> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.layerzero.network/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Getting Started with LayerZero V2 on Canton

> How Canton differs from the EVM for LayerZero developers, covering parties, Daml authorization, privacy, holdings, and packages, and what an integration needs.

Any data, such as a token transfer or an arbitrary instruction, can be encoded as bytes and delivered to a destination chain with LayerZero. This also applies to the **Canton Network**, where applications are written in Daml.

> [!TIP]
>
> If you're new to LayerZero, read [**"What is LayerZero?"**](https://docs.layerzero.network/v2/concepts/getting-started/what-is-layerzero.md) before you continue.

A Canton OApp communicates with OApps on EVM, Solana, and the other chains that LayerZero supports. The messages, the [packet](https://docs.layerzero.network/v2/concepts/protocol/packet.md) format, and the [DVN](https://docs.layerzero.network/v2/concepts/modular-security/security-stack-dvns.md) verification model are the same as on other chains. The Canton side is different in how identity, authorization, state, and fees work. This page describes those differences.

## Differences from the Ethereum Virtual Machine

Canton's own documentation has a full comparison for EVM developers:

* [Canton for Blockchain Developers](https://docs.canton.network/appdev/modules/m2-canton-for-ethereum-devs)
* [Concept Translation](https://docs.canton.network/appdev/modules/m2-concept-translation)
* [Network Architecture Comparison](https://docs.canton.network/appdev/modules/m2-network-architecture)

> [!NOTE]
>
> Skip this section if you already know the Canton ledger model and Daml.

### Comparison Table

| Aspect | EVM | Canton |
| - | - | - |
| **State Model** | Mutable contract storage | Immutable contracts; an update archives and creates |
| **Language** | Solidity | Daml |
| **Authorization** | `msg.sender` | Signatories and controllers declared in the template |
| **Identity** | Address | Party, hosted on a participant node |
| **Visibility** | All state is public | Only stakeholders see a contract |
| **Token Standard** | ERC-20 balances | CIP-0056 holdings (UTXO-style contracts) |
| **Code Deployment** | Deploy bytecode once | Upload and vet a DAR package on each participant node |
| **Fee Model** | Gas (ETH) | Traffic, bought with Amulet (Canton Coin) |
| **Contract IDs** | A contract address is stable | A contract ID changes when the contract is updated |

### Parties, Not Addresses

On Canton, an identity is a [party](https://docs.canton.network/appdev/deep-dives/manage-daml-parties). A participant node hosts the party. The participant node stores the contracts the party can see and submits transactions for it.

A party ID has the form `hint::fingerprint`, for example `Alice::1220f2fe…`. Canton's documentation tells you to treat party IDs as opaque identifiers. A party ID is longer than the 32-byte address field in a LayerZero message, so a party is not used directly as a `bytes32` peer or receiver.

### Signatories, Controllers, and Observers

Daml declares authorization in the template, not in runtime checks on `msg.sender`. Canton's [authorization model](https://docs.canton.network/appdev/modules/m3-authorization) has three roles:

* **Signatory**: must authorize the creation of a contract and always sees it.
* **Controller**: can exercise a specific choice on a contract.
* **Observer**: can see a contract but cannot act on it unless it is also a controller.

The participant nodes that host the signatories and actors of a transaction must confirm it. Observers' nodes receive their part but do not confirm. If a confirming party's hosting nodes cannot reach its confirmation threshold, for example because its only node is offline, the transaction cannot complete.

### Privacy and Explicit Disclosure

Canton is [private by default](https://docs.canton.network/appdev/deep-dives/privacy-model). A party can only use a contract that it can see. To use a contract that it is not a stakeholder of, the submitter attaches the contract to the command as a [disclosed contract](https://docs.canton.network/appdev/deep-dives/explicit-contract-disclosure). The contract's stakeholders share it off-ledger.

A LayerZero send uses contracts that the sender is not a stakeholder of. The sender's submission must include those contracts as disclosed contracts.

### Immutable Contracts and Changing Contract IDs

A Daml contract never changes. A [consuming choice](https://docs.canton.network/appdev/modules/m3-choices) archives the contract. If the choice creates an updated contract, that contract has a new contract ID. Do not store a contract ID as a permanent identifier for a token, an OApp, or a configuration. Look up the current contract when you need it.

