Canton Network has published a tokenomics CIP draft called "Universal Burn and Synchronizer Pricing," proposed by Yiannis Varelas of 5North and Shaul Kfir of Digital Asset.
Proposal would standardize traffic fee settlement across synchronizers
Under the draft, all production synchronizers on the Canton mainnet, including Dedicated Synchronizers, would be required to pay network traffic fees priced in U.S. dollars and settled on-chain through the burning of Canton Coin (CC).
The proposal also says deployment and operation of Dedicated Synchronizers would become permissionless. Activity on those synchronizers would also be included in validator and application rewards.
Current setup for global and dedicated synchronizers
At present, activity routed through the Global Synchronizer already results in CC burns. Dedicated Synchronizers, by contrast, have previously paid Digital Asset through commercial software licensing, and that fee is set to be phased out as Digital Asset open-sources the core network.
Pricing and discount structure
According to the draft, pricing for the Global Synchronizer would remain unchanged at $60 per MB, while test environments would continue to be free.
Dedicated Synchronizers could receive discounts based on throughput. They could also choose to post CC as collateral and make long-term usage commitments in exchange for additional discounts. The specific pricing curve and parameters would be introduced in a later CIP.
Implementation timeline
The draft lays out a two-phase rollout. Phase one is expected in the first quarter of 2027, when the Universal Burn mechanism would go live. Phase two is expected in the third quarter of 2027, when the pricing curve and discounts would take effect.