Coinbase has partnered with Canadian stablecoin issuer Stablecorp in a bid to expand access to tokenized Canadian dollars, a company executive told Cointelegraph during the Blockchain Futurist Conference in Toronto.<\/p>\n
According to Coinbase Canada’s CEO, Lucas Matheson, the exchange is investing an undisclosed amount in Stablecorp and will help market its fiat-collateralized stablecoin, QCAD. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really important that we have a stablecoin for Canadians,\u201d Matheson told Cointelegraph in an exclusive interview on May 13, adding that stablecoins are especially urgent because the country has \u201cno peer-to-peer [payment] rail\u201d and \u201cwire transfers cost $45 and take 45 minutes of paperwork.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith stablecoins, 24\/7, instant, borderless payments become possible \u2014 this is already feasible with existing tech,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucas Matheson (left) and Sam Bourgi (right) on the sidelines of the Futurist Conference in Toronto. Source: Cointelegraph<\/em><\/p>\n Related: <\/strong><\/em>What Canada\u2019s new Liberal PM Mark Carney means for crypto<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n As of May 13, stablecoins have an aggregate market capitalization of around $245 billion, primarily comprising US dollar-backed stablecoins Tether (USDT<\/a>) and USDC (USDC<\/a>), according to data<\/a> from CoinGecko.<\/p>\n Stablecorp\u2019s most recent report on QCAD\u2019s fiat reserve backing dates to July 2024, at which time only around $175,000 worth of QCAD were in circulation, according to its website.<\/p>\n Stablecorp\u2019s flagship product is QCAD, a fiat-backed stablecoin. Source: <\/em>Stablecorp<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n However, \u201cCanada lacks a clear path for stablecoin adoption\u201d in part because its government has yet to \u201cremove securities regulation barriers for fiat-backed stablecoins,\u201d Coinbase said<\/a> in a March 26 blog post.\u00a0It needs to begin \u201ctreating them as payment instruments rather than securities,\u201d the exchange added.<\/p>\n In April, the US SEC said that stablecoins do not qualify as securities in the country if they are marketed solely as a means of making payments<\/a>.<\/p>\n “We\u2019re asking the federal government to develop a national strategy for digital assets. Crypto is strategic, and we hope this new administration sees that,\u201d Matheson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Canada elected Prime Minister Mark Carney during its federal elections in April. Carney has historically been critical of cryptocurrency<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\nBarriers to adoption<\/h2>\n