CIP-0113 lets issuers attach identity checks and transfer restrictions to programmable tokens on Cardano. Its controls do not give issuers power over all ADA balances.
Cardano Foundation has announced that its CIP-0113 programmable token standard is live on mainnet. According to its October 7 statement, issuers can attach identity checks, transfer restrictions, freezes and seizure conditions to the assets they issue. The implementation does not require a hard fork to change the network’s core rules.
The Foundation made the mainnet announcement during TOKEN2049 in Singapore. Target applications include stablecoins, tokenized funds and bonds. It names Eternl, GeroWallet, CardanoScan and BloxBean among the tools supporting the new framework.
Issuers choose the rules for their tokens
According to Cardano’s implementation overview, an issuer can select existing modules or write its own rules. A token could, for example, be transferable only to identity-verified addresses, or block transactions involving addresses on a sanctions list.
The conditions are checked on-chain when tokens are transferred, minted or burned. Institutions can update their modules as requirements change. The aim is to keep the asset subject to its transaction rules after ownership changes.
Cardano Foundation CEO Frederik Gregaard summed up the approach in the announcement:
“The rules have to travel with the asset.”
How far do freeze and seizure powers extend?
The technical control-scope document distinguishes blocking a transfer from moving tokens without the holder’s approval. A freeze can be enforced by a transfer rule refusing to authorize the transaction. A forced transfer or seizure instead depends on the third-party authority defined for the relevant token.
This is not a power to seize all ADA balances. Controls are limited to the registered token’s policy. The document requires non-target token quantities in the affected holding to be preserved, and its ADA amount not to be reduced.
Which holders are subject to those actions is also a module decision. Control over a token depends on the authority its issuer defines for that asset. Tokens from different issuers need not have the same freeze or transfer conditions.
While the Foundation has announced mainnet availability, the CIP-0113 specification page still carries the status “Proposed.” An implementation becoming available on mainnet and a CIP document’s process status are separate facts; the announcement is not presented as a hard-fork vote.
Cardano Foundation’s October 7 mainnet announcement
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In the Cardano Community video below, Foundation blockchain architect Giovanni Gargiulo explains the standard’s technical design. Published on April 5, 2026, this developer session predates today’s launch and is included as technical background.
