Canada Politely Moves To Solana $CADD Stablecoin CEO INTERVIEW

Tetra Digital received regulatory approval in April and launched its Canadian-dollar stablecoin, CADD, in May, CEO Didier Lavallet said. By September, CADD had just over $1 million in on-chain liquidity, which he characterized as organic rather than subsidized. The Orca pool, launched the week before the interview, was already producing about half of CADD’s volume. The host said demand for CADD on Solana appeared stronger than on Ethereum; Lavallet pointed to Solana’s engaged community and enthusiasm for the token.

Lavallet said Canadian businesses already using USDC had told Tetra they wanted a Canadian stablecoin to avoid foreign-exchange costs, which he viewed as evidence of product-market fit. He argued that Canadian control over the dollar matters and said a Canadian-controlled stablecoin aligns with Carney’s strategy. Tetra works with existing Canadian financial infrastructure and established institutions, and Lavallet described Visa and Mastercard as partners on crypto-related programs.

Tetra participates in public and private government discussions about stablecoin legislation and has made public submissions on Canada’s strategy. Lavallet expected draft legislation within weeks and implementation in early 2027, a rapid timeline by government standards, but emphasized that the legislation had not yet been released. He said an initial draft discussed no yield. Tetra’s ability to offer rewards remains unsettled: Lavallet argued they are necessary for a Canadian stablecoin to compete at scale and internationally, while also noting pushback from Canada’s banking industry and continuing uncertainty about the rules.

Lavallet described Canadian financial regulation as fragmented, citing 13 securities regulators and roughly 21 regulators or self-regulating entities across financial services. Some regulators understand digital assets, he said, but wider education and clearer direction are still needed. Canada moved early on crypto trading-platform rules and ETFs, activity slowed after FTX, and constructive dialogue is now returning. He cited an estimate that about one in three Canadians holds digital assets and said roughly one in five sends money abroad.

A Canadian-dollar token could help people move assets from Canada without foreign-exchange risk, Lavallet said, if they can convert it into the destination country’s local currency. That use depends on sufficient scale, reach, appropriate partners and local off-ramps; he expects the US dollar to remain the global reserve currency. He said CADC and QCAD are prospectus-led securities that cannot be used for payments or by retail users, leaving their main utility as trading pairs on crypto platforms. In his view, stablecoins offer fungibility and global interoperability, while bank tokenized-deposit systems could become walled gardens.

Lavallet expects financial institutions to become increasingly important partners for Tetra and named National Bank and ATB Financial as current CADD supporters. Canadian institutions are debating permissioned and permissionless blockchains, and he expects systems used by banks, Shopify, FISERV and retail users to need interoperability. He considers Solana well positioned as financial-institution infrastructure and also cited payment-focused projects including Temple and ARC. Tetra monitors on-chain activity and blacklists addresses or jurisdictions, but does not have a program to identify each wallet’s owner. Lavallet said the authority responsible for asset freezes remains unclear; Tetra wants to work with regulators while avoiding overreach, as it pursues a broader change to how Canadian assets move.