Canton Approves CIP-0116: Featured Apps Must Lock 5 Million or 25 Million CC per Party
Featured App status, which makes an application eligible for Canton Coin app rewards, now depends on locked CC, with a 60-day unlock and 30 days for existing apps to comply.
The Canton Foundation approved CIP-0116, "Featured App Locking", on 20 May 2026. The proposal ties Featured App status, the designation that makes an application eligible for Canton Coin (CC) app rewards, to a minimum amount of CC locked for each party the application uses.
The CIP was written by Eric Saraniecki, a co-founder of Digital Asset. It was created on 21 January, proposed on 6 May, updated on 15 May and approved on 20 May.
The thresholds
- Non-issuer Featured App parties: 5,000,000 CC locked per PartyId.
- Asset issuer Featured App parties: 25,000,000 CC locked per PartyId.
- How locking works: CC is held in a segregated, identifiable PartyId and the Foundation is informed. Only actively locked CC counts.
- Unlocking: a 60-day unlock period, in which 1/60 of the amount vests each day.
New and existing apps
- Applicants identify the PartyId and the CC they will lock before a vote. The Foundation orders reviews by the time the assets were positioned, and the on-chain vote is gated on proof that the applicant has locked enough. Rejected applicants can move their CC immediately.
- Existing Featured Apps have 30 days from approval to meet the requirement. Those that do not lose their status and must reapply.
Enforcement
The locking requirement has to be met continuously. If a party falls below the threshold, its Featured App status is removed. Super Validator operators must run a rapid-response process to unfeature an app: any Super Validator can start an unfeature vote after official notice from the Foundation, and operators must respond within 30 minutes. The Tokenomics Working Group and the Super Validators can propose changes to the thresholds and lock durations, with public notice and a full governance vote.
The rationale
The CIP says Featured App designation has relied heavily on Foundation governance. Locking is meant to make the process more market based, to favour applications that show committed capital, and to let all CC holders take part in deciding which applications are featured.
It follows CIP-0105, approved on 2 March 2026, which introduced a similar locking framework for Super Validators, and CIP-0098, approved on 7 January, which capped app rewards at $1.50 per transaction.
Why it matters
Featured App rewards are one of the main ways new CC is distributed to application builders. Requiring builders to lock CC changes who can earn them: small teams now need either CC of their own or a partner willing to lock it for them. Locked CC also cannot be sold during the lock, which affects how much of the supply is freely tradable. Readers should note that the thresholds are set in CC, not dollars, so their dollar cost moves with the price.
