Bank of Canada lays out criteria for ‘good money’ stablecoins

Canada’s central bank will approve only fiat-backed, high-quality stablecoins to ensure they are “good money” as part of the country’s plan to modernize its financial system.

The Bank of Canada has signaled it will only approve high-quality stablecoins tied to central bank currencies to ensure stablecoins serve as “good money” under the country’s upcoming stablecoin regulations, expected in 2026.

“We want stablecoins to be good money, like bank notes or money on deposit at banks,” Governor Tiff Macklem told the Montreal Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday.

Macklem wants the stablecoins to be pegged at a one-to-one ratio to a central bank currency and backed by “high-quality liquid assets” that can be easily converted into cash. Such assets typically include Treasury bills and government bonds.

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