Digital Asset has increased its latest fundraising to $365 million after adding $10 million from Shinhan Financial Group and Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures, reinforcing institutional support for its Canton blockchain network.
The company announced that Shinhan and SC Ventures joined an already oversubscribed round, bringing two more global financial institutions focused on regulated digital finance into the investor base. A person familiar with the matter told The Block the two investments raised the total from the previously disclosed $355 million to $365 million and were completed at the same $2 billion equity valuation used in the earlier financing.
The original $355 million round, disclosed last month, was led by a16z crypto and included an array of major financial and crypto-focused investors: ABN AMRO, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (via a subsidiary), Apollo Funds, BNP Paribas, Citadel Securities, CME Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Hanwha Investment & Securities, HSBC, S&P Global and SBI Group. The addition of Shinhan and SC Ventures widens the round’s geographic reach and adds institutions with significant banking operations across Asia and global markets.
“Blockchain adoption in financial markets will be driven by institutions that are ready to move beyond experimentation and into production,” said Yuval Rooz, co-founder and CEO of Digital Asset. He said Shinhan and Standard Chartered bring “global reach, market expertise, and ecosystem connectivity” at a pivotal time for Digital Asset and its Canton Network. Rooz emphasized the investment supports infrastructure that lets regulated financial institutions operate on shared blockchains without sacrificing privacy, compliance or operational control.
Shinhan Financial Group — South Korea’s largest banking group — is expected to play a role in discussions on institutional blockchain adoption in South Korea and complements Digital Asset’s existing ties with Hanwha. SC Ventures, the innovation and investment arm of Standard Chartered, brings experience in digital assets and fintech as well as an institutional network for potential international collaborations. Alex Manson, CEO of SC Ventures, said the investment reflects a belief that “trusted, institutional-grade market infrastructure will be fundamental to enabling scaling digital asset adoption across regulated financial services.”
Canton is a public Layer‑1 blockchain designed for regulated financial institutions. Digital Asset says the network enables assets, applications and financial workflows to move on‑chain while preserving privacy, compliance, interoperability and control — features targeted more at banks and institutional markets than retail-focused public chains.
The new capital will be used to expand applications across the Canton ecosystem, deepen engagement with developers and financial institutions, and support continued network growth. Interest from institutions has accelerated in recent months: Visa tested stablecoin settlement on Canton using Brale’s SBC stablecoin to explore private on‑chain settlement, and Canton Coin (CC) was listed in June on South Korea’s Bithumb, giving local traders direct access. The network also rolled out CIP‑0119, extending transfer preapprovals to 90 days and removing a prior requirement that new users hold CC before receiving tokens.
Canton’s profile in institutional markets has also attracted product development: Grayscale filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a spot Canton Coin ETF that would hold CC directly, potentially bringing token exposure to traditional brokerage investors.
Overall, the expanded round signals growing institutional confidence in privacy‑enabled blockchain infrastructure aimed at tokenization, collateral mobility, settlement, payments and other regulated financial workflows.
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