- The Cardano community supports the .ada and .cardano gTLD plan with 74.5% support.
- Applications to ICANN will open in 1Q26, with the Cardano Foundation providing funding.
The Cardano community has approved the foundation’s proposal to allocate the generic top-level domains .ada and .cardano officially approvedwhich will pave the way for ICANN applications by the end of the first quarter of 2026. The proposal was supported by 74.5%, giving the foundation a clear mandate for further work.
The focus is on ICANN’s next application window, the first since 2012, which will reopen in the first quarter of 2026 and will allow new domain names to be extended to the global DNS system.
With 74.5% approval, the Cardano Foundation thanks the community for supporting our governance action to secure .ada and .cardano generic top-level domains.
We will now begin preparing the @ICANN applications in collaboration with the community. https://t.co/OIZd4GLyOn
— Cardano Foundation (@Cardano_CF) November 26, 2025
The foundation’s financial resources are used for the plan. Preparations are already underway, including technical assessment, vendor assessment, community assessment and coordination between different teams within the organization.
By leveraging this space, Cardano projects could use the.ada or service.cardano name as extensions, which would provide easier identification for users and create pathways for integration into decentralized identity systems, token domains, and wallet-linked naming structures.
Cardano’s governance framework is ICANN compliant
The Cardano Foundation has highlighted that ICANN should have applicants that represent operational capabilities and a well-established approach. The Cardano project is designed to meet these requirements with the help of a solid governance system.
A Community Advisory Group will guide the long-term management of the domains to ensure it aligns with ecosystem priorities and maintains similar transparency. There will be a regular publication of operational figures, similar to the Foundation’s current financial report.
The budget also includes two one-off applications estimated to cost 700,000, of which 500,000 will be ICANN fees and 200,000 will be application support.
Annual fixed costs are estimated at $350,000, including ICANN, registry maintenance and licensing, marketing, business development and overhead costs. Variable expenses depend on sales in the domain and are expected to be offset by revenue. No own funds are requested.
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