Glossary
Key terms and acronyms used across the institutional documentation. If you are coming from traditional finance or other blockchain networks, this page will help you navigate Canton-specific terminology.
Assets and Tokens
CBTC (Canton Bitcoin)
Wrapped Bitcoin on the Canton Network. 1 CBTC is always backed 1:1 by BTC held in decentralized custody. CBTC is the primary asset for institutional trading on Canton.
CC (Canton Coin)
The native network rewards token on Canton. CC is earned through eligible transactions and distributed to participants. CC is not a stablecoin. Its value fluctuates based on market conditions.
USDXLR
A Canton-native yield-bearing stablecoin. The primary trading pair for CBTC. Trading CBTC/USDXLR earns rewards from both assets.
USDCx
A cross-chain stablecoin available on Canton. Provides a familiar stable pairing for BTC traders.
Canton Network
Canton Network
An institutional-grade blockchain network designed for privacy, compliance, and atomic settlement. All participants are KYC-verified.
Daml
Canton's smart contract language. Used for building applications and defining transaction logic on the network.
CIP-56
Canton token standard. Defines how tokens (including CBTC) are created, transferred, and managed on Canton.
Validator Node
A node that participates in the Canton Network's consensus and transaction processing. Required for direct CBTC minting. Multi-tenant validator options are available for firms that do not want to run their own.
Multi-Tenant Validator
A shared validator node operated by a third-party provider. Allows firms to participate in the Canton Network without running their own infrastructure. Lower cost and faster setup than a dedicated node.
Security and Custody
FROST (Flexible Round-Optimized Schnorr Threshold)
The threshold signature scheme used for CBTC's decentralized custody. FROST allows multiple parties to collectively sign Bitcoin transactions without any single party holding the full private key.
Attestor Network
The group of decentralized signers that collectively approve CBTC mints and burns using FROST threshold signatures. Currently operates on a 2-of-4 threshold.
Threshold (M-of-N)
The minimum number of attestors required to approve a transaction. For CBTC, 2 out of 4 attestors must sign to authorize a mint or burn.
Proof of Reserve (PoR)
Chainlink's verification mechanism confirming that all CBTC in circulation is fully backed 1:1 by BTC held in custody.
Trading and Venues
RFQ (Request for Quote)
A trading model where a firm requests a price from a market maker and can accept or reject the quote. Used by Elk Capital / Trngle for institutional OTC execution.
CLOB (Central Limit Order Book)
A traditional exchange-style order book where buy and sell orders are matched by price and time priority. Used by Temple Digital.
AMM (Automated Market Maker)
A DeFi trading model where liquidity pools and mathematical formulas determine prices instead of an order book. Used by Tradefast.
MEV (Miner/Maximal Extractable Value)
The profit that can be extracted by reordering, inserting, or censoring transactions in a block. Canton eliminates MEV because it has no public mempool.
Mempool
A holding area for unconfirmed transactions visible to all network participants. Canton does not have a public mempool, which prevents front-running and sandwich attacks.
Rewards and Economics
Transaction-Count-Based Rewards
Canton's reward model where every eligible transaction generates CC rewards regardless of transaction size. High-frequency strategies earn more rewards than low-frequency, high-volume strategies.
Featured App (FA)
A Canton application that has been designated as a Featured App, which affects reward multipliers for activity within that application.
Anti-Gaming Policy
Canton's tokenomics accountability process that detects and shuts down artificial transaction patterns (such as A to B to A transfers) designed to farm rewards without real economic activity.
Agreements and Onboarding
MSA (Master Service Agreement)
The standard commercial agreement between a trading firm and BitSafe. Required before a firm can mint CBTC.
KYC/AML (Know Your Customer / Anti-Money Laundering)
Compliance checks required during onboarding. All Canton participants must be KYC-verified.
Technical
DAR (Daml Archive)
A compiled Daml package file used to deploy smart contracts on Canton.
cbtc-lib
A Rust library for interacting with CBTC minting and burning functionality. Required for direct minting from BTC.
Canton SDK
The software development kit for building applications and submitting transactions on the Canton Network.
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