Digital Asset, the company behind the Canton Network, is teaming up with former House Speaker Paul Ryan’s American Idea Foundation to test whether blockchain technology can improve how states deliver public assistance.
The two organisations announced plans on Friday to pilot a system called RISE, which would use Canton to distribute and track state-administered benefits across three US states, though neither party has named which states will participate.
Assuming federal regulators sign off, the pilot programs are slated to begin sometime in the first quarter of 2027. The core idea behind RISE involves consolidating benefits that currently arrive separately into a single combined payment, issued either monthly or twice a month, with built-in spending categories covering essentials like food, child care, and general cash assistance.
One of the more technical features involves automatic adjustments. As a household’s income shifts over time, the system would recalculate benefit levels on its own rather than requiring manual recertification processes that often lag behind actual changes in a family’s financial situation.
Agencies overseeing the pilot would also gain visibility into the process through Canton, with the ability to monitor payments, remaining balances, how funds are being spent, and whether recipients remain in compliance with program rules.
Digital Asset described Canton’s role as essentially the coordination layer underneath the whole system, managing the rules, permissions, and transactions needed to move benefits to recipients while keeping sensitive personal and financial information restricted to only those who need access to it.
Ryan framed the pilot as an attempt to fix a longstanding problem in how benefits programs are structured. He pointed specifically to the way many existing programs impose steep penalties on families as their earnings increase, sometimes discouraging people from taking on more work or higher-paying jobs because the loss in benefits outweighs the wage gains.
In his statement, Ryan said combining fragmented benefit programs, cutting back those earnings penalties, and closely measuring outcomes could together demonstrate what a more modern approach to the social safety net might look like.
