Standard Chartered and Shinhan Financial back Canton developer Digital Asset

Digital Asset has confirmed that Standard Chartered‘s SC Ventures and Shinhan Financial Group have joined its $355 million funding round, announced in June. Standard Chartered becomes the fifth systemically important bank to back the company over the past 18 months, joining BNY, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, and HSBC. Shinhan Financial is the second major Korean institution to invest, following Hanwha Investment & Securities, which committed 30 billion won (approximately $20 million) in the main round.

Digital Asset develops the public Canton Network, which is one of two blockchain networks the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) will deploy in its October tokenised securities rollout, alongside the DTCC’s own private blockchain. The DTCC publicised early transactions on the network last week, giving the Canton infrastructure its first significant public operational signal ahead of that launch.

Shinhan’s involvement carries a distribution angle beyond the capital commitment. In June, Shinhan signed a collaboration agreement with the Canton Network covering Shinhan Asset Management and Shinhan Securities, with the Korean group citing the potential to distribute Korean assets to global investors. KB Securities has also signed an agreement as part of the same Asian expansion push, though it has not invested in the funding round.