Cardano CIP-0113 live: issuers can now freeze and seize regulated tokens, ADA falls 10.3 percent

The Cardano Foundation activated the token standard CIP-0113 on the mainnet on October 7, 2026. It lets issuers write rules directly into a token: who may hold it, how much can be moved per transfer, and whether an authorised third party may freeze or seize it. The network enforces those rules itself on every transfer, every issuance and every burn.

The price of Cardano stands at $0.2294 at the same time, 10.32 percent below its level 24 hours earlier. The two have less to do with each other than the timing suggests. ADA itself does not fall under the new standard, and the daily loss fits into a market slide that has caught Bitcoin and Ether as well.

CIP-0113 on the mainnet: what the Cardano Foundation activated on October 7

What went live is a platform for so-called programmable tokens, together with the open standard CIP-0113. The specification defines programmable tokens as assets that "require the successful execution of a script in order to change owner". Behind that terse wording sits a shift: until now, enforcing rules was the job of whoever issued the token, or of the trading platform it ran through. In future it sits in the chain.

The step came without a hard fork. The specification explicitly describes the aim of modelling transfer logic with building blocks the protocol already has, rather than changing its rules. Programmable tokens remain native assets on Cardano and continue to run in the extended UTXO model. Wallets, explorers and applications therefore treat them technically like existing tokens.

The project is not new. The Cardano Foundation had already presented the platform and the standard on March 9, 2026, then connected to a preview environment on the preview testnet, without real funds. Between the March presentation and the October activation lie several independent security audits; the foundation has not named which auditors were involved. The Swiss Capital Markets and Technology Association has recognised the standard. On the tooling side, the wallets Eternl and GeroWallet, the block explorer CardanoScan and the developer library BloxBean are ready at launch.

Frederik Gregaard, chief executive of the Cardano Foundation, sums up the ambition in a quote carried by CoinCodex: "The rules have to travel with the asset and be enforced every time it moves."

Programmable tokens: how the network clears every change of owner

The mechanics are laid out in the specification. Programmable tokens sit at a shared script address, the programmableLogicBase. Every movement from there requires a call to a global logic, which passes the operation on to a responsible sub-function: one for ordinary transfers, one for third-party interventions, one for restructuring your own holdings.

Whether a transfer is permissible is decided by a token's own script, the transferLogicScript. The specification gives allow lists, per-transfer caps and compliance requirements as examples. Who may issue or burn tokens is governed by a second script, the issuanceLogicScript.

Registry proof: unregistered tokens continue to run like ordinary native assets

One point in the specification matters more to holders than any script name: a registration proof shows whether a token policy is registered at all. Only registered tokens have to execute the logic of their sub-standard. Unregistered tokens behave like ordinary native assets on Cardano, exactly as before. The new powers arise per token and only where an issuer has built them in. They do not apply across the board, nor retroactively.

Freeze and seize: the sub-standard that permits freezing, unfreezing and seizure

The core standard itself defines no freezing. Those functions sit in a sub-standard that the specification calls "Freeze and Seize" and that offers three operations: freeze, unfreeze and seize. The specification describes it as a simplified stablecoin contract with compliance functions. Such a sub-standard requires signatures from a defined circle of keys, called the "Substandard Admin" in the specification. Who sits in that circle is decided not by the standard but by the issuer.

For stablecoins and tokenized securities, that is the real purpose of the exercise. The specification's rationale names both groups explicitly and lists as a shortcoming that issuers using simple native tokens can neither enforce compliance requirements nor block balances.

thirdPartyLogicScript: when a third party moves tokens without the holder's consent

The most far-reaching power carries the name thirdPartyLogicScript in the specification. This power is optional and permits actions without the holder's permission. The specification explicitly lists seizure operations and forced transfers under it.

Partial seizure and wipe: partial confiscation, and seizure followed by burning

Several gradations are described. A partial seizure takes only a share of the holding. An operation designated "wipe" seizes and then burns. A "top-up" goes in the other direction and credits. One side condition in the specification is strikingly matter-of-fact: third-party interventions must actually change the balances concerned, so they may not pass through as an empty transaction.

Anyone who sees a resemblance here to familiar mechanisms on other chains is right. On Solana we described on September 13, 2026 how clawback and freeze functions work for tokenized assets there. The difference lies in the construction, not in the outcome: Cardano anchors the power in an open standard with sub-standards, rather than in extensions to a token program.

The BaFin standard in the specification: a compliance building block from FluidTokens

For German readers, the list of sub-standards contains an entry worth noting. The specification lists a "BaFin Standard" and describes it as a compliant token standard developed by FluidTokens. The name points to the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority as a benchmark, not to any involvement by the authority: the specification names FluidTokens as the developer, not BaFin.

In practice that means an issuer wanting to meet German requirements can take a ready-made rule set instead of writing its own logic. For the holder it means that a token on Cardano may in future sit behind a set of rules modelled on German supervisory law, complete with the blocking powers that go with it.

MiCA and anti-money-laundering rules: blocking functions are compulsory for issuers in the EU

Technical development is converging on the legal position here. Anyone issuing an asset-referenced token or an e-money token in the EU needs authorisation under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation and must maintain procedures for implementing supervisory orders. European anti-money-laundering law additionally requires obliged entities to freeze funds connected with sanctions. A chain that cannot represent blocking powers in the first place turns both into a question of the issuer's goodwill.

