How to Buy

Canto (CANTO) is an EVM-compatible layer-1 blockchain with a core focus on making Decentralized Finance (DeFi) free to use. It forms part of the Cosmos (ATOM) ecosystem of interoperable chains and decentralized applications (Dapps) and has enjoyed a rapid ascent since its launch in August 2022, due to its original vision.

Canto aims to deliver on the early promise of DeFi by providing the best execution layer and incentivization for original development work and making new systems accessible, transparent and fully decentralized. Canto is a grassroots project by a stable of DeFi advocates and didnt benefit from any venture capital (VC) or presale raises.

Canto was founded by a team of DeFi advocates and is led by DeFi Pulse co-founder Scott Lewis and the founders of Slingshot Crypto and Plex. Lewis serves as leader and contributor, while Plex helps to develop the networks frontend and free public infrastructure. NeoBase manages the Canto EVM blockchain explorer and also created a useful analytics dashboard to help Canto navigate utility tools such as CLM and the Canto DEX.

Canto has several unique features that set it apart from other blockchains in the DeFi space, with a big part of its success its anti-establishment approach and designs on freeing DeFI tools for mass use. It has no official foundation, token presale, or vested tokens and essentially aims to provide feeless DeFi services to all crypto users.

It does this by establishing what it calls free public infrastructure for three core DeFi primitives, namely decentralized exchanges (DEX), stablecoins and lending market protocols. To this end it has its own Canto DEX, Canto Lending Market (CLM) and NOTE to connect 3 different parties: liquidity providers, stakers and users.

They fit into the Canto ecosystem as follows: Liquidity providers who deposit tokens into the Canto DEX earn CANTO tokens as reward; Stakers govern and expand the Canto Lending Market while also incentivizing work by developers; Users create network effects and enjoy the benefits of zero fees.

To ensure that these tools remain free to use for everyone, its infrastructure does not allow its main DeFi primitives to issue governance tokens or seek rent from future users in the form of fees.

Considering liquidity a free public good, Canto strives to remove all centralized elements from its chain and charges zero fees from liquidity providers such as other protocols, traders and investors who offer arbitrage.

The Canto DEX is not subject to any upgrades, does not have an official interface and will remain free to use through the Slingshot DEX aggregator, whose founders also co-founded Canto. It uses an automated market maker (AMM) mechanism to source liquidity from liquidity pool (LP) trading pairs and rewards their creators with CANTO tokens which can be used as collateral for loans.

Cantos NOTE stablecoin is a dollar-pegged ERC20 token that serves as Cantos official unit of account, NOTE is over-collateralized by loans to CLM and perpetually repegged through an algorithmic interest rate policy and be borrowed by providing CANTO, ETH, ATOM or Canto LP tokens as collateral.

There are 423,437,418 CANTO tokens reportedly in circulation, out of a total supply of 1B tokens.

The distribution of CANTO is allocated as follows: 13% to contributors, 2% to settlers of Canto, 5% to future grants, 35% to medium-term liquidity mining, and 45% to long-term liquidity mining.

Canto secures its network using the Cosmos networks Tendermint Core consensus mechanism and Canto validators. It uses the Ethermint system for EVM compatibility.

Canto can be traded on BingX, BTCEX, Bitget, BitMart and Gate.io. You can find others listed on our crypto exchanges page. Those who want to keep track of CANTO prices live can download the CMC mobile app.