Digital Asset and the American Idea Foundation have announced a collaboration to support the launch of state RISE pilot programs, using Canton Network as the technology foundation for a new approach to government benefit distribution. The initiative marks the first time Canton has been applied to public sector benefit administration.
RISE, which stands for Resources for Independence, Stability, and Employment, is designed to address a structural problem in the American safety net: families receiving assistance typically navigate multiple programs, each with separate eligibility requirements, payment schedules, reporting processes, and benefit phase-outs. The pilot will test whether those benefits can be delivered through a single, integrated blockchain-based system that adjusts automatically as household circumstances change.
Under the model, multiple benefits covering food, child care, and cash can be combined into monthly or twice-monthly payments, with benefit levels automatically adjusted as families enter the workforce and income increases. Canton's programmable infrastructure is intended to encode benefit requirements directly into the distribution process, verify identity and participation requirements, support mobile access, and apply fraud prevention controls, while maintaining a complete and auditable record of deposits, purchases, balances, declined transactions, and spending by category.
Authorized state agencies, nonprofit case managers, and independent research evaluators will have access to real-time transaction, participation, and compliance data appropriate to their role, giving oversight bodies a more timely view of program performance than traditional systems allow. The evaluation will examine employment and earnings, benefit utilization, housing stability, and other measures of economic mobility.
"Three decades ago, states led the way on welfare reform by testing new approaches and showing Washington what was possible," said Paul Ryan, President and Founder of the American Idea Foundation. "We can build a safety net that is simpler for families, more accountable to taxpayers, and better aligned with work and upward mobility."
Yuval Rooz, Co-Founder and CEO of Digital Asset, framed the initiative around Canton's core design properties. "Canton enables trusted participants to coordinate shared transactions and rules while preserving the privacy and control complex institutions require," he said. "With RISE, we can apply those capabilities to a new use case and help states test a benefit system that is more transparent, responsive, and accountable."
The pilot is subject to federal approvals. AIF and Digital Asset intend to expand the initiative through a broad series of state pilots, adapting the model to different benefit systems, policy requirements, and participant populations. Findings from the first pilots will inform subsequent deployments.
