CIP-0127 Sets Out How Canton Would Enforce Super Validator and Featured App Locks On-Chain
A draft by Obsidian Systems and Digital Asset, numbered on 7 October and revised on 9 October, turns the CC locking rules for Super Validators and featured apps into ledger code. It is not yet approved.
A draft Canton Improvement Proposal that would move the locking rules for Super Validators (SVs) and featured apps onto the ledger received its number, CIP-0127, on 7 October 2026 and a substantial revision on 9 October. The draft is written by Jonathan D.K. Gibbons of Obsidian Systems and Simon Meier of Digital Asset. It is an open pull request in the Canton Foundation's CIP repository, marked Draft, and has not been voted on.
What it implements
Two approved CIPs already require Canton Coin (CC) to be locked:
- CIP-0105 (approved 2 March 2026) ties an SV's forward weight to the share of its lifetime SV rewards that it keeps locked. At the start, Tier 1 requires 70%. Unlocked CC vests at 1/365.25 of the amount per day.
- CIP-0116 (approved 20 May 2026) requires featured app parties to lock 5 million CC each, or 25 million CC for asset issuers, with a 60-day vesting period on unlock.
According to the draft, these locks are tracked today partly on a good-faith basis and enforced through manual SV votes. CIP-0127 specifies on-chain lock contracts, vesting and automatic enforcement.
The main changes it proposes
The draft says it follows the earlier CIPs closely, with five changes:
- A seven-day grace period for featured apps. An underlocked featured app would be suspended at once, but would lose its status permanently only if the shortfall lasts more than seven days. CIP-0116 currently says status is removed immediately.
- No grace period for SV weight. An SV that falls below its lock requirement would lose weight immediately.
- Vesting at the end. If the SV lock-up requirement is ever terminated, enforcement would stop but locked CC would still be released through vesting, to avoid a price shock.
- A minimum lock of 10,000 CC, adjustable by SV vote, to prevent dust locks whose upkeep costs more than they are worth.
- Custom controllers, so a staking app, the lock owner and the app operator can share control of unlocks and withdrawals.
How it would roll out
The draft lays out six increments. The first is a compatibility mode that works with any wallet supporting CIP-56 two-step transfers. Once that increment is live on MainNet, SV locks would have to move on-chain within 30 days. Featured app locks would follow after the first three increments. The draft says a reference implementation is being built in a Splice feature fork.
Why it matters
Locked CC cannot be sold until it vests, so the way locks are enforced affects how much CC is held off the market and how Super Validators and app operators manage their holdings. Moving enforcement on-chain would replace manual checks with rules the network applies itself, and the proposed controllers would give staking apps a standard way to manage locks for others. The details can still change before any vote.
