Canada's First Bank-Issued Stablecoin: Tetra Launches CADD on Four Chains

Tetra Trust Company, through its agent CAD Digital Inc., has launched CADD, the first Canadian-dollar stablecoin issued by a regulated financial institution after receiving approval from Alberta Treasury Board and Finance. The Calgary-based trust company's CADD token is backed 1:1 by Canadian dollars held in trust and is now live on Base, Ethereum, and Tempo, with Solana deployment to follow.

The launch arrives as global stablecoin transaction volume surpassed $27 trillion in 2025, exceeding Visa's annual payment throughput, yet the Canadian dollar, despite ranking among the world's most-traded currencies, has lacked a production-scale on-chain payment rail until now.

What problem is CADD actually solving?

Canada clears roughly $424 billion per business day, but retail payments still depend on batch-based infrastructure designed in the 1980s. That mismatch has pushed Canadian businesses toward USD-denominated stablecoins for cross-border settlement, creating FX exposure and operational friction for treasuries that transact primarily in CAD.

CADD addresses this gap by placing Canadian dollars on continuously settling networks with near-instant finality. All reserves backing the token are held in trust in Canada and ringfenced exclusively for redemption, a structure designed to satisfy institutional requirements around asset segregation and bankruptcy remoteness.

Who is backing the launch?

CADD enters the market with a consortium of Canadian financial institutions and technology companies that includes Urbana Corporation, Wealthsimple, Purpose Unlimited, Shakepay, ATB Financial, National Bank of Canada, and Shopify. That backer list is unusual for a stablecoin launch: it combines a major Schedule I bank, a provincial financial institution, the country's largest independent digital wealth manager, and a global e-commerce platform headquartered in Ottawa.

A December 2025 testnet phase saw CADD move between National Bank of Canada and Wealthsimple, the first time a Canadian stablecoin had transferred between two regulated financial institutions on a live blockchain network.

How does this fit Canada's regulatory direction?

Tetra Trust is registered under Alberta's Loan and Trust Corporations Act and qualifies as a custodian under National Instrument 81-102 and 31-103. It is also a reporting entity under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act. Issuing a stablecoin from inside that regulatory perimeter, rather than through an offshore entity or a non-bank crypto issuer, is the structural distinction that separates CADD from the USD-denominated stablecoins currently dominating Canadian on-ramps.

The launch coincides with broader institutional acceptance: Visa began settling transactions in USDC in late 2025, and Mastercard has expanded stablecoin settlement across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. CADD brings comparable rails onshore, denominated in CAD and governed under Canadian law.

What use cases does CADD unlock?

Tetra is positioning CADD for four institutional applications that existing Canadian rails handle poorly: 24/7 cross-border settlement, real-time corporate treasury transfers, programmable payments for marketplace payouts, and direct settlement between fintech partners without correspondent banking delays. The last use case is significant for firms like Wealthsimple and Shakepay, which currently rely on legacy interbank channels that close on weekends and holidays.

Tetra Trust previously supported Canada's first staking-enabled Ethereum and Solana ETFs, giving the firm a track record of bridging digital assets into traditional investment products before this stablecoin issuance.

Why This Matters to FinanceX Readers

CADD is the first credible test of whether a domestic, bank-grade stablecoin can compete with USDC and USDT for Canadian institutional flow.

For treasurers, payment service providers, and fintech operators, the relevant question is no longer whether stablecoin settlement is viable, but whether CAD-denominated rails can capture share before USD stablecoins entrench themselves further in Canadian B2B payments. The consortium structure, with a Schedule I bank, a provincial institution, and Shopify on board, suggests distribution is already partially solved.

By Koen Vanderhoydonk - FinanceX Magazine