Jelurida

Jelurida is a Swiss blockchain software company that develops and maintains the Ardor multichain ecosystem and the open-source Nxt blockchain platform. Built around a parent-child chain architecture, its primary network Ardor separates network security and consensus from transactional functions to resolve blockchain bloat without requiring custom base-layer protocols.

Company and leadership

Jelurida was incorporated in the Netherlands in 2016 and relocated its corporate headquarters to Lugano, Switzerland, in 2017. The firm was established by co-founders Lior Yaffe, Petko Petkov, and Kristina Kalcheva. Yaffe, who directs operations, brings over 20 years of experience in enterprise application design along with a computer science background from Technion, while Kalcheva provides legal direction for corporate structures and intellectual property licensing. Jelurida manages operations globally with a presence in countries such as Spain, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Israel, and South Korea.

Architecture and core mechanics

The core technology stack centers on the Ardor mainnet, an energy-efficient proof-of-stake platform launched on January 1, 2018. The parent ARDOR chain exclusively processes consensus and secures the system, while distinct child chains handle day-to-day operations and application features. Ignis is the first operational child chain, providing native functionalities such as tokenization, decentralized asset exchange, and smart voting. Custom child chains can be deployed by enterprises seeking private permissioning tied to public consensus security. To execute logic, developers run Java-based lightweight contracts instead of deploying contracts directly on the parent chain, interacting with more than 250 native REST APIs.

Fee structure and bundling

Transaction fees for parent-chain transactions that directly modify Ardor balances are payable in ARDOR tokens. On child chains, users pay fees directly using that specific child chain's native asset, such as IGNIS. Decentralized network actors known as bundlers collect these child chain fees and package the transactions, paying the underlying block forgers in ARDOR at bundler-determined rates. Businesses can also deploy bundler template filters to sponsor network gas costs for end users.

Milestones and development record

Jelurida introduced testnet Lightweight Contracts alongside transaction vouchers and bundler templates with Ardor version 2.1.2 in October 2018. In February 2026, the network completed a mandatory hard fork at block 4,333,333 following the release of Ardor 2.6.0, activating the Nxt child chain migration and enabling Atomic Transaction Chains on mainnet. Jelurida released an updated Ardor Block Explorer in March 2026.

Risks and technical trade-offs

Deploying on Ardor requires using Jelurida's non-EVM, Java-focused architecture rather than standard EVM tooling like Solidity and MetaMask. Child chains also remain dependent on parent-chain forgers and active bundlers to process and settle transactions onto the parent ledger. Child chains depend on parent-chain forgers and active bundlers to process and settle transactions.