Cardano Foundation joins the Swiss body writing tokenized securities rules

RWA Signal Insight
InfrastructureThe Cardano Foundation has officially joined Switzerland's Capital Markets and Technology Association (CMTA), a key industry body responsible for setting technical standards for tokenized securities. This membership follows the CMTA's October 6 recognition of Cardano’s CIP-0113 token standard as technically equivalent to its own CMTAT framework for equity shares. By integrating compliance logic like KYC and sanctions screening directly into the token, CIP-0113 allows issuers to meet Swiss regulatory requirements without extensive customization. While the recognition is currently limited to equity securities and excludes debt instruments, it removes a significant barrier for Swiss banks evaluating blockchain-based issuance. The Cardano Foundation’s move represents a long-term strategy to build institutional-grade infrastructure, contrasting with the network's current lack of large-scale RWA volume compared to Ethereum or Solana. Although the adoption remains in the early pilot phase with Veridian as the first identified issuer, the integration provides a formal compliance pathway for regulated stablecoins and tokenized funds. This development highlights a shift toward methodical, standards-based adoption in the RWA sector, prioritizing regulatory alignment over immediate market speculation.
Key points
- Cardano Foundation joined the Swiss CMTA to influence standards for tokenized securities.
- CMTA recognized Cardano's CIP-0113 standard as equivalent to its CMTAT equity framework.
- CIP-0113 enables on-chain compliance features like KYC, freeze controls, and sanctions screening.
- Veridian became the first issuer to utilize the CIP-0113 standard on October 8.
Background
The Capital Markets and Technology Association (CMTA) is a Swiss-based independent industry body that develops technical standards for the issuance and management of tokenized securities. It brings together banks, law firms, and technology providers to create a standardized, legally compliant framework for digital assets. Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain platform that utilizes an extended Unspent Transaction Output (eUTXO) model, which allows for complex, programmable logic to be embedded directly into token transactions.