The Core Insight
Traditional blockchains replicate all data to all nodes. This provides strong integrity guarantees but prevents privacy without additional layers. Canton inverts this model: data goes only where it needs to go. Parties see only what they’re entitled to see, yet the system maintains the same integrity guarantees as a fully replicated blockchain.How It Achieves This
Canton achieves this through three key innovations:1. Sub-Transaction Privacy
Transactions are decomposed into views. Each party receives only the views they’re entitled to see based on their role (signatory, observer, controller). If Alice pays Bob, and Bob pays Charlie in a single atomic transaction:- Alice sees her payment to Bob
- Bob sees both payments (he’s involved in both)
- Charlie sees only his receipt from Bob
- Nobody else sees anything
2. Synchronizers Only Synchronize, Don’t Store Transaction State
The Global Synchronizer orders transactions and facilitates consensus but never sees transaction content. It handles encrypted messages and confirmation results only. This separation means:- No central point that can read all data
- Synchronization without visibility
- Validators store data for their hosted parties
3. Smart Contracts Define Privacy
Privacy isn’t a bolt-on feature. Daml smart contracts explicitly declare:- Signatories: Who must authorize and always see the contract
- Observers: Who can see but not act
- Controllers: Who can execute specific actions
The Network
Canton Network consists of:
Each validator typically runs one or more applications. Applications can also compose with other applications—using their published Daml packages to build on top of existing functionality while preserving privacy.
Why This Matters
Canton enables use cases that are not feasible on traditional blockchains:What’s Different
If you’re coming from other blockchains:Next Steps
Why Canton?
Understand the problem Canton solves in depth.
Core Concepts
Learn about parties, validators, synchronizers, and smart contracts.
For Ethereum Devs
Translate your blockchain knowledge to Canton.
Architecture
See how components work together.