Tokenized Deposits Bring Canada’s Big Six Banks Onto One Network

• Canada’s six largest banks are jointly exploring a Canadian dollar tokenized deposit network.
• The first phase covers transfers between the participating banks only.
• OSFI confirmed this month that tokenized deposits have the same legal status as ordinary deposits.
• Banks in the US and Europe are building comparable shared networks.

On September 22, Royal Bank of Canada, TD Bank Group, BMO, Scotiabank, CIBC and National Bank of Canada said they would jointly explore Canadian dollar digital money, starting with a tokenized deposit network that moves value between the six lenders around the clock. The project puts the country’s entire big-bank sector behind a single on-chain settlement model and keeps digital Canadian dollars on regulated balance sheets while private stablecoins have grown into a market worth more than $300 billion.

Phase one is narrow. Tokens will move only among the participating banks, with faster back-end settlement as the target. Programmable customer payments and links to outside digital asset ecosystems come later, and the banks expect other deposit-taking institutions to join as the work matures. The banks have not disclosed the underlying technology, expected volumes, customer access terms or a launch date.

OSFI’s September 10 ruling kept bank tokens under deposit rules

Twelve days before the announcement, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions confirmed that a tokenized deposit is legally the same product as a traditional one. Recording a deposit on a distributed ledger does not change its nature, so federally regulated banks can issue on-chain deposits under the capital and safety standards they already meet. OSFI also expects institutions building such products to consult their supervisors before launch and to follow its existing technology and third-party risk guidelines. That settled the question every bank board would have asked first.

Canada’s Stablecoin Act, which received royal assent in March 2026, had already drawn the statutory perimeter for digital Canadian dollar products. Stablecoins now have their own rulebook, although its operative provisions still wait for a government order to take effect. Banks can put deposits on-chain without leaving the prudential regime they operate under today.

Why a bank-issued token keeps deposits from leaking to stablecoin issuers

A tokenized deposit is an ordinary deposit recorded as a token on a shared ledger, backed one-to-one by cash and still a liability of the issuing bank. Its holder has the same claim on RBC or CIBC as any chequing customer. A stablecoin holder’s claim sits with a private issuer and its reserves, and the money exits the banking system at the moment of conversion.

Every dollar that moves into a third-party stablecoin is funding a bank no longer holds. By issuing the token themselves, the Big Six keep that deposit and the lending capacity behind it, while customers still get the speed that pulls them toward stablecoins.

Tokenized deposit Who owes the holder

The issuing bank

Backing

1:1 cash, booked as a bank deposit

Rulebook

Existing OSFI capital and safety standards

Where the money sits

On the bank’s balance sheet

Private stablecoin Who owes the holder

A private issuer

Backing

The issuer’s reserve assets

Rulebook

Stablecoin Act (March 2026)

Where the money sits

Outside the banking system

The shared ledger fixes timing. Interbank payments in Canada settle on business-day schedules, so a transfer sent late on a Friday can wait until Monday. On a common network, tokens move directly between participants at any hour, and programmability lets conditions such as a delivery confirmation be written into the payment itself.

Real-Time Rail delays gave six rivals a reason to share one ledger

Payment specialists see the network as a private-sector complement to Real-Time Rail, the Payments Canada instant payment system that has slipped years past its original schedule and is now targeting a Q4 2026 launch. RTR will move payments in real time, while a tokenized network adds programmability that a conventional rail does not offer.

Single-bank systems have also hit a ceiling. JPMorgan’s JPM Coin and Citi’s platform showed that a bank can tokenize its own deposits, but a token confined to one institution does little for a payment between two. With all six major lenders on board, the Canadian network covers the bulk of domestic deposits from day one.

Analysts quoted by CoinDesk tie the initiative to Ottawa’s push to harden domestic financial infrastructure as trade relations shift and Washington turns friendlier toward crypto.

Project Samara settled a C$100 million bond six months earlier

The banks are building on recent tests. In March, the Bank of Canada, RBC and TD completed Project Samara, trading and settling a C$100 million bond on-chain with wholesale central bank digital money.

Canada’s road to a bank token, 2026

March

Project Samara settles a C$100 million bond on-chain Bank of Canada, RBC, TD

March

Stablecoin Act receives royal assent Parliament of Canada

May

Regulated 24/7 digital Canadian dollar gets bank backing Shopify, National Bank

September 10

OSFI confirms tokenized deposits are legally deposits Federal banking regulator

September 22

Big Six announce an interbank tokenized deposit network RBC, TD, BMO, Scotiabank, CIBC, National Bank

Wall Street targets 2027 while the ECB went live a day earlier

The Clearing House, co-owned by JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo, plans a joint multi-bank tokenized deposit network for the first half of 2027. Its design mirrors Canada’s: competitors pooling infrastructure so digital dollar liquidity stays inside regulated banks.

Europe moved from the central bank side. On September 21, the European Central Bank launched Pontes, which lets banks including Deutsche Bank and Santander settle blockchain transactions in central bank euros, removing the need for a stablecoin as the settlement asset. In July, Swift moved its blockchain-based shared ledger into live transaction preparation, with 17 banks across six continents testing 24/7 cross-border tokenized deposit transfers. The BIS-led Project Agorá completed real-value testing in July, settling roughly $1 million across 30 live transactions among five central banks and 28 private institutions, and the UK’s Regulated Liability Network has piloted tokenized sterling deposits for uses such as marketplace fraud prevention.

The tokenized money raceLiveTestedPilotPlannedExploring CanadaExploring Big Six network 24/7 interbank settlement, later programmable payments RBC, TD, BMO, Scotiabank, CIBC, National Bank United StatesH1 2027 The Clearing House network Multi-bank tokenized deposits to counter private stablecoins JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citi, Wells Fargo EurozoneLive Pontes On-chain settlement in central bank euros ECB, Deutsche Bank, Santander GlobalPilot Swift shared ledger 24/7 cross-border transfers of tokenized deposits 17 banks incl. HSBC, UBS, BNY, Citi, BNP Paribas GlobalTested Project Agorá Unified ledger for wholesale cross-border payments BIS, 5 central banks, 28 institutions United KingdomPilot Regulated Liability Network Tokenized sterling deposits for consumer use cases UK Finance and member banks Source: ECB, Swift, BIS, UK Finance, The Clearing House, bank announcements

Stablecoin issuers lose their speed argument first

A Canadian customer who can hold a programmable bank token with full deposit status has less reason to buy a separate product. Private CAD stablecoin issuers will likely have to compete on reach across public blockchains and exchanges, where the bank network does not yet operate.

Consumers will notice little at first, since phase one stays between banks. The early gains sit in bank operations: faster settlement cuts the liquidity held against pending payments and closes the weekend gap. For shareholders the project looks defensive. It protects the deposit base behind lending margins, and a separate revenue line is unlikely any time soon.

Credit unions’ access terms will decide how far the network reaches

The six banks said they expect to admit other deposit-taking institutions, and the access terms will determine whether credit unions and smaller lenders get round-the-clock settlement on equal footing or keep routing payments through the incumbents. Timing matters as well. With The Clearing House aiming for 2027, a Canadian network that reaches production first could be positioned to link with US dollar tokenized deposits, which fits the banks’ stated plan to connect with outside digital asset ecosystems. BMO and TD, which also sit in The Clearing House initiative, are the most obvious bridge between the two.

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