Overview
Subsquid Labs recently partnered with Canto, a Layer-1 blockchain emphasizing public infrastructure and user empowerment. The teams hosted an X Space discussion about building public goods in Web3 to launch the partnership.
What is Canto?
Canto is a permissionless general-purpose blockchain built on the Cosmos SDK using Tendermint Core consensus. It runs the EVM, ensuring MetaMask compatibility.
Core Philosophy: Canto aims to fulfill Web3’s promise by creating an ecosystem without rent-seeking behavior typical of DeFi applications.
Unique Origin Story: Unlike contemporary Layer-1s, Canto emerged as a grassroots community effort. The team avoided VC funding, private sales, and large whale allocations — launching into the post-FTX trust vacuum with an authentic crypto ethos approach.
“We want to establish a protocol with meritocracy in the system.”
Core Propositions
- Liquidity as free public good
- Resistance to rent extraction through open infrastructure no single entity controls
- Minimal user capture encouraging third-party aggregators for easier protocol entry
Infrastructure Components
The ecosystem includes:
- Canto DEX
- Lending market
- $NOTE: fully collateralized stablecoin serving as the ecosystem’s unit of account
How Infrastructure Stays Free
Evan compares Canto’s model to city infrastructure funded by governments. NOTE’s interest from borrowing finances free DeFi utilities. The lending market contract (accountant contract) is immutable, ensuring proper fund allocation.
“Interest rates fluctuate based on demand, but the floor is always the treasury rate.”
Canto’s Evolution
Originally a Cosmos L1, Canto explored becoming a Layer-2. Rather than full Ethereum alignment, the team discovered Polygon’s zkEVM prover allowed Canto to integrate with the AggLayer ecosystem while maintaining Cosmos sovereignty.
The upcoming Cyclone Stack will introduce parallel execution and full EVM tooling compatibility.
Subsquid Partnership
Both organizations share values of permissionlessness, open-source development, and user/builder empowerment. After hosting a Canto Hackathon, developers requested indexing solutions, prompting collaboration.
Partnership Goal: Providing all the Canto data necessary to builders in a permissionless, scalable way.
Getting Started
- Canto: app.canto.io/bridge
- Building on Canto: docs.subsquid.io
- Discussion Recording: X Space link