Crypto: Bank Of Canada Pilot Issues Country’s First Tokenized Bond 2026

A pilot involving the central bank and major financial institutions tested whether distributed ledger infrastructure could streamline bond issuance, trading and settlement. Canada has completed a pilot program testing the use of distributed ledger technology in bond markets, culminating in the issuance of the country’s first tokenized bond, according to a Friday announcement from the Bank of Canada. The experiment, known as Project Samara, involved the Bank of Canada, Export Development Canada, Royal Bank of Canada and TD Bank Group, and explored if blockchain-style infrastructure could streamline bond issuance, trading and settlement. As part of the pilot, Export Development Canada issued a $100 million Canadian dollar ($73.6 million) bond with a maturity of less than three months to a closed group of investors. The security was issued, traded and settled on a distributed ledger platform, with payments processed using wholesale central bank deposits rather than commercial bank money. The platform, built on Hyperledger Fabric, let participants manage the full lifecycle of the security, including issuance, bidding, coupon payments, redemption and secondary trading, while integrating separate ledgers for cash and bonds to enable near-instant settlement. The pilot highlighted trade-offs in adopting distributed ledger systems for capital markets. Participants reported improvements in operations and data integrity, but also identified governance, regulatory and integration challenges. Researchers said the results showed distributed ledger systems could improve settlement efficiency and reduce counterparty risk, though broader adoption may be slowed by infrastructure and regulatory hurdles. Related: Vancouver Bitcoin reserve effort hits resistance from city officials Canada’s pilot program adds to a growing list of experiments by governments and financial institutions that explore how blockchain-based systems can reshape the issuance and settlement of traditional financial assets. An early example came in 2018, when the World Bank issued a two-year A$110 million “Bond-i” debt instrument arranged by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The issuance is widely considered the first bond whose creation, allocation and lifecycle management were recorded on a blockchain.