Canton advances cross-border repo to free up $300 trillion assets via tokenization

• A group of major financial firms including DTCC executed the first cross-border intraday repo using tokenized U.K. government bonds on the Canton Network.
• The trade included the first cross-currency transaction in which tokenized gilts were exchanged for tokenized deposits in a non-sterling currency, with smart contracts embedding interest and risk terms.
• Proponents say using a blockchain for these repos could unlock far more of the roughly $300 trillion in high-quality liquid assets as collateral by enabling real-time, around-the-clock settlement across borders.

A group of global financial firms completed the first cross-border, intraday repurchase agreement using tokenized U.K. government bonds on the Canton Network, a blockchain designed for institutions.

The transaction marks the first time digital versions of gilts, a $2-trillion market, have been used in an intraday repo across borders, according to a release shared with CoinDesk. It also includes the first cross-currency trade in which tokenized gilts were exchanged against tokenized deposits denominated in a currency other than the British pound.

In a repo, one party sells a security and agrees to buy it back later, often the same day. Banks and trading firms use these deals to raise short-term cash. By placing both the cash and the bond on a shared blockchain, the group aims to move collateral in real time rather than waiting for traditional market hours.

Participants in the latest round include LSEG, Euroclear, DTCC, Tradeweb, Citadel Securities and Societe Generale, along with digital asset firms such as Archax and Cumberland DRW. TreasurySpring embedded interest payments and risk terms directly into smart contracts tied to the trades.

The maneuver fits into Canton's bigger ambition to make $300 trillion of global assets such as government bonds more useful as collateral by tokenizing them on a blockchain, Kelly Matheison, chief business development officer of Digital Assets, said in an interview with CoinDesk.

Digital Asset is the key development firm behind the Canton Network, and raised funds last year from financial heavyweights such as Goldman Sachs, DRW, Citadel Securities, BNY and Nasdaq.

"There are about $300 trillion of high-quality liquid assets around the globe," Matheison said. "Yet only about 10%-11% of that — roughly $28 trillion — is used as collateral at any given time."

The reason for that is timing. In traditional markets, firms must plan days ahead to move securities across borders, navigating settlement cycles, batch processing and market cut-off times.

"At a practical level, it restricts the amount of high-quality liquid assets that you can get in use at any point in time," she said.

Using blockchain ledgers like Canton for these transactions allows counterparties to transfer ownership in real-time and around-the-clock, rather than waiting for batch settlement windows. That way, financial firms can use their balance sheets more efficiently and trade more, Mathieson said.

• Stablecoin volume is decoupling from the crypto market cycles as real-world use expands, payments firm Stripe said in its annual letter.
• Bridge, the stablecoin platform acquired by Stripe, saw transaction volume more than quadruple in 2025, the letter said.
• Stablecoins, or digital versions of fiat money, are increasingly viewed as an alternative for cross-border payments with Facebook parent Meta said to be the latest to explore developing its own token.

Disclosure & Polices: CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of Bullish (NYSE:BLSH), an institutionally focused global digital asset platform that provides market infrastructure and information services. Bullish owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets and CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish equity-based compensation.