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Cardano's CIP-0113 catches up to rival chains on issuer freeze and seize powers

Cardano Foundation put CIP-0113 live on mainnet Oct. 7, letting stablecoin, fund and bond issuers freeze, seize or block token transfers without a hard fork. Depending on an issuer's rules, holders accept that an authorized party can move their tokens without consent.

The Investor · Invest desk

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What happened

  • The Cardano ledger itself checks identity, anti-money-laundering and sanctions rules whenever a token is minted, burned or transferred, instead of an issuer's off-chain server.
  • Ethereum's ERC-3643, Solana's token extensions and XRP Ledger tokens with clawback already give issuers similar powers over holders.
  • Switzerland's Capital Markets and Technology Association recognized CIP-0113 tokens as comparable to CMTAT, its framework for certifying equity securities on-chain.
  • The proposal was merged into the official Cardano Improvement Proposals repository on Sept. 29 and announced live at TOKEN2049 eight days later.

Why it matters

  • Who's exposed exposure Lending services take on the issuer's transfer powers with any CIP-0113 token they accept as collateral, and the specification makes examining those powers their job.
  • What it limits constraint Wallets and DeFi protocols that bundle several tokens and ADA in one eUTXO output have to keep restricted assets apart, or a freeze on one token can hold up the rest.
  • What it costs cost Because issuers can rewrite a token's rules as regulations change, a holder buys terms the issuer can alter after the purchase.

"The rules have to travel with the asset and be enforced every time it moves," Frederik Gregaard, chief executive of the Cardano Foundation, said in a statement to CoinDesk [13]. For a holder, the question is whose rules. Issuers can take an existing rule set or write their own [7], and CryptoBriefing concluded that holders of these tokens are trusting the issuer as much as the code [8].

The foundation limited the reach of the controls. Only tokens whose issuers opt in carry them, and ADA itself is not being made freezable [14]. The standard runs on capabilities Cardano already had [4], with a core standard and pluggable substandards for token-specific logic [9]. So the foundation is courting regulated issuers without touching the base asset or the network's rules [14][4]. Getting there took about three years, from community development and audits that began in 2023 to a mainnet launch in 2026 [11][2][18].

Rival chains already offer versions of these controls [15]. That means CIP-0113 removes a reason to keep a regulated stablecoin, fund or bond off Cardano without giving an issuer a reason to choose it. Issuers already live on Ethereum, Solana or the XRP Ledger may simply stay where their buyers and lenders are. Alternatively, the CMTA finding [3] brings in Swiss tokenized-share issuers, who get a compliance case they do not have to build themselves. Or the shared-output problem slows wallet and lending integration [16], and compliant tokens get minted but see little use in trading or lending.

I think parity is the likeliest outcome, with Swiss tokenized shares the most plausible exception, because the CMTA finding is the one part of the launch aimed at a defined group of issuers. The counter-case is that the finding permits Swiss issuance on Cardano without requiring it. Every partner named at launch (the Eternl and GeroWallet wallets, the CardanoScan explorer and developer-tool provider BloxBean) builds infrastructure [10]. Neither CoinDesk nor CryptoBriefing names an issuer that has committed an asset to the standard. I would be wrong if the first issuers are institutions that could have used ERC-3643 or the XRP Ledger and picked Cardano for CIP-0113 itself.

ADA moved with the market on launch day, falling 4.5% in 24 hours alongside a broader drop, according to CoinDesk [19].

What to watch

  • A Cardano lending service's first decision on accepting a CIP-0113 token as collateral, after the review of issuer powers the specification asks for.
  • Any wallet or DeFi case where a restriction on one asset holds up other tokens or ADA sitting in the same eUTXO output.
  • The first rule change an issuer pushes to a live CIP-0113 token will show how far holder terms move after purchase.

Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.

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  1. [1]

    The Cardano Foundation launched CIP-0113, a token standard that allows issuers of regulated assets such as stablecoins, funds and bonds to restrict recipients and freeze, seize or transfer holdings under specified rules.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  2. [2]

    The Cardano Foundation announced on October 7, 2026, at TOKEN2049 that CIP-0113 is live on mainnet.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  3. [3]

    The Swiss Capital Markets and Technology Association (CMTA) has recognized CIP-0113 compliant tokens as comparable to its CMTAT framework, which is used to certify equity securities on-chain in Switzerland.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  4. [4]

    CIP-0113 uses capabilities already available on Cardano and required no hard fork.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  5. [5]

    CIP-0113 rules cover KYC and AML checks, sanctions screening and transfer restrictions, and the Cardano ledger validates them whenever a token is minted, burned or transferred, not an off-chain server or company dashboard.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  6. [6]

    Depending on a token's rules, an authorized party could move tokens without the holder's consent; the technical specification tells lending services to examine those powers before accepting a token as collateral.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  7. [7]

    Issuers can select existing sets of rules or write their own, and update them as regulations change.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  8. [8]

    Tokens issued under CIP-0113 can be frozen or seized by their issuers, which means holders are trusting the issuer as much as the code.

    Reported Supported Source: CryptoBriefing analysisView cited source
  9. [9]

    CIP-0113 uses a core standard paired with pluggable substandards that handle token-specific logic.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  10. [10]

    The foundation named wallets Eternl and GeroWallet, blockchain explorer CardanoScan and developer-tool provider BloxBean among the tools supporting the launch.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  11. [11]

    Community development and audits on the CIP-0113 standard began in 2023.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  12. [12]

    CIP-0113 was formally merged into the official Cardano Improvement Proposals repository on September 29, 2026.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  13. [13]

    "The rules have to travel with the asset and be enforced every time it moves," Frederik Gregaard, chief executive of the Cardano Foundation, said in a statement to CoinDesk.

    Reported Supported Source: Frederik Gregaard, CEO, Cardano Foundation, statement to CoinDeskView cited source
  14. [14]

    The controls apply to tokens whose issuers opt into the standard; ADA itself is not being turned into a freezable asset.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  15. [15]

    Other blockchains already offer versions of this: Ethereum has permissioned token standards such as ERC-3643, Solana added transfer controls through its token extensions, and the XRP Ledger supports tokens whose issuers can restrict holders and claw back balances.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  16. [16]

    Under Cardano's eUTXO model a single output can hold several tokens plus ADA, so restricting one asset could catch the others in the same output; CIP-0113 addresses this with an 'unfracking' mechanism, but wallets and DeFi protocols will need to handle restricted assets carefully when bundling tokens.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  17. [17]

    CIP-0113 was announced live on mainnet eight days after it was merged into the official repository.

    Derived Supported
  18. [18]

    CIP-0113 took about three years from the start of community development and audits to mainnet.

    Derived Supported
  19. [19]

    Cardano's ADA was down 4.5% in the past 24 hours alongside a broader market drop.

    Reported ContestedView cited source

Sources

4 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.

  1. coindesk.com

    1 article · October 6, 2026

    Cardano gives token issuers power to freeze, seize and restrict assets
  2. crypto.news

    2 articles · October 7, 2026

    Cardano lets token issuers freeze and seize assets under new rules
  3. cryptobriefing.com

    1 article · October 6, 2026

    Cardano Foundation launches CIP-0113 token standard for compliance controls
  4. cryptopolitan.com

    1 article · October 7, 2026

    Cardano built a freeze button for stablecoins it doesn't have yet

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