Cardano Foundation spins Veridian out with shares onchain
Cardano Foundation has made Veridian an independent Swiss company and put most of its one million shares on Cardano, giving CIP-0113 its first equity use.
The Cardano Foundation has spun out Veridian as an independent Swiss company and tokenized most of its one million shares on Cardano. The move gives the network’s new CIP-0113 standard its first equity use, according to CoinDesk’s report.
The Foundation announced the spinout on Oct. 8, saying Veridian will build digital identity tools for governments, organizations and individuals. Thomas A. Mayfield, who led the project inside the Foundation, is the company’s chief executive. Foundation CEO Frederik Gregaard is Veridian’s chair.
What does CIP-0113 let issuers do?
CIP-0113 is a programmable token standard: it lets issuers attach rules to tokens. The Foundation says those rules can include identity checks, sanctions screening and limits on transfers. The Cardano ledger checks the rules when tokens move, are created or are destroyed.
The standard went live on Cardano mainnet on Oct. 7, according to the Foundation’s announcement. It says tokens made under CIP-0113 remain native Cardano assets and that the standard did not require a hard fork. The Foundation also said the Swiss Capital Markets and Technology Association recognized CIP-0113 as a smart contract equivalent to its CMTAT framework for certification purposes.
Are Veridian’s shares for sale to the public?
No public offering has been announced. CoinDesk reported that most of Veridian’s one million shares have been tokenized, but they are not being offered to the public. The Foundation says Veridian plans to seek strategic partners and investors in 2027.
The Foundation describes the shares as ledger-based securities under Switzerland’s DLT Act. Tokenizing shares records them as tokens on a blockchain. The announcement does not say who currently holds the shares, how they are divided, or whether transfer rules have been applied to them.
Why did the Foundation make Veridian independent?
The Foundation says it spent three years building Veridian before spinning it out. It says independence will let the company pursue government and enterprise customers, while the Foundation continues work with it, including bringing verifiable identity to Cardano.
Veridian’s tools are intended to let people, organizations and software agents prove identity or authority without relying on a central database, the Foundation says. It also says Veridian’s wallet is available on iOS and Android. The tokenized shares put the new standard to use in equity, but the company’s plans to seek investors remain in the future.
References
- CoinDesk’s report — coindesk.com
- Foundation’s announcement — cardanofoundation.org