DTCC, Citadel Securities, and Nasdaq.
• a16z crypto raised a $2.2 billion fund just days before leading this investment.

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(SeaPRwire) –   Digital Asset Holdings, the company behind the Canton Network, is reportedly in discussions to raise around $300 million at a valuation of roughly $2 billion. The funding round is being led by a16z crypto, according to Bloomberg, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

DIGITAL ASSET SAID TO RAISE $300M AT $2B VALUATION

Digital Asset, the company behind Canton Network, is reportedly raising about $300 million at a $2 billion valuation, per Bloomberg.

Once confirmed, this would be the company’s largest fundraising effort to date, as Canton continues to… pic.twitter.com/byYBZJdLrH

— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) May 10, 2026

The deal is expected to close within the coming weeks. Neither Digital Asset nor a16z has publicly confirmed the report.

This would represent Digital Asset’s biggest fundraising round to date. The company previously raised $135 million in June 2025, with DRW Venture Capital and Tradeweb Markets leading that round. Participants included Goldman Sachs, Citadel Securities, and DTCC.

In December 2025, Digital Asset secured an additional $50 million. That round was backed by BNY Mellon, Nasdaq, S&P Global, and iCapital.

The Canton Network is a Layer 1 blockchain designed for financial institutions. It features configurable privacy capabilities and supports smart contracts developed using Digital Asset’s open-source language, Daml.

More than $6 trillion in tokenized assets have been issued or processed on the network up to this point.

Growing Institutional Adoption

Visa became a Canton Super Validator in March 2026, marking the payment giant’s first involvement in blockchain governance. In April 2026, Visa also integrated Canton into its stablecoin settlement pilot program alongside Base, Polygon, Arc, and Tempo.

In March 2026, Moody’s began publishing its credit ratings directly on the Canton Network, becoming the first credit rating agency to do so on-chain.

In April 2026, Japan Securities Clearing Corporation initiated testing of on-chain government bonds on the network. The tests examine whether ownership of Japanese government bonds can be transferred digitally and used as collateral.

Earlier this month, Swiss crypto bank Amina announced it would offer custody and trading services for Canton Coin. Amina is the first bank regulated by Switzerland’s FINMA to support the token.

In December 2025, Digital Asset, Canton Network, and DTCC announced a collaboration to tokenize assets held by DTCC. DTCC manages approximately $114 trillion in liquid assets and plans to launch a pilot for tokenized trading in July 2026, with a full rollout targeted for October.

a16z Crypto’s Broader Push

This investment comes shortly after a16z crypto closed a $2.2 billion fund—its fifth dedicated crypto fund. The firm now has approximately $10 billion in total crypto capital committed across all its funds.

A16z general partner Ali Yahya stated in January that privacy is the key missing element preventing global finance from fully transitioning to blockchain. Canton’s protocol-level privacy features align closely with this perspective.

Overall venture funding in the crypto sector has declined. Quarterly deal volume dropped from 427 in Q1 2025 to just 97 in Q1 2026. Some established crypto investors are shifting their focus toward AI and robotics.

Despite this trend, major firms continue to deploy capital. Haun Ventures recently raised $1 billion, and a16z’s latest fund closing demonstrates that prominent players remain active in the crypto space.