-- VersaBank (VBNK.TO) on Monday said began receiving QCAD deposits under its previously announced custody services agreement with Stablecorp, a Canadian digital-asset infrastructure company and servicer of the QCAD Digital Trust and whose investors include Coinbase, Circle, DeFi Technologies and FTP Ventures.
QCAD is Canada's first regulatory compliant Canadian-dollar stablecoin.
The bank also congratulated Stablecorp on the listing of QCAD on Kraken, a registered restricted dealer in Canada and one of the longest-standing crypto asset trading platforms globally. Under the listing, QCAD will be available for trading on Kraken, facilitating the settlement of digital-asset transactions in a Canadian dollar denominated instrument.
"The start of the flow of QCAD deposits is not only further validation of the market-readiness of our VersaVault technology for the rapidly growing digital asset opportunity but also represent a significant milestone for the bank as our first incremental income from our digital asset strategy," said president David Taylor. "The value of stablecoins in circulation is forecast to grow to as much as US$4 trillion in the next four years - a 20-fold increase. Licensed, regulated banks, as they have been for centuries, are the trusted, regulated safekeepers of deposits for individuals and businesses, and are ideally positioned to act in the same capacity," he added.
Shares of VersaBank closed up $2.20 to $24.05 on the Toronto stock Exchange.