### Holdings Are UTXO-Style

A [CIP-0056](https://github.com/global-synchronizer-foundation/cips/blob/main/cip-0056/cip-0056.md) token balance is a set of [holding contracts](https://docs.canton.network/appdev/deep-dives/token-standard), similar to Bitcoin UTXOs. A transfer consumes input holdings and creates new ones.

Only the stakeholders of a holding, such as its owner and the token administrator, can see it on the ledger. Canton Coin is an exception: the DSO party is a stakeholder of every Amulet holding, and Scan publishes Amulet holdings by owner. For a LayerZero send, the sender's wallet still supplies the holding contracts to spend.

### DAR Packages and Package Vetting

Daml code ships as a DAR (Daml Archive) package. Before a participant node can take part in a transaction that uses a package, it must [upload and vet](https://docs.canton.network/appdev/modules/m5-manage-daml-packages) the package. This includes the participant nodes of your wallet providers. [Package upgrades](https://docs.canton.network/appdev/deep-dives/smart-contract-upgrade) follow the same rule: every participant node involved in a transaction must vet the package version that the transaction uses.

### Fees in Amulet

Canton charges [traffic](https://docs.canton.network/appdev/modules/m4-canton-coin) for each transaction, bought with Amulet (Canton Coin), and the protocol fee for a send is also paid in Amulet. See [Fee Model](https://docs.layerzero.network/v2/developers/canton/technical-overview.md#fee-model).

## What a Canton Integration Requires

A LayerZero integration on Canton needs the following. For the full procedure, see [Deploying an OFT on Canton](https://docs.layerzero.network/v2/developers/canton/oft/overview.md).

1. **A participant node for your parties.** This can be your own validator node or a party hosted on another operator's node. To join the Global Synchronizer, a validator needs a [Super Validator sponsor](https://docs.dev.sync.global/validator_operator/validator_onboarding.html).
2. **A CIP-0056 token** for the asset that you want to move crosschain.
3. **The [LayerZero DAR packages](https://docs.layerzero.network/v2/developers/canton/technical-overview.md#layerzero-packages)**, which LayerZero provides. Upload and vet them on your participant node and on the participant nodes of your users' wallets.
4. **Amulet** to pay for traffic, LayerZero messaging fees, and the fee on each endpoint configuration request.
5. **Disclosed contracts from LayerZero.** Each send must attach LayerZero-signed contracts that the sender cannot see. LayerZero provides these as part of an integration.
6. **Endpoint configuration.** You submit the send and receive libraries, DVNs, and executor settings for your OApp as requests. The `lzowner` party accepts each request after VER processes it. `lzowner` is the LayerZero protocol party that commits VER results (see [Protocol Overview](https://docs.layerzero.network/v2/developers/canton/protocol-overview.md#the-virtual-endpoint-rollup-ver)).
7. **A Canton 3.x application.** The LayerZero endpoint on Canton targets Canton 3.x. An application built on Daml 2.x cannot integrate directly. It must upgrade first.
8. **An OApp or OFT on each remote chain.** You deploy and configure these with the standard LayerZero tooling for that chain, for example the [EVM OFT quickstart](https://docs.layerzero.network/v2/developers/evm/oft/quickstart.md).

## Get Help

LayerZero on Canton is not yet open for self-service integrations. To discuss integrating, [contact the LayerZero team](https://layerzeronetwork.typeform.com/to/U9hMgxf1).

## Next Steps

> [card] [OFT Deployment](https://docs.layerzero.network/v2/developers/canton/oft/overview.md)
>
> Deploy an OFT adapter for a CIP-0056 token on Canton and wire it to an EVM chain, step by step.

> [card] [Technical Overview](https://docs.layerzero.network/v2/developers/canton/technical-overview.md)
>
> The Canton model in detail, and how each part affects a LayerZero OApp.

> [card] [Protocol Overview](https://docs.layerzero.network/v2/developers/canton/protocol-overview.md)
>
> How the Virtual Endpoint Rollup processes sends and receives on Canton.