Canto is a Layer 1 blockchain unlike any other in crypto: it was launched with no venture capital funding, no team token allocation, no presale, and no foundation. Its core DeFi primitives — a decentralised exchange, a lending market, and a native stablecoin — are embedded at the protocol level and charge zero fees. Canto is an ideological statement as much as a technical one, arguing that the most important financial infrastructure should be a genuine public good, owned and governed by its community with no private extractive interest. This guide explains what Canto is, how it works, and how to participate in the Canto ecosystem.
Canto is a permissionless general-purpose Layer 1 blockchain that runs the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). It was built by an anonymous collective of DeFi advocates and launched in August 2022. Canto operates on the Cosmos SDK with an Ethermint execution layer, giving it full EVM compatibility while using Tendermint BFT consensus underneath — the same consensus engine that powers Cosmos Hub and dozens of other production blockchains.
At its launch, Canto deployed three core protocols classified as Free Public Infrastructure (FPI) — primitives that are permanently embedded in the blockchain and charge zero protocol fees:
Canto DEX: A decentralised automated market maker exchange where liquidity providers earn trading fees but the Canto protocol takes zero cut. For certain core liquidity pairs, even the LP fee was set to zero, making swaps on Canto among the cheapest in all of DeFi.
Canto Lending Market (CLM): A lending protocol forked from Compound v2. Users can deposit collateral and borrow assets. All interest paid by borrowers goes directly to lenders — the protocol retains none. This is in direct contrast to most DeFi lending protocols, which route a percentage of interest to a protocol treasury controlled by token holders.
NOTE: Canto's native unit-of-account stablecoin, soft-pegged to 1 USD. NOTE is minted by borrowing against approved collateral in the CLM. Interest paid on NOTE loans flows back into the CLM as additional lending liquidity, creating a self-sustaining stablecoin with no protocol profit extraction.
The concept of Free Public Infrastructure is the intellectual core of Canto. The analogy Canto draws is to traditional public goods like roads, libraries, and clean water: these are services so foundational to the functioning of society that extracting private profit from them is considered harmful. Canto's founders argue that the most important DeFi primitives — spot trading, lending, and stablecoins — are similarly foundational and should not be owned by venture capitalists or controlled by profit-seeking teams.
This philosophy is embedded in the launch mechanics. There was no presale that enriched early investors at the expense of later users. There was no team token allocation that created a perpetual extractive interest in the protocol. There was no foundation that acts as a centralised governance body. Canto is governed entirely by CANTO token holders through on-chain governance, and CANTO was distributed exclusively through liquidity mining — rewarding users who contributed to the network rather than investors who simply wrote cheques.
Zero-Fee Core DeFi: The native DEX and lending market charge zero protocol fees, making Canto one of the most cost-efficient environments for DeFi activity in the entire blockchain ecosystem.
No VC Backing or Team Allocation: CANTO was never sold to venture capitalists. No team members received a pre-allocated token grant. This is an extremely rare property in crypto, where most projects give large allocations to insiders at discounted prices.
EVM Compatible via Ethermint: Any Solidity smart contract can be deployed on Canto without modification. MetaMask works natively. Developers familiar with Ethereum can build on Canto immediately.
Contract Secured Revenue (CSR): Canto introduced a mechanism called Contract Secured Revenue, where a portion of the gas fees generated by a smart contract are routed back to the contract's deployer. This allows open-source DeFi developers to earn sustainable revenue without conducting a token sale, aligning the FPI ethos with practical developer incentives.
NOTE Stablecoin: A natively issued, fully collateralised unit-of-account stablecoin with a unique interest model that recycles interest payments back into lending liquidity rather than capturing them as protocol profit.
The CANTO token serves as the gas token for all transactions on the Canto blockchain and as the staking token for validators. Total supply: 1 billion CANTO. Because there was no presale or team allocation, the entire CANTO supply has been distributed through liquidity mining, staking rewards, and community governance grants.
