Cardano Foundation Monthly Update: February 2026

February at the Cardano Foundation included several notable developments.

From expanded institutional market access and new liquidity infrastructure to developer tooling or reporting capabilities and a standard for tokenization at scale, we continued to prioritize blockchain adoption, technology, and governance. Together, these developments highlight how coordinated efforts across the network are translating into practical infrastructure and applications.

Advancing practical blockchain adoption

Cardano futures launched on CME Group, introducing regulated derivatives that expand access for institutional investors and trading firms while supporting broader participation in digital asset markets.

Liquidity infrastructure also continued to evolve. The launch of USDCx on Cardano mainnet introduced a USDC-backed stablecoin issued through Circle’s xReserve framework. By enabling standardized cross-chain transfers through Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol, USDCx extends dollar-denominated liquidity to the ecosystem while improving capital mobility between Cardano and other USDC-supported networks.

Plastiks demonstrated how Cardano can anchor plastic recovery data on-chain to support transparent reporting in circular economy initiatives. Meanwhile, a collaboration with Petrobras and TapDano illustrated how NFC-enabled credentials can generate immutable proofs of attendance (PoA), replacing paper-based verification with cryptographically secure records.

Institutional engagement also continued through participation at the Digital Assets Forum (DAF) in London. During the keynote “The Integrity Economy: Why Digital Trust Is the New Global Currency,” CEO Frederik Gregaard examined why verifiable identity and auditability are becoming foundational requirements for modern financial infrastructure. Thomas Mayfield, Head of Decentralized Trust and Identity Solutions, continued the discussion in his keynote “Making Trust Transferable,” exploring how organizational identity and regulatory-grade credentials enable trusted digital interactions.

In an interview on CNBC Squawk Box Europe, Gregaard also discussed how interoperable blockchain infrastructure can improve efficiency, accessibility, and transparency across financial markets. As artificial intelligence and digital assets reshape the global economy, resilient digital public infrastructure is becoming increasingly important for maintaining trust.

Across all Cardano Summit 2025 events, we witnessed strong global participation and developer engagement, showing the importance of in-person events. In fact, the Summit has become a must-attend for those creating the future of digital trust.

The flagship hub in Berlin welcomed more than 1,460 attendees from over 70 nationalities, alongside 26,000+ online viewers. During the event’s three days, 145 speakers participated in numerous panels and delivered over 60 masterclasses.

Simultaneously, the regional events significantly expanded the program’s reach. In Las Vegas, more than 500 participants joined developer workshops and governance discussions. Events in Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires brought together over 700 attendees and generated more than 280 hackathon submissions. The Bangalore program hosted close to 675 participants with over 130 hackathon projects submitted.

Finally, the Summit 2025’s closing event in Nairobi gathered more than 920 attendees, with slightly more than 1,210 developers across over 110 hackathon teams submitting more than 105 projects. The event concluded a continent-wide developer program that brought together builders from across the African continent. It also included discussions with enterprises, institutions, and community leaders on how blockchain can support broader digital innovation across the region.

Most of the Summit’s key performance indicators were met or exceeded across all six events. The Foundation has also published a detailed results report examining both successes and lessons learned from the Summit’s global rollout.

Two new podcast episodes explored how blockchain infrastructure is being applied to everyday challenges. In the first release, Toto Finance Founder Monty Metzger discussed how tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) can connect physical goods with verifiable on-chain records. Another episode featured experts from GLEIF explaining how the Verifiable LEI (vLEI), together with the KERI and ACDC protocols, enables secure and interoperable organizational credentials across global supply chains.

Strengthening technology foundations and developer accessibility

Technical work during the month focused on expanding interoperability, strengthening financial reporting infrastructure, and improving developer tooling across the Cardano ecosystem.

In a key follow-up to our announced roadmap, the Foundation facilitated the progress of CIP-0113, a standard to enable token issuers to attach programmable rules to Cardano native assets, allowing tokenized instruments to meet compliance and operational requirements. By establishing a common baseline for programmable tokens, CIP-0113 shows examples of how to build tokenized products for applications on Cardano.

Another major milestone for interoperability was announced through the integration with LayerZero. Delivered through the Cardano Critical Integrations program in collaboration with ecosystem partners, the integration expands Cardano’s connectivity across multiple blockchain networks. This infrastructure unlock enables access to hundreds of tokens and billions in omnichain assets while supporting new liquidity pipelines, cross-chain decentralized finance capabilities, and institutional infrastructure.

