On public blockchains like Ethereum, verifiability is relatively straightforward because transaction data is publicly visible. Anyone can inspect the blockchain to confirm that a transaction occurred, when it was executed, the assets transferred, and the wallet addresses involved. This transparency makes independent verification simple but makes it unsuitable for institutional use cases. Financial institutions handle commercially sensitive data that cannot be exposed to competition and broader markets.
Canton’s architecture takes a fundamentally different approach. With built-in privacy as a core design principle, it ensures that transaction data is shared only with the parties that are entitled to see it, rather than every participant on the network. This selective disclosure enables institutions to transact with the confidentiality they require while benefiting from real-time settlement on shared, interoperable infrastructure.
But privacy introduces a new challenge: how can someone verify that a transaction has completed if they cannot see the underlying ledger data?
To solve this challenge, DA Registry now provides a Proof of Transfer API.
The API enables wallets and exchanges on Canton to offer their users, and the counterparties they interact with, an independent way to verify the status of a transfer without revealing confidential transaction information. Users can independently confirm whether a transaction is:
The result is a familiar, intuitive user experience - similar to tracking a payments or delivery status - while preserving the privacy guarantees that make Canton suitable for institutional markets. The benefits include:
The Proof of Transfer API is designed to power an ecosystem of verifiable transfers across wallets, exchanges, and blockchain explorers.
With Proof of Transfer API, wallets and exchanges can expose the Transfer Object for a given transaction to its users, which they can then use to independently verify the transfer’s status - whether it is pending, successful, failed or in an error state.
To do so, wallets and exchanges may direct users to any blockchain explorer that has integrated the Proof of Transfer API, where they can enter the Transfer Object to check the transfer status.
The Proof of Transfer API is already being adopted across the Canton Network ecosystem.
Bybit has integrated the Proof of Transfer API, enabling their users to independently verify the status of cross-exchange/wallets transfers involving Canton’s privacy-preserving assets. By providing a trusted way to confirm whether a transfer has completed successfully, independent of the exchange’s transactions history, the API enhances the end user experience and gives users greater confidence to transact with privacy-enabled assets (e.g. USDCx).
DA Registry has also integrated the Proof of Transfer API itself, allowing holders of assets issued through DA Registry to independently verify the status of their transfers. Through a compatible explorer, users can enter the Transfer Object to independently confirm whether a transfer is pending, successful, failed or in an error state - without exposing confidential transaction data.
Fig 1: Exposing the Transfer Object for a DA registry issued asset transfer, by clicking “Copy Details” and enter Transfer Object into a compatible explorer to independently verify transfer status