Cardano Just Taught Its Tokens Manners: CIP-0113 Goes Live, KYC Comes Onchain 🍶

The Cardano Foundation activated CIP-0113 on mainnet on October 7, 2026, embedding identity checks, sanctions screening, and transfer controls directly into the network's programmable token standard. The upgrade went live following independent security audits and required no hard fork, allowing issuers of regulated stablecoins, funds, and bonds to enforce compliance rules natively on Cardano rather than through external middleware.

Under the new standard, tokenized assets can reject transfers to recipients who have not passed identity verification and can block tokens from reaching sanctioned addresses. Restrictions persist as tokens move between wallets and services, a design the Cardano Foundation said addresses requirements banks and fund managers face when bringing regulated products onchain, including the ability to freeze assets at the direction of a regulator or court.

The Foundation framed the release as institutional tokenization infrastructure, positioning Cardano as a network capable of supporting issuers that need programmable compliance baked into token logic from issuance onward. Ordinary crypto transfers on the network remain unrestricted, with CIP-0113 applying only to tokens whose issuers opt into the standard.

No timeline for additional CIP-0113 features was announced, and the Foundation has not identified partner issuers preparing to launch compliant assets under the new framework.