The financial sector is increasingly adopting a dual approach to real-world assets (RWAs) by leveraging both public and permissioned blockchains. This bifurcated strategy allows institutions to capitalize on the liquidity and transparency of public networks like Ethereum while maintaining the privacy and confidentiality required for internal operations through permissioned systems such as the Canton Network.
The Divide Between Public and Permissioned Networks
As tokenized assets gain traction among major asset managers, the divide between public and permissioned blockchains is becoming more pronounced. Marcin Kaźmierczak, co-founder of blockchain oracle provider RedStone, explained that product development is likely to occur on public blockchains, while permissioned systems are better suited for institutional processes that require confidentiality.
“There are some operations between institutions that simply have to stay private, and this is the value proposition that Canton offers very effectively,” Kaźmierczak told Cointelegraph.
The Canton Network: Privacy and Control
The Canton Network, developed by Digital Asset, enables banks and asset managers to tokenize and settle RWAs while keeping transaction details visible only to the involved parties. The network claims to have processed $6 trillion in RWA value in 2025, highlighting its significance in the institutional blockchain space.
Ethereum’s Role in Institutional Adoption
Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake in 2022, known as The Merge, marked a pivotal moment for institutional adoption. The network’s improved scalability and reduced environmental impact have bolstered confidence among financial institutions. According to Kaźmierczak, the successful execution of The Merge was a turning point that reassured institutions about Ethereum’s reliability.
Regulatory Clarity and Market Projections
Regulatory clarity has also played a crucial role in the adoption of tokenized assets. The GENIUS Act, passed in 2025, created a federal framework for stablecoins, which serve as the settlement layer for many tokenized assets. This legislative move has further solidified the institutional interest in blockchain technology.
Market projections for tokenized assets are optimistic, with estimates ranging from $2 trillion by 2030, as per McKinsey, to a more ambitious $30.1 trillion by 2034, according to Standard Chartered and Synpulse. These projections underscore the potential for RWAs to reshape the financial landscape.
The Dual Infrastructure of Tokenized Finance
Financial institutions are building parallel systems designed to serve different functions within the tokenized financial stack. Public blockchains provide liquidity, composability, and access to decentralized finance (DeFi) strategies, while permissioned networks support settlement processes, bilateral transactions, and internal asset management workflows that cannot be exposed on open networks.
This dual infrastructure allows institutions to balance the benefits of public blockchains with the privacy and control offered by permissioned systems. Canton, for instance, automates processes while maintaining transaction privacy, aligning closely with existing traditional financial (TradFi) infrastructure.
Privacy Mechanisms: ZK-Proofs vs. Permissioned Data Sharing
The choice of privacy mechanisms is another key differentiator between the two tracks. While many blockchain projects pursue confidentiality through cryptographic tools like zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs, Canton relies on permissioned data sharing, where transactions are visible only to the parties involved.
Alex Gluchowski, CEO of Matter Labs, argues that ZK systems enhance blockchain security by requiring cryptographic proofs for every state transition. However, Yuval Rooz, CEO of Digital Asset, contends that fully opaque implementations of ZK systems could make it harder to audit financial activity, potentially recreating the kind of
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