Tetra Digital Group has launched CADD, a Canadian dollar-backed stablecoin issued through Tetra Trust. Alberta Treasury Board and Finance approved the product under a financial services regulatory framework.
CADD is backed one-to-one by Canadian dollars and is live on the Base, Ethereum and Tempo blockchains. Tetra describes it as Canada's first stablecoin issued by a licensed trust company and the only one issued through a Canadian financial institution.
The launch introduces a domestically regulated Canadian-dollar settlement instrument into a market where US-dollar products have dominated stablecoin use. The structure is intended for banks, payment service providers, and fintech groups seeking a Canadian-dollar option for blockchain-based payments and settlement.
Funds used to mint CADD are held in trust and reserved solely for redemption, according to Tetra. The company said this is designed to meet institutional requirements for asset protection, transparency and compliance.
Canada's payment system still relies heavily on batch-based infrastructure introduced in the 1980s, even though the country clears about $424 billion each business day. CADD is intended to move Canadian dollars across blockchain networks with continuous availability and faster settlement.
Market gap
Although the Canadian dollar is among the world's most traded currencies, there has been no widely adopted Canadian dollar digital payment rail at scale, Tetra said. As tokenised cash instruments have gained traction in other markets, domestic businesses and financial institutions have lacked a local stablecoin option.
Stablecoins are becoming more widely used in payments and settlement internationally, but most activity remains concentrated in US dollar-denominated tokens. Tetra is positioning CADD as a domestic alternative governed by Canadian rules and issued by a regulated institution based in Canada.
"This milestone reflects the strong collaboration with Alberta's government, industry partners and regulators to bring a compliant and scalable Canadian-dollar stablecoin to market," said Didier Lavallée, Founder and CEO of Tetra Digital Group.
"CADD is issued by a regulated financial institution, with reserves held in Canada and compliance built in from day one by a firm with Canada's longest track record of operating regulated digital asset infrastructure. It enables faster and more efficient movement of Canadian dollars on-chain within a structure institutions recognize," Lavallée said.
Institutional focus
CADD is intended to support round-the-clock cross-border settlement, real-time treasury transfers, marketplace payouts and direct settlement between fintech partners. Those uses have been difficult to manage on existing Canadian payment rails, particularly outside standard operating hours or when intermediary banking arrangements are involved.
A consortium of Canadian financial institutions and technology groups is backing the launch, according to Tetra. The group includes Urbana Corporation, Wealthsimple, Purpose Unlimited, Shakepay, ATB Financial, National Bank of Canada, and Shopify, as well as Tetra Digital Group.
The launch follows a testnet phase in which CADD moved between the National Bank of Canada and Wealthsimple. Tetra said the exercise made CADD the first Canadian stablecoin to move between two financial institutions and demonstrated its use in institutional payment flows within a compliant structure.
Tetra's broader business has focused on regulated digital asset infrastructure in Canada. Tetra Trust was the country's first regulated digital asset custodian, and the company said it also supported the first staking-enabled Ethereum and Solana exchange-traded funds in Canada.
Global backdrop
The launch comes as stablecoin-based settlement gains traction in mainstream payments. Tetra cited global stablecoin transaction volume of more than $27 trillion in 2025, exceeding Visa's annual payment volume, alongside moves by major card networks to expand settlement using digital dollar tokens.
For Canada, the significance lies in the introduction of a Canadian-dollar instrument into that market under domestic oversight, rather than relying on offshore or foreign-currency products. Tetra said CADD is governed by Canadian law and built around a trust structure intended to reassure institutional users.
CADD is expected to be added to Solana after its initial deployment on Base, Ethereum and Tempo. For now, the launch gives Canadian banks, fintech groups and corporate treasuries a regulated tokenised Canadian dollar product that Tetra says has been missing from the country's digital payments market.