Tetra Trust launches CADD, a regulated CAD stablecoin backed by Shopify and National Bank, aiming to modernize Canada's $424B daily legacy payment infrastructure.
Tetra Trust Company has officially launched CADD, a Canadian-dollar pegged stablecoin, marking the first instance of a CAD-denominated asset issued by a regulated financial institution in Canada. The project, which received approval from the Alberta Treasury Board and Finance, aims to displace legacy payment infrastructure that currently handles approximately $424 billion per business day. By moving settlement onto blockchain rails, Tetra intends to bypass the batch-processing limitations inherent in systems dating back to the 1980s.
The project secured $10 million in funding in September 2025, drawing support from a consortium that includes Shopify, Wealthsimple, Purpose Unlimited, Shakepay, ATB Financial, National Bank of Canada, and Urbana Corporation. Urbana Corporation currently maintains a majority stake in the Calgary-based firm. The token is already live across several major networks, including Ethereum and Base, with additional support for Solana currently in development. This multi-chain deployment is designed to facilitate the institutional use cases Tetra is targeting, specifically 24/7 cross-border settlement and real-time corporate treasury management.
Operational viability was tested in December through a series of transactions conducted between Wealthsimple and National Bank of Canada. This testnet activity represented the first time a Canadian stablecoin successfully moved between two distinct financial institutions. By establishing this bridge, the consortium is attempting to solve the current reliance on USD-denominated stablecoins for Canadian businesses that require blockchain-based liquidity. While the global stablecoin market has reached a capitalization of $320 billion, the Canadian ecosystem has historically lacked a domestic, regulated counterpart to compete with the dominance of USD-pegged assets.
Tetra enters a nascent market where regulatory approval is the primary barrier to entry. The competitive set remains small but is beginning to formalize. Stablecorp, which counts Coinbase Ventures among its backers, received final approval from the Ontario Securities Commission in December for its QCAD token, though it has yet to see broad market availability. Additionally, a Calgary-based firm named Loon has taken over the CADC stablecoin, which has previously processed over $200 million in volume. Loon has also initiated the regulatory process by pre-filing a prospectus with the Alberta Securities Commission.
Tetra Trust leverages its existing position as Canada’s first regulated digital asset custodian, a role that already includes providing custody for the country's first staking-enabled ether and solana ETFs. For those tracking the evolution of crypto market analysis, the shift toward institutional-grade stablecoins represents a move away from retail-focused speculation toward the modernization of interbank settlement. The success of CADD will likely depend on the speed of adoption by the institutional backers involved in the project, as well as the ability to maintain liquidity across the supported chains.
The primary technical hurdle for CADD is the transition from testnet validation to high-volume, real-world settlement. Unlike decentralized stablecoins, CADD relies on reserves held in trust under Canadian law, meaning the counterparty risk is tied directly to the legal and custodial framework of Tetra Trust. Traders and institutions evaluating the asset should monitor the depth of liquidity pools on Base and Ethereum, as the utility of the token for corporate treasury transfers depends on the ability to move large blocks without significant slippage. While the backing of major financial players provides a layer of institutional credibility, the actual volume processed will be the ultimate indicator of whether CADD can capture market share from the entrenched USD-denominated stablecoin incumbents.
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