The month’s Developer Office Hours again provided hands-on insights into tools and infrastructure supporting Cardano development. For instance, we explored SuperNode by TxPipe with founder Santiago Carmuega, examining how modular infrastructure can simplify deployment workflows and address reliability challenges for developers and stake pool operators (SPOs). We also covered the release of Yaci Store 2.0.0, in which the Foundation’s Satya Ranjan (Lead Blockchain Architect) presented architectural improvements and performance enhancements to support scalable indexing for data-intensive Cardano applications.

These sessions reflect an ongoing effort to strengthen the ecosystem’s technical foundations. They also give developers opportunities to better understand the tools, infrastructure, and design choices shaping the next generation of Cardano applications.

Meanwhile, progress continued around verifiable financial reporting. The release of Reeve 1.3 introduced support for the Verifiable Legal Entity Identifier (vLEI), a digital credential that cryptographically proves an organization’s legal identity. By attaching this verified identity to financial data, organizations can ensure that records are clearly attributable and independently verifiable across systems.

Two successive upgrades to Cardano Rosetta Java strengthened the reliability of integrations used by exchanges and custodians. Version 2.0.0 introduced significant performance improvements and faster synchronization, while version 2.1.0 expanded support for Conway-era governance features, including DRep voting and stake pool operator voting capabilities.

At the same time, several initiatives focused on improving the developer experience and advancing research across the ecosystem.

Early work explored STARK-based zero-knowledge proofs of Aiken programs created and verified directly in the browser, while updates to Aiken documentation improved support for AI-assisted development tools.

Improvements to the Cardano governance voting application likewise enhanced usability, and upgrades to the Cardano wallet infrastructure prepared the codebase for compatibility with newer versions of the Cardano Haskell stack.

Together, these technical developments reinforce the infrastructure and tooling needed to support Cardano’s growing ecosystem of builders, enterprises, and institutions.

Improving access through mentorship and education

The Venture Hub’s Cardano Accelerator Program (CAP) announced its Spring 2026 cohort. It will provide participating teams with mentorship, technical support, and collaboration opportunities as they develop decentralized finance and real-world asset solutions.

Venture Hub also brought together startup teams, investors, and ecosystem contributors at Consensus Hong Kong. During the Web3 Founders Night, attendees engaged in thought-provoking discussions on emerging blockchain applications.

Education initiatives further expanded access to blockchain knowledge. A new Blockchain and Sustainability Masterclass launched through Cardano Academy explores how blockchain can support transparent reporting, traceability, and authenticity verification across sustainability initiatives.

Additional educational content examined how developers can build on Cardano without relying on Haskell. The in-depth piece highlights the growing range of smart contract languages available in the ecosystem, including Aiken, Scalus, Helios, OpShin, and TypeScript-based tools. By supporting languages that align with widely used programming environments, Cardano enables developers to build with the skillset they already have, lowering the barrier to entry for new teams and projects.

Finally, community participation in education expanded through collaboration. The Cardano translation program launched with initial support for Japanese, Vietnamese, and German, allowing contributors to help localize documentation and ecosystem resources. By lowering language barriers, these efforts help make the ecosystem more accessible to developers and community members around the world.

Advancing decentralized governance through active engagement

Governance activity in February focused on maintaining operational continuity while refining the parameters and structures that support on-chain decision-making. Throughout the month, the Cardano Foundation participated as a DRep and voted Yes on several governance actions aimed at strengthening stability and supporting ecosystem progress.

One proposal introduced a Net Change Limit covering epochs 613 to 713, establishing a ceiling of 350 million ada while realigning the treasury budget cycle to mid-year. By voting Yes, the Foundation supported an adjustment that ensures operational continuity while maintaining the constitutional prerequisite required for treasury withdrawals.

Protocol parameters were also updated to increase transaction and block memory units. The Foundation likewise voted Yes on this change, which improves developer flexibility and allows more complex Plutus scripts to run efficiently, while benchmarking confirmed the network can accommodate these increases without compromising stability or performance.

Attention was also given to governance resilience. A proposal to reduce the minimum Constitutional Committee size from seven members to five received the Foundation’s Yes vote, helping maintain quorum in the event of resignations or removals while preserving the committee’s oversight responsibilities.

Another governance action addressed the first withdrawal under the Cardano DeFi Liquidity Budget framework. The Foundation voted in favor of the proposal, recognizing its legal structure, risk management approach, and balanced design principles as a constructive step forward. At the same time, further improvements in transparency, reporting, and governance processes were encouraged ahead of future withdrawals.

Finally, updates were shared regarding Project Catalyst’s Fund15 progress. Ongoing collaboration with Intersect, Input Output, and the Catalyst team continues to shape the program’s next phase, helping ensure Catalyst remains aligned with ecosystem priorities while supporting community-driven innovation.

Looking ahead, the Cardano Foundation will remain focused on strengthening the infrastructure, governance, and practical adoption that support the Cardano ecosystem’s long-term growth.

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