Paul Ryan Foundation Backs Ohio’s Canton Pilot for Digital Asset Use

Digital Asset, the firm behind the Canton Network, and the American Idea Foundation—an organization associated with former U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan—say they are preparing a blockchain-based pilot to modernize how public benefits are distributed in the United States.

The program, dubbed RISE, is designed to consolidate multiple state-administered benefits into scheduled payments, with rules that can adjust to changes in household income. The partners said the pilot is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2027, pending federal approvals.

Key takeaways

• Digital Asset and the American Idea Foundation plan a benefits-distribution pilot using the Canton Network across three U.S. states.
• RISE is expected to bundle benefits into monthly or twice-monthly payments and apply spending categories such as food, child care, and cash.
• The system would automatically recalibrate benefit levels when household income changes.
• Participating agencies would reportedly be able to monitor payments, balances, spending, and compliance data through Canton, while limiting access to sensitive information.
• Participating states and specific benefit programs have not yet been named, and the pilot remains subject to federal approval.

A blockchain-based approach to a fragmented benefits system

In their announcement, the partners described RISE as a way to reduce the friction that can come from administering multiple benefit streams that may have different rules and eligibility thresholds. The program is positioned as a “safety net” modernization effort by using Canton to coordinate permissions, payment logic, and transaction execution.

Digital Asset said Canton would be responsible for managing the rules and permissions involved in distributing benefits, while also constraining who can access sensitive data. The partners further stated that the system would support tracking at the agency level, including payment history, balances, spending behavior, and compliance information.

According to the announcement, the pilot would generate benefit payments on a monthly or twice-monthly schedule and apply spending restrictions to categories including food, child care, and cash. A central feature is automation: benefit levels would reportedly adjust as household income changes, aiming to reflect real-time circumstances rather than relying on static eligibility assumptions.

“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.”

Why the partners say penalties could be reduced

The program’s rationale, as outlined by Paul Ryan, focuses on a common pressure point in benefits administration: when household earnings rise, recipients can face penalties or reductions that may not align with how quickly income changes. Ryan’s remarks explicitly connect the pilot to reducing penalties as families earn more.

From an investor and builder standpoint, the significance of the approach is less about one-off payments and more about how a rules engine can be coupled to compliance and reporting. If RISE works as intended, it could serve as a template for how public agencies handle complex eligibility and spending constraints—especially where multiple benefit categories must be administered without creating operational overload or exposing sensitive information.

However, the partners did not specify which states would participate or which programs would be included in the pilot. They also emphasized that the project requires federal approval, meaning timelines and scope could shift depending on regulatory review.

Canton’s government-linked momentum

This announcement adds another public-sector use case to Canton, whose growth in recent periods has been driven largely by institutional finance deployments. Earlier projects show a pattern of Canton being tested for settlement and collateral use, rather than for consumer-facing redistribution of funds.

In April, Japan Securities Clearing Corporation (JSCC), Mizuho, Nomura, and Digital Asset launched a proof of concept using Canton to test Japanese government bonds as digital collateral, including for real-time cross-border transactions. That work was reportedly selected for support under Japan’s Financial Services Agency Payment Innovation Project.

More recently, in July, Canton was used to settle a tokenized U.S. Treasury trade between Franklin Templeton and Virtu Financial. Tradeweb handled execution and price discovery, and the firms said the transaction moved against USDCx in real time—described as an industry first by Tradeweb.

With RISE, Canton’s role would extend from capital markets applications into the mechanics of public benefits. The pilot, if it gains regulatory traction, would test whether the network can handle compliance-heavy workflows while coordinating payment logic and access controls across multiple agencies.

What to watch before the first quarter of 2027

While RISE’s stated objectives are clear, key operational details remain unconfirmed. The partners have not named the three participating states or identified which benefits would be bundled. The pilot also depends on federal approval, which may determine the final structure of the payment schedules, spending categories, and reporting requirements.

Prospective observers should also watch how the system measures performance—particularly whether automated adjustments to benefit levels meaningfully reduce penalties as income changes, and how agencies validate compliance and audit trails through Canton. If the project advances beyond planning, it could become a reference point for how blockchain-based infrastructure fits into regulated, data-sensitive government programs.