The Cardano Foundation has incorporated blockchain into its financial reporting without replacing its conventional accounting system. Transactions continue to be recorded through its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, the software used to manage accounting and other financial operations, before the information is published on Cardano. Counterparties can then inspect the records and verify the identity of the auditor attesting them. "We do not replace our accounting system with our on-chain financial reporting. It actually runs in parallel," said Stephen Wood, chief financial officer of the Cardano Foundation, speaking at TOKEN2049.

The Swiss non-profit has also helped establish standards that enable programmable tokens to carry transfer conditions, allowing restrictions to be enforced as digital assets move between parties. The two initiatives address different functions, one concerned with verifying financial information and the other with enabling the enforcement of transaction rules, while retaining conventional accounting and regulatory processes.

Auditor attestation adds independent verification to financial reporting

Wood identifies transaction costs, processing times and regulatory requirements as areas where blockchain infrastructure could be applied to financial services. Using Reeve, its blockchain-based reporting platform, the Foundation publishes accounting information on Cardano after recording transactions in its ERP system. The entries can be inspected on-chain, meaning directly on the blockchain, or viewed in a conventional financial reporting format. Wood estimated that publishing the information requires a combined four hours of work by the accounting team every three months, excluding the preparation, reconciliation and audit of the accounts.

Wood locates the principal value of this process in the ability to verify the information after publication. The Foundation signs its financial statements using a verifiable Legal Entity Identifier (vLEI), a digital credential that allows an organisation's identity and the authority of its signatories to be checked electronically. Its external auditor can then attest the published information using a corresponding verifiable identity. In April 2026, the Foundation reported that Grant Thornton Switzerland had provided on-chain attestation of its 2025 financial statements alongside the conventional statutory audit. According to Wood, the auditor checked that the blockchain-published information matched the audited financial statements before providing its attestation.

Wood contrasted this arrangement with the exchange of financial statements as PDF documents, where recipients may need to establish separately whether the document and auditor's signature are authentic. "If I send a PDF, can they be absolutely certain that that's the auditor's signature?" he asked. Under the Foundation's arrangement, recipients can access the blockchain record and verify the auditor's identity through the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), which maintains the international system of identifiers for legally registered organisations. The process supports verification of the published information and its associated attestation. It does not independently establish the accuracy of the underlying accounts or replace statutory audit procedures.

GLEIF has also used vLEI-based digital signatures to authenticate its own annual reporting, demonstrating how verifiable organisational identities can be applied beyond blockchain-specific reporting systems. Digital signatures and secure databases can likewise authenticate documents. Cardano's approach adds a shared blockchain record that counterparties can inspect without relying solely on documents transmitted by the reporting organisation. Whether this reduces verification work compared with existing arrangements remains to be established.

Programmable tokens carry compliance conditions through transactions

While Reeve addresses the verification of financial information after it has been produced, programmable tokens concern the conditions under which digital assets can change hands. A token is a digital representation of an asset or claim recorded on a blockchain. Its transfer mechanism can be programmed to enforce specified restrictions rather than depend entirely on checks performed through separate systems. "Now we can set rules inside of tokens," Wood said.

On 7 October 2026, the Cardano Foundation announced that CIP-0113, its technical standard for programmable tokens, was live on the Cardano mainnet, the blockchain's operational network. According to the Foundation, the standard allows issuers to incorporate controls relating to customer verification, sanctions requirements and permitted transfers into tokens representing assets such as stablecoins and investment funds. A tokenised investment fund, for example, may be restricted to qualifying investors. Its transfer rules could prevent transactions involving recipients who do not meet the specified conditions, allowing those restrictions to remain applicable as the asset moves between holders. This represents a possible application of the standard rather than a documented banking deployment.

Wood also highlighted the ability to revise these conditions as regulations change. "Within this programmable compliance, the rules can be adjusted as the regulation gets adjusted over time," he said. The ability to update restrictions becomes relevant when an asset continues circulating after issuance and the conditions governing its ownership change. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is addressing related issues through its Global Layer One initiative, an industry collaboration developing common standards for tokenised financial infrastructure. Its Programmable Compliance Toolkit is intended to help incorporate regulatory requirements into digital systems. The approaches differ in design, but both address how compliance conditions can be applied to digital assets.

Such controls depend on decisions and information maintained outside the token. Customer identities must be established, investor eligibility determined and regulatory changes interpreted before the rules can be applied. A token may enforce a defined restriction, but cannot independently establish whether the information or legal interpretation underlying it is correct. CIP-0113 therefore provides a mechanism for enforcing specified transfer rules without removing the institutional processes responsible for determining them. Its availability on Cardano's production network does not establish adoption at scale or demonstrate reductions in compliance costs.

Integration across financial systems remains a constraint

The Foundation's initiatives form part of wider developments in applying distributed ledger technology to financial records and assets. Related work is also taking place within established banking infrastructure, although the functions and operating models differ. In July 2026, Swift, the financial messaging network, announced that its blockchain-based shared ledger was ready for initial use, with 17 banks preparing to pilot transactions involving tokenised deposits, digital representations of deposits held at commercial banks. The ledger is designed to coordinate payment commitments while retaining existing settlement and compliance arrangements. This provides another approach to incorporating blockchain technology alongside established financial systems.

Cardano's reporting platform and programmable-token standard address different functions from Swift's payment infrastructure. They focus on verifying financial information and enforcing asset-transfer restrictions rather than coordinating interbank settlement. Nevertheless, these arrangements encounter related requirements concerning governance, legal responsibility, regulatory oversight and interoperability, the ability of different networks and systems to exchange information and work together. For now, the Foundation sees little need to extend its reporting solution beyond Cardano, although Wood leaves open the possibility of supporting other blockchain networks as requirements evolve.

The existing implementation operates within the Cardano ecosystem. Wider use across different institutions would require arrangements for recognising digital identities, accessing published records and maintaining permissions across systems. These requirements also apply to tokenised assets moving between issuers, custodians, which safeguard assets on behalf of clients, and other intermediaries operating under different regulatory obligations. The distinction is between implementing a capability within one network and maintaining it across institutions that use different infrastructures. The latter involves not only technical connectivity but also agreement over how information is verified, who can update transaction restrictions and which parties remain responsible when records or controls are disputed.

As these applications extend across platforms and counterparties, greater attention will fall on how changes and exceptions are handled. Financial records may require correction, investor eligibility can change and transaction restrictions may need to be updated or challenged. The ability to manage these events consistently, while maintaining clear responsibility across institutions, will influence how blockchain-based verification and programmable controls become part of routine financial activity.