Canto is moving its DeFi-focused app chain to Polygon

Canto will be able to benefit from Ethereum security and better interoperability once it joins the Polygon ecosystem

article-image

Albert Beukhof/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

Canto, a blockchain designed for decentralized finance applications, plans to undertake a layer change.

The team behind the alt layer-1 network intends to transition to a zero-knowledge layer-2 on Ethereum, via the Polygon Chain Development Kit. 

The Polygon CDK is a modular codebase designed for developers that want to launch their own zk-powered layer-2 chains. Developers who want to be part of the Polygon CDK will automatically gain access to shared liquidity through a zk bridge and interoperability layer.

The Canto team notes that if participants on Canto Commons, the project’s governance forum, can reach an agreement, the network would be able to tap into the liquidity within the Polygon ecosystem and inherit security properties from Ethereum — rather than relying on fraud proofs and economic incentives.

Read more: Polygon is focused on a future of zero-knowledge proofs

Its interoperability layer is also extremely valuable, Blockworks research analyst Dan Smith notes.

“Chains that share the same prover and bridge contract can agree to trust each other and enable fast asset transfers without additional trust assumptions,” Smith said. “These ecosystems with richer bridging more effectively scale Ethereum as users are not forced to take on additional risks with third-party bridging.”

Canto would write its zk proofs with Plonky2, whilst maintaining a proof-of-stake validator set, the development team wrote in a statement. The team also noted that validators and stakers on Canto will remain the same.

Other blockchains have been built using the Polygon CDK. Immutable, a Web3 gaming developer, has also been actively testing the technology.

Ignatius Widjaja, product lead and principal blockchain engineer at Immutable, told Blockworks that the team is excited about using a Type 1 validity prover with its Immutable zkEVM network. 

“Polygon has continued to iterate on its underlying technologies, from its sequencer to prover to its off-chain data availability layer solution, to ensure they have the best modular components,” Widjaja said. 


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Ethena Labs is leaping from its flagship synthetic dollar, USDe, to a full product suite—USDtb, iUSDe, and the Arbitrum-based Converge Chain—designed to marry crypto-native yields with TradFi-grade compliance. Our analysis shows how expanding into CME, ETF options, and tokenized Treasuries could lift protocol revenue from sub-$500 million in a bear case to several billion dollars if favorable regulation and institutional adoption align.

article-image

The L1’s Interwoven Stack is the most opinionated tech stack yet

article-image

Bitcoin is still rising, 11 years after the documentary film The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin

article-image

Arch Labs CEO told Blockworks that the team plans to launch a native token, but declined to give details

article-image

CEO Mike Silagadze tells Blockworks that the US is “open for business” and why its DeFi bank offering is the first of many

article-image

Doing one thing well and leaving everything else out is often what disruptive technologies do best