The Cardano Foundation announced on 7 October 2026, at TOKEN2049 in Singapore, that CIP-0113, a programmable token standard, is live on Cardano mainnet. It lets issuers of stablecoins, tokenized funds and bonds attach compliance rules that the ledger itself enforces on every transfer, mint and burn, according to the Foundation’s announcement.
What the standard does
- Issuers can add KYC and anti-money-laundering checks, sanctions screening, freeze and seize powers, and transfer restrictions.
- Tokens remain native Cardano assets, so wallets and explorers handle them like any other token on Cardano.
- Rules come as modules that issuers pick or write themselves, and can update as regulation changes.
- The launch required no hard fork. The Foundation says the code went through several independent security audits but did not name the auditors.
Wallets Eternl and GeroWallet, explorer CardanoScan and developer toolkit BloxBean support the standard at launch. Separately, the Swiss Capital Markets and Technology Association (CMTA) recognized CIP-113 tokens as equivalent to its CMTAT smart contract, so they can be used to certify ledger-based equity securities under its scheme, Unchained reported.
What it means
For ADA holders, nothing changes: the controls apply only to tokens whose issuers choose them. For banks and asset managers weighing a chain for stablecoins or tokenized securities, Cardano now offers compliance at the protocol level, a feature Ethereum and others mostly handle in individual smart contracts. The trade-off for users is clear: tokens built this way can be frozen or seized by their issuer.
What to watch
No issuer or pilot was named at launch. The Foundation says it is working with institutions and building a securities module; the first real deployment will show whether the standard attracts regulated money.