Cardano Foundation spins out Veridian as an independent digital identity company
Announced at TOKEN2049 Singapore, Veridian's shares are the first asset issued under Cardano's new CIP-0113 token standard
The Cardano Foundation is letting one of its projects leave home. On October 8, 2026, at TOKEN2049 in Singapore, the foundation announced that Veridian, its digital identity platform, will operate as an independent commercial company.
The spin-out comes with a twist. Veridian’s own shares became the first asset issued under Cardano’s brand-new CIP-0113 programmable token standard, which went live on mainnet only a day earlier.
From foundation project to standalone company
Veridian spent three years in development inside the Cardano Foundation before getting its own corporate identity.
Thomas A. Mayfield takes the CEO role. He previously served as the foundation’s head of decentralized trust and identity.
The foundation is not walking away entirely. Frederik Gregaard, CEO of the Cardano Foundation, chairs Veridian’s board. Nicolas Jacquemart, identified as chief legal officer, also sits on the board.
What Veridian actually does
Veridian focuses on verifiable credentials and authority. Its target users span individuals, organizations, and AI agents.
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Veridian is built on two open standards, KERI and ACDC, which allow credentials to be verified and revoked in real time without depending on centralized databases.
The Veridian Wallet is live on both iOS and Android.
The company also says it has aligned its operations with all 142 requirements laid out in Utah’s State-Endorsed Digital Identity guide.
Shares on-chain, under Swiss law
Veridian’s shares were formally issued on the Cardano blockchain as ledger-based securities under Switzerland’s DLT regulations.
They are the first deployment of CIP-0113, a programmable token standard that launched on Cardano mainnet on October 7, 2026. Veridian’s shares followed the very next day.
Why the timing matters
The fraud problem is also expensive. Figures cited alongside the announcement put US consumer losses from identity fraud at $27.3 billion in 2025.
What comes next
Veridian has laid out a roadmap for 2027. The company plans to pursue strategic partnerships and investments across four fronts.
- Expanding work in the US government sector
- Strengthening enterprise solutions in Europe
- Growing issuer capabilities across Asia-Pacific
- Building out tools for AI agent identity verification