Off the Block: What drives institutions to crypto? Canton explains

May 7, 2026

Off the Block: What drives institutions to crypto? Canton explains

The barrier to institutional blockchain adoption is no longer regulation or risk appetite; it’s the infrastructure itself. That's the argument our guests make in the latest episode of Off the Block: Eric Saraniecki and Yuval Rooz, co-founders of Digital Asset and key contributors to the Canton Network.

In the 16th episode of our weekly podcast, we sit down with two of the most pragmatic builders in the space to explore why the design principles underlying today's public chains were never built for the confidentiality, compliance, and composability that institutions actually require, and what a purpose-built alternative looks like in practice.

Dive into the key moments of this episode:

03:39 - When did institutions start taking crypto seriously?
06:04 - Lessons from early enterprise blockchain experiments
10:03 - Is privacy a feature or a prerequisite for finance?
17:41 - Tokenization vs “Real-World Assets” explained
23:08 - Beyond TVL, what metrics actually matter?
26:35 - Hidden risks of institutional onchain adoption
36:48 - Why it’s called Canton Network (hint: inspired by Switzerland)
44:11 - The future of finance, from friction to instant settlement

▶️ Listen to the full episode of Off the Block with Eric Saraniecki and Yuval Rooz.

Want more conversations with the builders and thinkers behind crypto's hottest projects? Our 21shares podcast brings you closer to the pioneers and companies shaping the digital assets industry. Subscribe to Off the Block, because we believe the future is being built there.

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