Digital Asset, the developer behind the Canton blockchain, is preparing to pilot a blockchain-based system for distributing government welfare benefits across three U.S. states, according to reports. The initiative is being developed together with the American Idea Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by former U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan.

The proposed program, known as RISE — short for Resources for Independence, Stability, and Employment — is designed to consolidate multiple welfare and aid benefits into a single blockchain-based payment system, with the Canton network expected to provide the underlying infrastructure. It aims to bring several government-administered assistance programs into a more unified payment system, potentially changing how eligible recipients receive and manage public benefits.

The pilot is targeted for the first quarter of 2027, although the project remains subject to federal approval. Neither Digital Asset nor the American Idea Foundation has yet disclosed which three states will participate or which specific welfare programs will be included in the initial trial.

Single Payment Model Under Consideration

The proposed structure would combine several forms of government assistance into one consolidated payment. Under the model being considered, eligible recipients could receive a single payment once or twice each month instead of managing separate disbursements tied to different programs.

Existing benefit programs, by contrast, rely on separate disbursement rails and rules. SNAP benefits are delivered through Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards that states administer under U.S. Department of Agriculture rules, while cash assistance under TANF runs through its own state-administered systems. Programs also differ in how benefits may be used — SNAP funds, for instance, are restricted to eligible food purchases — constraints that any single-payment design would need to accommodate.

Such an approach could simplify the administration of public assistance while making benefit distribution easier for recipients. Government agencies, in turn, could gain a more unified mechanism for coordinating payments across multiple programs.

Blockchain technology is expected to form a central component of the initiative. Canton, the blockchain developed by Digital Asset, is being considered as the infrastructure supporting the RISE program. Canton is best known for institutional finance applications, and firms including Goldman Sachs and Microsoft have operated nodes on the network since its first mainnet applications went live in 2024, using it for tokenized-asset and market-infrastructure use cases. A welfare-distribution pilot would extend the permissioned network's reach into public-sector payments. Blockchain-based systems provide a shared digital record of transactions and allow authorized participants to coordinate financial activity through a common network. For a welfare distribution system, such infrastructure could support greater transparency and more streamlined payment processing, although the practical benefits will depend on how the pilot is designed and implemented.

Federal Approval Remains a Key Step

The planned launch still depends on federal approval, making regulatory clearance an important milestone for the project. That requirement carries weight because major safety-net programs such as SNAP and TANF are established in federal law and administered by states under federal rules, so restructuring how their benefits are paid out depends on authorization from federal authorities. The participating states and the government benefit programs selected for the pilot are expected to be identified at a later stage.

The initiative comes as governments and technology companies continue to explore ways to modernize payment infrastructure and reduce administrative complexity. Welfare programs can involve multiple agencies, eligibility requirements, and payment schedules, which can make benefits difficult to coordinate. By combining different forms of assistance into a unified payment, RISE could give eligible recipients a simpler way to access government support while reducing the complexity of administering separate benefit streams.

The involvement of the American Idea Foundation adds a policy-focused dimension to the effort. The foundation, which Ryan established after leaving Congress in 2019, has focused its policy work on the safety net, including the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit he long championed. RISE also echoes his earlier proposals in this area: as House Budget Committee chairman in 2014, Ryan advanced an 'Opportunity Grant' plan that would have let participating states merge programs such as SNAP, TANF and housing assistance into a single funding stream. The organization is working alongside Digital Asset to develop the proposed system and test its viability in state-level welfare programs.

Pilot Could Test Blockchain's Role in Public Benefits

The three-state pilot is expected to offer an opportunity to evaluate whether blockchain technology can support government benefit distribution at scale. Its results could help determine whether a consolidated digital payment model can improve administrative efficiency while maintaining appropriate controls over public funds and recipient eligibility.

Significant details remain unresolved, however. The states involved, the welfare programs covered, and the exact structure of the payments have yet to be disclosed, and federal authorization is required before the planned pilot can proceed. The milestones ahead include the federal review and the selection of the participating states and programs.

According to reports, the RISE initiative is currently positioned as a limited pilot rather than a nationwide replacement for existing welfare payment systems. Its initial results could nevertheless provide insight into whether blockchain infrastructure can be used to coordinate government assistance more efficiently.

The proposal also lands amid a broader shift in the federal government's posture toward digital assets, which has included the GENIUS Act — a federal framework for payment stablecoins signed into law in July 2025 — and a March 2025 executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. RISE would apply distributed-ledger technology to a different problem: the back-office coordination of public benefit payments rather than crypto-asset markets themselves.

If approved and successfully launched in early 2027, the pilot would offer an important real-world test of whether blockchain infrastructure can support the delivery of government benefits across multiple programs and jurisdictions.