Cardano’s .ada Application Advances in ICANN Review

The Cardano Foundation’s application for the .ada internet domain has advanced in the 2026 generic top-level domain program, moving into further review without receiving final approval or delegation.

The application appeared among submissions published during the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Reveal Day on Oct. 7 at 2 p.m. ET (18:00 UTC). ICANN received 1,615 applications in the round.

The next phase includes technical, financial and operational reviews. ICANN lists String Confirmation Day for Nov. 17, 2026, as the next milestone in the program.

A generic top-level domain is the portion of an internet address after the final dot, such as .org or .xyz. Publication during Reveal Day indicates that an application is proceeding through the program, but it does not establish that the domain has been approved or delegated.

The .ada initiative followed a Cardano governance action that received approximately 75% community support. Proposed uses include shorter wallet addresses, connections with decentralized-identity services such as Veridian and domain tokenization.

ICANN President and CEO Kurtis Lindqvist said, “Reveal Day marks an important milestone for the next expansion of the Domain Name System.”

Delegations from the 2026 application round are expected between 2028 and 2030, depending on the progress of individual applications. An earlier Foundation proposal covering both .ada and .cardano estimated one-time costs of $700,000 for two applications and annual fixed costs of $350,000. The Foundation planned to fund the applications from its own resources.

The next scheduled program milestone is String Confirmation Day on Nov. 17, 2026.