Bank of Canada issues its first tokenized bond! "Issuance, Bidding, and Settlement" all managed on a single ledger

Author: Kurumi, Crypto City

Bank of Canada completes Project Samara trial, issues first tokenized government bonds
The Bank of Canada recently announced the completion of a fintech experiment called “Project Samara,” during which it successfully issued a $100 million CAD tokenized bond, becoming Canada’s first case of issuing and settling bonds via Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). The bond was issued by Export Development Canada (EDC), with a maturity of less than three months, and was subscribed by a small group of invited investors. The entire process—including bond issuance, bidding, trading, and settlement—was completed on a distributed ledger platform.
Participants in Project Samara include the Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), RBC Dominion Securities, RBC Investor Services Trust, and TD Securities, a division of Toronto-Dominion Bank. These organizations jointly tested the feasibility of blockchain infrastructure in the bond market to assess whether it can improve financial market efficiency.
The Bank of Canada stated that the core goal of this trial was to explore how digital financial infrastructure impacts traditional bond market operations and to evaluate the practical application of distributed ledger systems in issuance, trading, and settlement processes.

Distributed Ledger Platform Integrates Full Bond Issuance and Trading Process
In the architecture of Project Samara, RBC built and operates a blockchain-based financial market platform using Hyperledger Fabric technology. The platform supports full lifecycle management of bonds from issuance to maturity. During the trial, bonds were issued as tokens on the distributed ledger, allowing participating institutions to submit bids, allocate bonds, and conduct secondary market trading on the same platform. The system also handles interest payments and redemption at maturity.
Another key focus of testing was the settlement mechanism. This trial did not use commercial bank deposits but instead settled funds through “wholesale digital Canadian dollars” created by the Bank of Canada.
Digital funds and tokenized bonds flow within the same ledger system, enabling transaction and fund transfer to occur simultaneously. The research team noted that this design can significantly shorten settlement times and reduce counterparty risk. Traditional bond market settlement processes often require multiple financial institutions and intermediary systems, taking several days. The distributed ledger system allows for real-time transaction and fund settlement on a single platform.

Trial Results Show Efficiency Gains but Face Regulatory and Infrastructure Challenges
The results of Project Samara indicate that distributed ledger technology can improve capital market efficiency, demonstrating potential advantages in data transparency, automated trading processes, and risk management.

• Participants pointed out that managing bonds and funds on a unified ledger reduces issues related to information synchronization among multiple intermediaries and lowers errors during settlement. The blockchain architecture also enhances data integrity, making it easier for market participants to track transaction records.
• The research team also noted that widespread adoption of such systems in large-scale financial markets would still require overcoming challenges such as regulatory framework adjustments, integration with existing financial systems, and market governance mechanisms.

Additionally, how distributed ledger platforms collaborate with existing financial infrastructure remains a key issue for future tokenized asset development. Researchers believe that financial markets may gradually adopt hybrid models, connecting traditional systems with blockchain architectures. This trial demonstrates the technical feasibility of tokenized bonds, but large-scale commercial application will still take time to develop.

Global Financial Institutions Accelerate Exploration of Tokenized Asset Markets
Canada’s Project Samara reflects a broader global trend of governments and financial institutions focusing on asset tokenization. In recent years, several financial centers have launched similar initiatives to incorporate blockchain technology into traditional finance.

• In 2018, the World Bank and Commonwealth Bank of Australia issued the “Bond-i” bond, worth AUD 110 million, regarded as the first bond issued and managed on a blockchain.
• The Monetary Authority of Singapore launched “Project Guardian” in 2022, testing decentralized finance (DeFi) applications in wholesale markets, including tokenized bonds and deposit lending transactions.
• Hong Kong Monetary Authority issued tokenized green bonds in 2023, with plans to expand digital bond issuance in 2024 and 2025. Switzerland’s National Bank supported the World Bank in 2024 by issuing Swiss franc digital bonds on SIX Digital Exchange, settled using wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC).

The Canadian government is also gradually establishing a regulatory framework for digital assets. The 2025 federal budget proposed legislation related to stablecoins, with the Bank of Canada responsible for designing the regulatory structure, including reserve assets, redemption mechanisms, and risk management standards. Meanwhile, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) recently introduced a custody regulation framework for digital assets, requiring trading platforms to strengthen asset custody standards to reduce risks from hacking, fraud, and platform failures.

Central banks and financial institutions worldwide continue testing blockchain infrastructure, and the tokenized asset market is moving from concept validation toward practical application. The completion of Project Samara is seen as a significant milestone in Canada’s push for digital financial infrastructure.