Cardano launches tokens that issuers can freeze and seize: what CIP-0113 is and who it affects

What went live on Cardano

On October 7, the Cardano Foundation announced that CIP-0113, its programmable token standard, is running on mainnet. It took a while to get here: the proposal first appeared in January 2023, and the final changes, 90 commits, were accepted on September 29, 2026. No hard fork was needed, since the standard runs on top of existing smart contracts.

The issuer of a CIP-0113 token can build in rules that are checked on every transfer:

• KYC checks, so the token can only move to verified holders;
• transfer limits;
• freezing tokens at a specific address;
• forced seizure, where the issuer takes tokens away from an address;
• blacklists, such as sanctions lists;
• whitelists of approved addresses;
• a global pause on all transfers of the token.

Cardano Foundation CEO Frederik Gregaard describes the idea this way: with regulated assets, the rules have to travel with the asset and be enforced every time it moves. The Eternl and GeroWallet wallets, the CardanoScan explorer and the BloxBean library already support the standard. According to the foundation, the audit found no critical or high-risk vulnerabilities.

Who it affects and who it doesn't

The foundation itself made the key clarification: CIP-0113 gives no one the ability to freeze ADA or take control of all existing Cardano tokens. The rules apply only to new tokens that an issuer deliberately creates under this standard. If you hold ADA or a regular native token, nothing has changed for you: you can keep them in your own wallet as before or swap them on a crypto exchange with no sign-up.

It is also clear who the standard was built for: regulated stablecoins, tokenized funds and bonds. Earlier, IOG and Anastasia Labs showed a prototype of such a stablecoin, the Wyoming Stable Token, with the same freeze and seizure features. A bank or a fund can't move onto a blockchain without these functions: regulators require the issuer to be able to stop a transfer to a criminal and to carry out a court order.

At launch, ADA was trading at around $0.27. The news had no noticeable effect on the price.

You probably already hold tokens like this

Cardano isn't the first to do this. The most popular stablecoins have been able to do the same for years. The USDT contract includes functions that let Tether blacklist an address and then destroy the coins on it. Circle's USDC can block addresses too. We covered how Tether froze $550 million in USDT linked to Iran, and that was not an isolated case.

Freezes don't only hit criminals. On October 6, according to news reports, Conduit sued Tether in a New York court, claiming the issuer froze $2.76 million in USDT without legal grounds and refused to return it. It is not yet known how the case will end, but the lawsuit itself shows how this works. The coins sit at the company's address, the company holds the keys, and yet it can't use the money.

Why your own wallet doesn't help here

A non-custodial wallet protects you from an exchange: no one can block your withdrawals, go bankrupt with your coins or lose them in a hack. It does not protect you from the token issuer, though. If the token contract has a freeze function, the issuer can apply it to any address, and your signature has no say in the matter. The keys are yours; the token's rules belong to someone else.

There is also a privacy side to this. A whitelist and KYC checks at the token level mean the issuer knows which person owns every address that holds its token. Every transfer of such a token is tied to a passport. For a bond, that's normal. For everyday money, it is a very different model from cash or bitcoin.

So it helps to tell two kinds of assets apart:

• Coins without an issuer. Bitcoin, Monero, ADA itself. No company can freeze or take away a coin: the network simply checks the signature. Coins like these in your own wallet really are yours.
• Tokens with an issuer. USDT, USDC, future regulated tokens on Cardano. They are convenient digital dollars, but each one has an owner with a freeze button. We explained in detail how the main stablecoins differ in our USDT vs USDC breakdown.

Neither is bad in itself. Stablecoins are handy for payments, and millions of people keep their savings in them. What matters is knowing what you hold and not keeping anything you can't afford to lose to someone else's mistake in a token with a freeze button.

How to move savings into coins no one can freeze

If part of your money sits in USDT and you'd rather hold it in an asset without an issuer, you can swap it with no centralized exchange and no account. VertEXchange doesn't ask for your email, phone number or ID: you pick a pair, paste your wallet address and see the rate and amount before sending. For example, you can exchange USDT TRC20 to Monero and get a coin whose transfers outsiders can't see on the blockchain, or buy bitcoin with USDT straight to your own address.

Why it's convenient to do this with VertEXchange:

• coins go straight to your address, and the service doesn't hold them;
• the rate and final amount are shown before you send, and a fixed rate holds for about 15 minutes;
• if the exchange doesn't go through, the coins are returned to your refund address;
• personal fields of the transaction are deleted 24 hours after it completes, and your exchange history stays only in your browser;
• support chat is on every page, and issues are resolved by exchange code.

The standard changes nothing for Cardano holders, and if you want to spread your savings across different coins, you can swap ADA to bitcoin into your own wallet.

FAQ

What is CIP-0113?

It is Cardano's programmable token standard. It lets an issuer build rules into a token: KYC checks, transfer limits, freezing, seizure, blacklists and whitelists, and pausing transfers. It went live on mainnet on October 7, 2026.

Can my ADA be frozen now?

No. According to the Cardano Foundation, CIP-0113 doesn't give anyone the ability to freeze ADA or take control of existing tokens. The rules apply only to new tokens issued under this standard.

Why would a blockchain need tokens that can be frozen?

For regulated assets: bank stablecoins, tokenized funds and bonds. Regulators require the issuer to be able to stop a transfer to a criminal and to carry out a court order.

Can USDT in my wallet be frozen?

Yes. Tether can blacklist an address, after which the USDT on it can't be moved, and then destroy the blocked coins. The issuer has done this to addresses linked to sanctions and hacks. Circle's USDC can block addresses too.

Which coins can't be frozen?

Coins without an issuer, such as bitcoin, Monero and ADA itself. No company has the power to freeze them: a transfer goes through if the signature is valid. If these coins sit in your non-custodial wallet, only you control them.