Original reporting published by The Block on November 4, 2026, at 06:10:48 UTC+8.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance said it views Canton Coin (CC) as a digital commodity and would not recommend enforcement action over its programmatic issuance under specified conditions, according to The Block’s report.
The no-action letter, published Tuesday, focused on how tokens are created and where their value comes from. The division cited the Canton Network’s programmatic operation, supply-and-demand dynamics and lack of a central party, rather than expectations of profit from others’ managerial efforts.
What the issuance relief covers
Deputy Chief Counsel Jonathan Ingram wrote that the division would not recommend enforcement action if CC is minted programmatically by Super Validators, Validators and application providers, in the manner and circumstances described in the submitted letter, without registration under Section 5 of the Securities Act or Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act, in reliance on counsel’s opinion.
For the token’s issuance mechanism, the scope matters: the staff position concerns the specified participants and minting arrangements described in Canton’s submission. The report does not provide issuance rates, allocation amounts or a supply schedule.
A staff position, not a legal determination
The letter reflects the division’s enforcement position based on the specific facts and representations submitted by Canton. It does not express a legal conclusion, including on whether Canton Coin is a security.
That limitation distinguishes the relief from a general determination covering all network tokens or every possible CC issuance arrangement.
Network and funding context
Canton Network is blockchain infrastructure developed by Digital Asset to support secure, privacy-enabled and interoperable transactions across institutions and networks. CC is its native utility token.
The report also noted that:
- In May, 21Shares became the first U.S. ETF issuer to offer direct exposure to CC.
- In June, Digital Asset raised $355 million in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z crypto fund to expand the Canton ecosystem and accelerate institutional adoption of its infrastructure.
A16z partner Miles Jennings welcomed the staff’s position in a Tuesday post on X. He argued that the SEC’s March token taxonomy and subsequent FAQs had created a broader pathway out of securities laws for network tokens. That was Jennings’ interpretation; the letter itself remained tied to Canton’s submitted facts and circumstances.