Canton Super Validator

There are two categories of Canton Super Validators:

Infrastructure Super Validators: Operators that provide core network services including the Global Synchronizer and Byzantine fault-tolerant (BFT) consensus. There are 13 infrastructure super validators, most of which have been live since network genesis.

Application / Ecosystem Super Validators: Institutions whose Super Validator role is tied to Canton Improvement Proposal (CIP)-defined milestones, such as integrating custody, deploying tokenized assets, enabling trading, providing analytics, or strengthening network security.

Together, these two groups form the curated set of operators that sustain and evolve Canton’s shared, public interoperability and governance layer.

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Responsibilities of a Super Validator

While the specific responsibilities depend on the type of Super Validator, all share a commitment to security, integrity, and the operational health of the network.

Infrastructure Super Validators

Operate Global Synchronizer infrastructure

Provide sequencing, ordering, and BFT consensus for cross-domain transactions.
Maintain the liveness, resilience, and neutrality of the interoperability backbone.

Validate Canton Coin activity

Validate all transfers and related workflows tied to transaction fees, incentives, and network-level operations.
Ensure economic integrity and synchronization consistency across all domains.

Operate shared services

Provide utilities like the Canton Name Service and discovery endpoints.
Offer reliable infrastructure used by applications and validators across the network.

Governance participation

Vote on network configuration, synchronizer upgrades, and shared utility management.
Contribute to transparent, multi-party governance that supports network stability.

Application / Ecosystem Super Validators

Deliver CIP-defined milestones

Build and deploy ecosystem features, such as custody integrations, tokenized asset deployments, trading systems, or security protocols.
Contribute directly to Canton’s functional and commercial growth.

Unlock governance and reward rights through delivery

Receive Canton Coin (CC) rewards and governance weight as they meet network-defined contributions and milestones.

Enhance the network’s institutional reach

Represent key sectors — banks, custodians, trading venues, analytics providers, or Web3 security firms — helping bridge on-chain and traditional infrastructure.

Both categories work collaboratively: Infrastructure Super Validators sustain the network’s core, while Application / Ecosystem Super Validators expand its capabilities and integrations.

Why Super Validators matter

Super Validators are central to how Canton delivers interoperable yet privacy‑preserving infrastructure.

Interoperability backbone
Super Validators keep different Canton domains and applications coordinated by sequencing cross‑domain workflows, while application‑level data remains local and permissioned.
Integrity of network‑level economics
By validating Canton Coin operations and related synchronizer‑level flows, Super Validators help ensure that fees and incentives are applied consistently.
Institutional trust and accountability
Because the Super Validator set is curated and composed of identifiable organizations, it provides a clear accountability layer for regulated institutions assessing Canton’s operational risk.
Resilience and governance
Distributing Global Synchronizer operations across multiple Super Validators improves resilience and creates a multi‑party governance model for critical infrastructure, rather than concentrating control in a single operator.

For institutions relying on Canton for production workflows, the composition and practices of the Super Validator set are key inputs into risk, vendor, and operational due‑diligence processes.

How Super Validators relate to standard validators

Super Validators are a superset of standard validators:

Every Super Validator runs its own validator node for its own participation.
Infrastructure Super Validators add responsibility for running Synchronizer infrastructure and network-layer validation.
Application / Ecosystem Super Validators link their validator role to measurable ecosystem contributions.
Not all validators are Super Validators. Standard validators focus solely on their application-level data and domain operations.

An institution may choose to:

Run only a standard validator, relying on existing Super Validators for synchronizer services, or
Become a Super Validator, adding responsibility for shared infrastructure and governance on top of its own validator operations.

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How Canton Super Validators differ from Ethereum validators

Although both use the term “validator”, a Canton Super Validator has a broader, more governance‑oriented role than an Ethereum validator.

Scope and function

Canton Super Validator
- Operates standard validator functions, and may operate the Global Synchronizer (infrastructure) or deliver ecosystem enhancements (application).
- Validates Canton Coin operations and supports governance or network growth.
Ethereum validator
- Focuses on block proposal and attestation for a single global chain.
- Does not manage interoperability infrastructure or application-level governance.

Data visibility

Canton Super Validator
- Handles encrypted metadata and ordering data; never sees full private transaction content.
Ethereum validator
- Sees all transactions and full chain state in plaintext.

Membership and incentives

Canton Super Validator
- Composed of vetted institutional operators.
- Incentives can stem from stable infrastructure provision or successful delivery of ecosystem contributions.
Ethereum validator
- Anyone can participate by meeting stake and hardware criteria.
- Incentives and penalties are purely performance-based.

For institutions, Canton Super Validators resemble a regulated consortium of infrastructure and ecosystem operators, combining operational stability with incentivized innovation..