The corollary is the more interesting one for holders: a token meant to be sound under supervisory law will as a rule be blockable. Blockability is no design flaw there; it is the condition of admissibility. Which stablecoins in Europe sit under which supervision is shown in our overview of stablecoins.

Portfolio position in Germany: which tokens on Cardano actually fall under CIP-0113

As of this article, the answer is manageable: almost none. The standard has been available on the mainnet for one day, and availability is not adoption. That Eternl, GeroWallet, CardanoScan and BloxBean support it says nothing about how many issuers will actually use it.

Three concrete questions follow for your holdings. First: if you hold ADA, there is nothing to do, because ADA is not a programmable token and remains freely transferable. Second: if you hold a stablecoin or a tokenized asset on Cardano, it pays to look into the issuer's terms to see whether it is switching to the new standard and which sub-standard it picks. Third: if a new tokenized fund or bond arrives on Cardano, the question of freezing and seizure powers belongs in your review before buying.

That your own keys only help so far is the uncomfortable part. Self-custody protects against a trading platform disposing of your holdings. It does not protect against a rule that sits inside the token itself, because the check happens in the protocol and not in the wallet. The limit of that protection is part of understanding the standard.

Loan collateral and lending: what the implementation documents recommend to platforms

One pointer from the foundation's documents should be read by anyone who pledges tokens as loan collateral or accepts them. Lending platforms are advised to check a token's rule sets before accepting it as collateral, because certain configurations allow authorised third parties to move tokens without the holder's consent.

The consequence for a lending business is obvious. Collateral that a third party can seize is not reliable collateral. The specification writes the fitting sentence itself: integrators have to check third-party powers per sub-standard, because compliance with CIP-0113 alone does not answer that question. No provider currently raises the question of whether a pledged token can be seized.

Status "Proposed": the standard is not formally final yet

One detail tempers the assessment, and it comes from the specification itself. CIP-0113 carries the status "Proposed" there, in the Tokens category, filed on January 14, 2023 and submitted in answer to the problem statement CPS-0003. In March the foundation had said it was continuing to work on refining CIP-0113 into a production-ready standard.

A gap therefore exists between a standard with the status "proposed" and a platform running on the mainnet. That is not a contradiction, because a CIP changes its status late in the Cardano process, but it is a reason to wait for issuer announcements rather than infer a wave of regulated tokens from the activation. It also remains open who may change the protocol parameters: the specification does not fix the amendment power and requires every deployment to document it itself.

ADA at $0.2294: a 10.3 percent daily loss in a broad market slide

The price section belongs apart. ADA trades at $0.2294, 10.32 percent below its level 24 hours earlier, 5.54 percent below the previous week and 4.55 percent above its level 30 days ago. Market capitalisation stands at $8.61 billion, trading turnover over the past 24 hours at $597.6 million, and the rank at 17. The daily high was $0.2579. All figures are as of Thursday afternoon and move continuously.

The daily loss is no solo effort. Bitcoin stood at $81,265 on Thursday afternoon, down 2.54 percent, and Ether at $2,428, down 5.36 percent. We described the connection between outflows from Bitcoin index funds, the US Federal Reserve's rate path and the slide separately this morning. That ADA gives up more ground than the two largest crypto assets is the usual pattern in a market with waning risk appetite, where smaller assets swing harder.

Seeing a cause between the activation and the price move would be an assertion without foundation. None of the reports reviewed makes that connection, and one of them explicitly records that the price move provides no evidence of any effect from the switch. An expectation can be argued on the facts, however: if Cardano succeeds in attracting regulated issuers, demand arises for block space and therefore for ADA to pay transaction fees. Whether that happens depends on issuers, not on code.

What comes next: these signals show whether the standard finds users

Three things can be observed without relying on anyone's assessment. The first is the number of registered token policies, because the registration proof is publicly recorded in the chain. The second is announcements from stablecoin issuers and fund providers about a switch. The third is the change of status of CIP-0113 from proposal to adopted standard.

Until then, nothing changes for holders of ADA. For anyone buying tokenized assets on Cardano, one question is added that did not exist before: who besides me may move this token?

CIP-0113: only registered tokens carry the new blocking rules

1. Classify your holdings. Check whether, besides ADA, you hold any tokens on Cardano that an issuer administers, meaning stablecoins or tokenized assets. Pure ADA holdings are unaffected.
2. Read the issuer's terms. Look through the terms for freezing, seizure and transfer clauses, and for which sub-standard is in use. For self-custody and its limits, the hardware wallet comparison helps.
3. Double-check collateral. If you pledge crypto assets or lend them out, establish in advance whether the token can be seized. The providers' terms are in the lending comparison.

The sources for this article are the specification CIP-0113 in the Cardano CIP registry and the Cardano Foundation's account of programmable tokens.

(As of October 8, 2026. This article is not investment advice. Prices and fee structures change; check the terms with the provider before you buy.)

Programmable tokens move the enforcement of rules from the trading platform into the chain. For holders of ADA that changes nothing; for buyers of tokenized assets on Cardano one question is added that played no part before October 7, 2026: who besides me may move this token? The answer will from now on sit in the issuer's terms and in the sub-standard it picks.