Digital Asset, Paul Ryan Foundation Plan Blockchain Pilot for State Benefits
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan’s American Idea Foundation has teamed up with Digital Asset, the company behind the Canton Network, on a plan to test blockchain-based distribution of state benefits in three US states, Cointelegraph and Crypto Briefing both reported on August 21, 2026.
The program, called RISE, is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2027, both outlets reported. It would merge separate benefit programs into single monthly or twice-monthly payments, applying spending restrictions across categories such as food, child care and cash assistance, Cointelegraph reported, citing what it described as Friday’s announcement.
Where the two accounts agree
Cointelegraph and Crypto Briefing align on the pilot’s core mechanics. Both report that RISE would run on the Canton Network and that the system would automatically adjust benefit levels as household income changes. Both also state that three US states will take part in the initial pilot, and both note that the specific states have not been publicly identified. Cointelegraph reported that the companies did not name the participating benefit programs either, and said the pilots remain subject to federal approval — a caveat Crypto Briefing’s account does not directly restate but does not contradict.
Where the accounts diverge
The two reports differ meaningfully in what they add beyond the shared framework. Crypto Briefing alone supplies the program’s full name, Resources for Independence, Stability, and Employment, and reports that Digital Asset raised $135 million in 2025 and secured additional funding in 2026. Cointelegraph’s version does not mention either detail, so the funding figure should be treated as single-sourced pending independent confirmation.
Crypto Briefing also reports that Digital Asset CEO Yuval Rooz addressed Canton’s capacity to coordinate public infrastructure while protecting individual data, though the outlet does not present this as a direct quotation. Cointelegraph, by contrast, carries an on-the-record line attributed to Ryan:
“By combining fragmented benefits, reducing penalties as families earn more, and rigorously measuring results, these pilots can help show what a modern safety net should look like.”
That quotation appears only in Cointelegraph’s account; Crypto Briefing’s version does not reproduce it.
Canton’s broader push into government-linked finance
Cointelegraph placed RISE in the context of Canton’s recent expansion into institutional and government-adjacent use cases. The outlet reported that in April, Digital Asset partnered with the Japan Securities Clearing Corporation, Mizuho and Nomura on a proof-of-concept trial using Canton to test Japanese government bonds as digital collateral for real-time, cross-border transactions, a project selected for support under Japan’s Financial Services Agency Payment Innovation Project. Cointelegraph also reported that in July, Franklin Templeton and Virtu Financial exchanged a tokenized US Treasury using Canton, with Tradeweb providing execution and price-discovery services — a transaction Tradeweb described as an industry first, according to Cointelegraph.
On market data, Cointelegraph alone reported figures from CoinGecko showing Canton Coin, the token used to pay transaction fees through the network’s Global Synchronizer, valued at roughly $4.1 billion in market capitalization, placing it 23rd among all cryptocurrencies. The outlet said CC had gained about 10% over the previous week. That claim sits in direct tension with Crypto Briefing’s own description of Canton: the outlet reported that the Canton Network has no native token, and that there is no trading, no tokenization play, and no DeFi protocol built on top of it. The two descriptions cannot both be accurate as stated — either Canton Coin is a priced, market-capitalized asset, as Cointelegraph and CoinGecko describe, or the network has no native token, as Crypto Briefing reports. This publication has not resolved which account is correct.
What remains unresolved
Neither outlet has identified which three states will participate, which specific benefit programs — such as food assistance or child care subsidies — will be included, or when federal approval might be granted. Crypto Briefing’s $135 million funding figure and account of a 2026 raise have not been corroborated by Cointelegraph or any primary filing in the evidence reviewed for this article. The conflicting descriptions of whether Canton has a native token also remain unreconciled between the two outlets.
Sources
Every fact above is attributed to one of these reports. Where they disagree, the article says so.
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