What's New in CatalyX Blockchain Manager 2.0: Your Canton Validator and Everything Around It

Every institution that transacts on Canton Network does so through a Canton validator, the node that hosts its parties, runs its Daml workflows, and keeps it in step with the rest of the network. Canton Network is a public Layer 1 blockchain with configurable privacy, so each validator sees only the transactions its own parties take part in. That is what lets regulated firms share one network.

Running the validator is the visible part of the job. Around it sit the keys that sign for your parties, the custody provider that may hold them, the applications you deploy on top, and the upgrades that arrive whenever the network moves forward. Those pieces decide how quickly a team gets from a pilot to production, and how much of its week goes into keeping the node healthy.

CatalyX Blockchain Manager is the platform behind the 100+ validators IntellectEU runs in production, and the one clients use to run their own. With version 2.0, it grows from an infrastructure management platform into a broader operations platform for Canton Network. It is rebuilt from the ground up with a new REST API and a new web console, and it now also supports hardened KMS solutions, custody connectivity and automated application deployment. This article walks through what is new and what each change means for the people who run the node. The full details are in the release notes.

What's new in CatalyX Blockchain Manager 2.0?

CatalyX Blockchain Manager 2.0 replaces the 1.x line with a rewrite that sets up a full validator from a single resource, keeps keys in the customer's own key management service and adds custody and application layers around the node. The table summarizes the release by area.

Your full Canton validator stack, set up for you

In CatalyX Blockchain Manager 2.0 you describe a validator in one Validator resource. The operator provisions the entire stack, from the Canton participant node and the validator app to the wallet and identity services, and keeps it in that state. Each component reports its own status, so your team can see at a glance what is starting, what is healthy and what needs attention. The Validator CRD reference lists every setting.

Everything the console does can also be automated through the new REST API, described in the API reference. CatalyX Blockchain Manager 2.0 is a fresh installation rather than an in-place upgrade from 1.x, and existing customers move across with our support team.

The Canton console, in your browser

Use the Canton console to run Canton administration commands against your participant from the Dashboard of the CatalyX UI. The output streams back live, and no cluster access or local tooling is needed. The Canton console guide has the details.

Your keys, your rules, in your own KMS

In CatalyX Blockchain Manager 2.0, validator keys sit in a key management service you control, not in storage the vendor operates. On top of the standard KMS drivers, version 2 adds hardened KMS solutions for Azure and AWS, with hardware-backed (HSM) keys, audit logging on by default and strict-mode checks that refuse weak setups. The KMS guide covers the supported services and setup.

The 2.0 releases also closed roughly twenty published CVEs and security advisories, and planned cluster maintenance no longer takes every part of the validator down at once.

How does multi-hosting keep your Canton parties live when a validator goes down?

CatalyX Blockchain Manager 2.0 onboards parties that hold their own signing keys, and hosts one party on several participants, including ones run by other organizations. If one validator goes down, the party keeps working through the others. For an institution that cannot accept a single point of failure in its settlement path, a validator outage becomes a degraded state for one host rather than an outage for the party. The multi-host parties guide walks through the setup.

Move faster with Sandbox mode

Sandbox mode is an optional setting where any signed-in user can create their own DevNet validator from the CatalyX UI just by typing a name. They don't need network endpoints, an onboarding secret or access to the cluster. It suits evaluation, training and early application work, and teams move to TestNet and MainNet through a regular installation once they are ready. The platform installation guide shows how to turn it on.

Your custody and wallet providers, connected through Wallet Gateway

Wallet Gateway is an optional component that lets dApps connect to your validator infrastructure. Any CIP-0103 dApp can connect, while signing stays with your signing or custody provider. It is enabled per validator, configured from the console or the API, and more than one provider can be active at a time. Details are in the Wallet Gateway guide.

What is the CatalyX Marketplace?

CatalyX Marketplace works like an app store for Canton Network. Applications and services are configured and deployed to CatalyX validators at the click of a button.

CatalyX Package Manager is the underlying registry that enables automated deployments to your validator. A provider publishes and versions its artifacts once, and the Marketplace deploys them where they are needed.

The first listings include CatalyX Package Manager and Daml Coding Assistant, and more applications are on the way. To list your application or service, send us a message to catalyx-product@intellecteu.com.

One platform for the validator and everything around it

CatalyX Blockchain Manager 2.0 brings the validator, its keys, custody connections and applications into one console, rebuilt from the ground up. It works the same way whether your team runs it in your own cloud or IntellectEU runs it for you as Node-as-a-Service.

Check out the CatalyX Blockchain Manager page, or book some time with our experts here.

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