CADD is now available on Wealthsimple. It's a stablecoin designed to be worth one Canadian dollar, and it arrives with two capabilities at once: you can buy and sell it right in the app, and CADD held in your Wealthsimple crypto account is eligible for rewards.
Here's what it is, how it works, and what it means for you.
What is CADD?
CADD is Canada's first CAD-backed stablecoin issued by a regulated financial institution. A stablecoin is a type of digital asset built to hold a steady value, usually by being pegged to a traditional currency. CADD is pegged to the Canadian dollar and is redeemable at par, meaning one unit of CADD equals one Canadian dollar.
It can be bought and sold in the app with no trading commission, used to buy other crypto, and sent across the country or across borders. CADD held in a Wealthsimple crypto account is eligible for 3.25% APY in rewards, accrued daily and paid weekly — with no minimum balance and nothing to sign up for.
Price stability is the whole point. Most cryptocurrencies swing in value; CADD is designed to sit still at $1. Every CADD is backed by low-risk Canadian-dollar assets — cash, money market funds, and short-dated treasury bonds — held with regulated Canadian financial institutions, with transparent monthly attestations. CADD's issuer, Tetra, is a Canadian trust company regulated by Alberta Treasury Board and Finance.
CADD is supported on the Ethereum and Base networks at launch.
How buying and selling CADD works
CADD trades like any crypto on Wealthsimple, with one simplification: trades settle instantly, and on the Canadian-dollar side, the price never moves.
You can trade in CAD. Supported pairs are CADD/CAD
CAD trades are 1:1, with no markup. $500 of CADD is 500 CADD, and 500 CADD is $500. Every time.
Market orders only. Because CADD is designed to stay at $1, there are no limit orders — there's no target price to set for something that doesn't move.
CADD can be swapped for other crypto. It works as an on-ramp to the other crypto Wealthsimple supports.
Trades settle instantly against Wealthsimple's own CADD inventory, so there's no external exchange in the middle.
How CADD rewards work
CADD held in a Wealthsimple crypto account is eligible for rewards at 3.25% APY. Rewards accrue daily and are paid out weekly, in CADD, directly to your crypto account. There's no minimum balance, no tier requirement, and nothing to opt into — holding CADD with us is all it takes.
To put a round number on it: 1,000 CADD held for a year at 3.25% would generate roughly 32.50 CADD, arriving in weekly installments of about half a CADD. (Illustrative — actual rewards depend on your balance over time.)
CADD stays fully accessible the entire time. It can be traded, swapped, or withdrawn whenever you like — rewards are simply calculated on whatever CADD balance is held at each daily snapshot.
See more information about our rewards program.
What this means for you
CADD is less a single feature and more a set of options. Here are some of the things it can be used for:
Rewards on a steady value. CADD held in a Wealthsimple crypto account earns 3.25% in rewards, with no lock-ups and no minimum balance.
Cross-border transfers. CADD can be sent internationally, instantly, with no limits and at a lower cost than a traditional wire.
Domestic transfers. CADD can be sent anywhere in Canada, without the transfer limits that come with Interac e-Transfer.
A route into other crypto. CADD can be swapped to buy other crypto coins, or converted back to CAD.
Why we call it "rewards," not "interest" (and what that means at tax time)
CADD rewards are a loyalty program funded by Wealthsimple — not interest, and not yield paid by CADD itself. CADD does not pay any return on its own; the 3.25% comes from us as a reward for holding CADD on our platform. If the program ever changes, we'll let you know.
Rewards may still be taxable income depending on your situation, so it's worth checking with a tax professional about what applies to you.
If you've earned staking rewards before, one difference is worth calling out. Staking pays out in a volatile cryptocurrency and can involve fees and lock-up periods. CADD rewards are paid in CADD — designed to hold a steady $1 value — with no fees and no lock-ups, and the CADD stays accessible the whole time. (CADD itself can't be staked, for the record.)
What are the risks?
CADD is designed to be stable, but it's still a digital asset, and that comes with a few honest caveats.
It's not a bank deposit. CADD and CADD rewards are not covered by deposit insurance like CDIC or CIPF.
Stablecoins carry some risk. A stablecoin's peg depends on the assets behind it and the systems that maintain it. CADD is fully backed and independently attested each month, and we run de-peg checks before every trade — but "designed to stay at $1" is not the same guarantee as cash in a chequing account.
Rewards can change. The 3.25% rate is set and funded by Wealthsimple. It's not fixed forever, and we'll notify you if it changes.
Although the term "stablecoin" is commonly used, there is no guarantee that the asset will maintain a stable value in relation to the value of the reference asset when traded on secondary markets or that the reserve of assets, if there is one, will be adequate to satisfy all redemptions.
For the full picture, see the CADD Information and Risk Statement.
Where to find CADD in the app
CADD is available now in the Wealthsimple crypto account. Anyone already holding CADD there is earning rewards automatically — there's nothing to set up.