In the experiment, dubbed Project Samara, a group of investors used a blockchain to trade a $100-million bond issued by Export Development Canada. The bond settled in “W-CAD,” a central bank digital currency (CBDC) issued by the Bank of Canada. (The Logic)

Talking point: Canadian banks are increasingly experimenting with crypto as the technology gets increasingly embedded in the traditional financial system. The Bank of Canada is a leader in blockchain experimentation, conducting deep research into the possible future issuance of a CBDC. Project Samara builds on the central bank’s experiment called Project Jasper, which tested the use of blockchain for settling payments between banks a decade ago. A January C.D. Howe Institute paper argued a CBDC could give Canada an advantage by making it easy to move money into and out of stablecoins—crypto tokens pegged to the value of a state-issued currency—and tokenized deposits without involving a bank.

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