Canton Network Took 42% of Q1 Blockchain Fees

Canton Network generated approximately $193 million of the $457 million in total fees across 21 blockchains tracked in the first quarter of 2026, representing about 42% of group fees, according to Messari’s Q1 2026 State of Blockchains report. Aggregate fees across the sample rose roughly 2% quarter‑over‑quarter, driven mainly by Canton’s gains while other on‑chain activity softened.

Canton is a Layer‑1 blockchain designed for regulated financial institutions. Launched by Digital Asset in May 2023 with more than 30 founding financial firms, the network includes privacy features and a Global Synchronizer that lets separate institutional systems settle transactions together. Governance of those components sits with the Canton Foundation under the Linux Foundation. Founding participants include Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Börse.

Messari identified tokenized real‑world asset transactions, repo market activity and banks settling bonds on‑chain as the primary drivers of fee growth on Canton in Q1. Institutional initiatives on the network during the quarter included JPMorgan’s Kinexys unit issuing a JPMD deposit token in January, the DTCC advancing plans to tokenize U.S. Treasuries it custodies, and HSBC completing a tokenized deposit pilot in April.

The quarter’s gains were concentrated among a few chains rather than broad based. Tron was the only top‑five network to increase market value, rising about 10% to $29.7 billion and burning roughly $83 million in fees by destroying TRX. Real‑world asset activity rose on several networks: Sei reported a 350% quarterly increase, Base grew 93%, and BNB Chain grew 76%. Ethereum added the most RWA value in dollar terms, about $3.9 billion. Stablecoin supply edged up to about $299 billion, with Polygon and BNB Chain showing the fastest growth in stablecoin balances.

Luis Rincon, Head of Research Operations at Messari, noted that total fees across the 21 networks rose about 2% quarter‑over‑quarter to $457 million and attributed the increase primarily to institutional activity on Canton. Messari flagged that continued fee leadership for Canton will depend on the pace at which institutions move assets and settlement activity on‑chain.

Canton’s native token, Canton Coin (CC), traded near $0.15 at the time of the report and had fallen about 3% over the prior 24 hours, placing CC roughly 20th by market capitalization among crypto assets.