World Liberty Financial launches USD1 on Canton Network

World Liberty Financial has launched its USD1 stablecoin on the Canton Network, placing the token on a blockchain used for tokenised financial assets.

USD1 is now natively issued on Canton and can be used as a settlement option for institutions that bring tokenised real-world assets onto the network. BitGo Bank & Trust issues the stablecoin, manages the reserve assets backing it, and handles minting and redemption.

The launch links a dollar-backed token to a network that processes or issues more than USD $9 trillion in tokenised assets each month, according to World Liberty Financial. More than USD $350 billion in on-chain US Treasurys also moves across Canton every day, it said.

That scale reflects the growing use of blockchain-based systems in parts of wholesale finance, particularly in markets for government debt, collateral and short-term funding. A central issue for institutions has been how to settle the cash side of transactions as quickly as the asset transfer.

On Canton, real-world assets, including government debt, are used in collateral, repo and treasury workflows. In those markets, slower settlement cycles can tie up capital and force firms to hold extra liquidity while they wait for payment to complete.

World Liberty Financial said USD1 is intended to provide the dollar side of those transactions on the same network. The token can support collateralisation for derivatives and institutional lending, cross-border payments with round-the-clock settlement, on-chain asset issuance, funding and redemption, and financing across institutions and markets, it said.

The Canton Network is a public permissionless blockchain aimed at regulated financial markets. According to the companies, applications on the network can set their own privacy, permissioning and governance rules while remaining interoperable with other applications.

Only the parties to a transaction see and validate their part of it, even when it spans multiple applications, according to the announcement. The approach is designed to address a longstanding concern among financial institutions about sharing sensitive trading and position data on public blockchain infrastructure.

Zak Folkman, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of World Liberty Financial, said the market has developed unevenly between tokenised assets and the money used to settle them.

"Tokenization has moved faster than the money behind it," Folkman said.

"Institutions have put trillions in U.S. Treasurys and government debt onchain, but the dollar leg of settlements still runs on outdated infrastructure, creating a gap where the cost and the risk sit. Canton and native USD1 together allow real-world assets to access a dollar that settles alongside them with speed and privacy."

Digital Asset, which is closely associated with the Canton ecosystem, described the addition of USD1 as part of a broader push to widen the range of settlement tools available on the network.

"Deep, efficient markets need choice on both sides of a transaction. As more stablecoins become natively available on Canton, institutions gain greater flexibility in how they fund, settle, and move liquidity across applications and markets," said Eric Saraniecki, Co-Founder and Head of Network Strategy at Digital Asset.

"USD1 expands that choice and strengthens the cash infrastructure supporting the growing range of real-world assets and institutional workflows on the network."

Growing supply

USD1 has surpassed USD $4 billion in circulation since its launch in March 2025, according to World Liberty Financial. The stablecoin is fully backed by short-term US Treasurys, US government money market funds, US dollar deposits and other cash equivalents, it said.

Stablecoins have become an important part of digital asset markets, but issuers have sought to broaden their use beyond crypto trading into mainstream financial activity. For that shift to happen at institutional scale, settlement assets need to fit compliance requirements and operate across markets that already handle regulated instruments.

BitGo provides the issuance and custody infrastructure for USD1 across the networks where it is available, with Canton now added to that list. The bank acts as the regulated issuer and reserve manager for the token.

Institutional focus

The launch also highlights how blockchain projects are increasingly targeting post-trade functions in established capital markets rather than retail payments alone. Tokenised bonds, funds and money market instruments have expanded, but much of the supporting market structure remains fragmented across platforms and legal frameworks.

By placing a dollar-backed token directly on a network used for regulated asset activity, World Liberty Financial is seeking to position USD1 as part of that institutional market infrastructure. Whether such arrangements gain broader traction will depend on adoption by financial firms that need both privacy controls and reliable access to cash settlement.

USD1 is issued by BitGo Bank & Trust, a federally regulated trust authorised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. It manages the reserve assets backing the stablecoin and processes all mints and redemptions.