The absence of a VC allocation means there are no large private investors with discounted token positions waiting for an opportunity to sell. This structural property reduces the unlock-driven sell pressure that has damaged the token prices of most venture-backed crypto projects at their vesting cliff dates.
CANTO staking uses an unbonding period of 21 days. During the unbonding period, tokens are illiquid and do not earn rewards. This is a standard Cosmos SDK security parameter designed to prevent validators from quickly unstaking and withdrawing if they behave maliciously.
Add Canto to MetaMask: Open MetaMask and navigate to Settings, then Networks, then Add Network Manually. Enter the following details: Network Name is Canto Mainnet, RPC URL is https://canto.gravitychain.io, Chain ID is 7700, Currency Symbol is CANTO, and Block Explorer URL is https://explorer.canto.io. Save and switch to the Canto network.
Acquire CANTO Tokens: CANTO is listed on Coinbase, MEXC, Gate.io, OKX, and other exchanges. Purchase CANTO and withdraw to your MetaMask Canto address. Alternatively, bridge ETH or USDC from Ethereum to Canto using the Synapse Protocol or the official Gravity Bridge and then swap for CANTO on the Canto DEX.
Bridge to Canto Network: Visit the official Canto bridge at bridge.canto.io. Connect your Ethereum wallet, select the asset and amount you wish to bridge, and confirm the transaction. Bridging from Ethereum typically takes 10 to 20 minutes. Bridging from other Cosmos chains via IBC is near-instant.
Supply Assets to the Canto Lending Market: Visit the Canto Lending Market interface and connect your wallet. Click Supply and select an asset — USDC, ETH, CANTO, or other supported collateral. Confirm the transaction. You will begin earning interest immediately, with no protocol fees deducted from your returns.
Mint NOTE Stablecoin: After supplying collateral to the CLM, navigate to the Borrow section and select NOTE. Enter an amount below your borrowing limit (always maintain a safe collateral ratio to avoid liquidation) and confirm. You now hold NOTE, which can be used in DeFi, held as a stable, or provided to NOTE liquidity pools to earn additional CANTO rewards.
Stake CANTO with Validators: Visit the Canto staking interface and connect your wallet. Review the validator list and select one with high uptime and a reasonable commission rate. Enter the amount of CANTO to delegate and confirm the transaction. Rewards accumulate each block and can be claimed at any time. Remember that unstaking requires a 21-day unbonding period before your CANTO becomes liquid again.
True Cost Efficiency: Zero protocol fees on the native DEX and lending market mean every dollar of value you transact stays in your pocket. For frequent DeFi users, this translates into significantly higher net returns compared to fee-charging protocols.
Aligned Incentives: Because no venture capitalist owns a large discounted CANTO position, the incentives of all CANTO holders are broadly aligned — everyone benefits equally from the network's growth, and no one has a structural advantage.
EVM Familiarity: Full Ethereum compatibility means Canto is accessible to any user who has interacted with Ethereum-based DeFi before. The learning curve is minimal and existing Ethereum wallet infrastructure works without modification.
Contract Secured Revenue for Developers: The CSR mechanism makes Canto an attractive platform for open-source DeFi developers who want to earn sustainable revenue from their protocols without conducting a token sale or taking a protocol fee.
Ideological Alignment: For users who believe DeFi's original promise — decentralised, open, and accessible financial infrastructure — Canto is the most faithful implementation of that promise currently in production.
Canto is a rare thing in crypto: a blockchain project that means exactly what it says. When it describes itself as free public infrastructure, it is not marketing language — it is an architectural and economic reality enforced at the protocol level. No fees, no VC allocation, no team tokens, no foundation. Just a community-governed blockchain with deeply practical DeFi primitives available to anyone, free of charge. For users who are tired of being the product in a system designed to extract value from them, and for developers who want to build on infrastructure that will never raise fees or change the rules, Canto offers something genuinely different in the blockchain landscape of 2025.