Interviewer: While the piping that runs global capital markets is facing a once-in-a-generation upgrade as institutional readiness hits an inflection point with the DTCC bringing digital rails commercial. Wall Street is moving on chain and as institutions don't want public blockchain speculation they need configurable privacy, regulatory compliance as well as real enterprise infrastructure. Now Canton Strategic Holdings has built a first public company to power that infra as a super validator rather than just buying and holding digital coins. Joining us live here at the New York Stock Exchange is Mark, CEO and chairman of Canton Strategic Holdings. Mark, great to have you here. Thank you so much for joining me.
Mark: Thank you for having me. What an exciting morning here.
Interviewer: Yes, absolutely. And you and I are here on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and we're talking about the plumbing and how it is coming on chain. So tell us about the work that you're doing and what makes you different.
Mark: So our financial markets operate on an enormous scale and the infrastructure behind it, the plumbing, the pipes, the clearing and settlement has not kept up with that market demand. You look back at the 1960s, 1970s when there were paper certificates, runners, etc. around that moving to book entry form, electronic form. This is another step forward. Where you get autonomous settlement using the underlying blockchain technology. So that's the innovation and it's about creating scale and so that efficiency around how capital moves in real time versus this fragmented multi-day settlement of this financial drag in our economy and our system. So that's the innovation around the underlying technology that we're looking to deploy.
Interviewer: Yes, and Mark, coming into this year, there are a lot of expectations surrounding institutional adoption when it came to the DeFi landscape. But now that we are heading into year-end as well as 2027, many say this may be the institutional inflection point. So despite the gridlock that we're seeing in the nation's capital in Washington DC, what does all of this mean, not just for Wall Street, but also Main Street?
Mark: Yeah, I mean, I like to say the train's already left the station, so to speak. There's no kind of turning back from where this is. Obviously one of the key components was DTC's launch and getting their exception last year in December of 2025, where they're launching their tokenized platform for treasuries and equities. That was a massive innovation or ability for them to do that given their key central role that they play in our financial markets. And you know, I think institutions see the value add about mobility of collateral as a perfect use case. So there's lots of talk about AI and lots of talk about 24/7 trading. You can't turn anywhere without either one of those two topics being talked about, and the underlying mobility of collateral is what's required in order to unlock that 24/7 trading. So it's almost like a prerequisite to have that mobility of collateral to move in time with trading. And so that's the key differentiating factor, and I think the other element for Canton specifically is the regulatory requirements when you deal with these regulated markets that demand these compliant systems to be configurable privacy is the key phrase there where it's required by institutions to want to have that trust. And protections around that.
Interviewer: And you highlighted a lot of key points there. So when it comes to the unlock, in particular the institutional unlock for viewers out there who may not be as familiar with the taxonomy or even some of the vocabulary, tell us what a super validator actually does.
Mark: So a super validator is essentially running the infrastructure behind the network, so they are providing that value to keep the network running and so that was a key differentiating factor as you talked about for Canton Strategic. We're not just a passive play accumulating coin and a treasury vehicle. We're an operating company and our product just happens to be the Canton network itself and so one of the revenue streams that we have is by operating that Super Validator. Helping provide that infrastructure to the network and then the other revenue streams by locking as a service and providing other investments into the ecosystem whether that be using our balance sheet to help builders build on top of the network or it could be where we're seeding investments in the funding.
Interviewer: And Mark, while I have you here, I do want to get your perspective when it comes to key operational milestones that you're looking at for your organization. So what do you focus on as you scale profitability?
Mark: So again, we're not a passive investment. We're not an ETF just beta exposure to the underlying coin. It's about having an operating company and generating profitability for shareholders. That's what you get from an active strategy like ours. Where we're putting our balance sheet to work to generate that additional return. That's why it's an attractive investment for people looking to get exposure to it. You have other choices about buying the coin or buying an ETF. If you're looking for a differentiated exposure to this technology but want an active strategy, that's what we're keep focused on.
Interviewer: Yes, and Mark, finally, before I let you go, it's hard to believe, but we are in the final quarter of 2026 and as we look ahead to the upcoming year, many of us are focused on what's happening on the macro side. But when you're looking at digital assets in particular, DeFi, especially with you and I here at the New York Stock Exchange, what are you paying attention to and what trends are you expecting to highlight the headlines?
Mark: Sure, so there's obviously in the last year a lot of talk about the Clarity Act and when that didn't pass some thought that was necessarily a death blow to some of this technology, and I think exactly the opposite you've seen from the agencies, the SEC and the CFTC that regardless of whether they have the congressional approval from the Clarity Act which would have given them, they're already publishing rules and regulating securities and derivatives. That's their mandate and you've already seen from the SEC transfer agency rule tokenized or innovation exemption. Lays down the groundwork for onshore tokenized stocks, and I think you're going to continue to see momentum from the agencies about laying down that framework to bring those products onshore and so that it will be competitive in the global markets landscape.
Interviewer: Well, Mark, it was great having you join me this morning here at the New York Stock Exchange. Quite the morning, as you can hear behind us on the trading floor. So I appreciate your insights as well as your perspective. Thank you very much.
Mark: Thank you so much for joining me.
