We’re excited to announce our investment in Loon, a Canadian company building the country’s first regulated digital dollar. Version One led Loon’s $3M pre-seed round, alongside Garage Capital and a group of strategic Canadian angel investors.

Loon is on a mission to create trusted, transparent payment infrastructure for Canada’s digital economy — starting with CADC, a stablecoin fully backed by Canadian dollars and designed to operate under domestic regulation.

Why we invested

For years, Canada’s crypto and fintech ecosystem has relied primarily on U.S. dollar stablecoins. This dependence has introduced friction for domestic users and effectively exported value creation abroad. Today, USDC is the only regulated stablecoin accessible in Canada — and it’s U.S.-issued.

We believe the time is right for a made-in-Canada alternative. Loon’s regulated, on-chain Canadian dollar will serve as a foundation for digital payments, capital markets, and programmable finance — all settled directly in CAD.

As Kevin Zhang, Loon’s founder and CEO, puts it:

“Canada can either remain dependent on foreign financial infrastructure or build its own sovereign rails for the digital era. Loon is stepping up to build those rails.”

A bridge between banks and blockchain

Loon’s infrastructure enables users and businesses to settle in Canadian dollars on-chain — instantly, 24/7. That means a freelancer in Halifax can receive payment from a client in Vancouver in seconds, or a Toronto importer can settle with an overseas supplier in real-time. The promise is faster payments, continuous access, and deep liquidity — all within a transparent, regulated framework.

Loon has already filed a preliminary prospectus with the Alberta Securities Commission, taking the first step toward full regulatory approval. The team is working closely with federal and provincial regulators to set the standard for compliant stablecoin issuance in Canada.

What’s next

With this new capital, Loon will expand its engineering and compliance teams, accelerate product development, and roll out CADC to fintech and exchange partners nationwide. Canadians will soon be able to access CADC from their favourite platforms and applications.

We have known Kevin for many years and are very excited for the opportunity to back him and the whole Loon team as they build the rails for a sovereign, digital Canadian dollar.