Canada Launches First Regulated CAD Stablecoin CADD, Backed by Shopify and National Bank

Key Highlights

• Canada launched CADD, its first regulated Canadian dollar stablecoin, backed by Shopify and the National Bank of Canada and approved by Alberta Treasury Board and Finance.

• The launch positions Canada as the first G7 country with a bank-backed, provincially regulated national currency stablecoin available for private-sector use.

• The U.S. stablecoin market is approaching $300 billion, dominated almost entirely by dollar-pegged assets.

Canada has launched its first regulated Canadian dollar stablecoin. CADD is backed by Shopify and the National Bank of Canada, approved by Alberta Treasury Board and Finance, and is designed for institutional settlement rather than retail use, targeting 24/7 cross-border payments, corporate treasury management, and direct fintech transfers that the existing banking system cannot clear outside business hours.

The backing from Shopify carries weight beyond the brand. Shopify processes hundreds of billions in merchant transactions globally and has long pushed for programmable money rails that settle instantly across borders.

A CAD-pegged stablecoin with real bank backing gives Shopify's merchant network an alternative to SWIFT and correspondent banking for Canadian dollar flows, with settlement that does not stop on weekends or pause on public holidays. For the National Bank of Canada, co-issuing a regulated stablecoin is a step toward embedding itself in crypto-native payment infrastructure rather than watching that infrastructure develop around it.

The U.S. stablecoin market is approaching $300 billion in circulation, dominated by dollar-pegged assets like USDT and USDC. That dominance is not just a financial statistic: most of the world's crypto and digital finance activity denominates in U.S. dollars by default, extending dollar hegemony into a new financial layer. A credible CAD stablecoin backed by a chartered bank creates a vehicle that Canadian businesses and institutions can use for crypto-native transactions without taking on currency exposure they do not need.

Canada joins a small but growing group of countries building regulated national-currency stablecoin infrastructure. The EU's MiCA framework has prompted several euro-pegged products from regulated issuers, and Japan has moved toward bank-issued yen stablecoins under revised payment services rules. Each new entrant reinforces the case that major economies are quietly constructing the rails for a multi-currency stablecoin world, even as the loudest regulatory battles remain concentrated in Washington.