diff --git a/LICENSE b/LICENSE
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..52ca550
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+MIT License
+
+Copyright (c) 2026 PeerX Contributors
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+SOFTWARE.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d805815..c5329f5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -482,7 +482,7 @@ We welcome pull requests for new educational scenarios, additional test coverage
 
 ## License
 
-**MIT.** *(No `LICENSE` file is currently committed — add one before publishing. Until then, all rights reserved by default.)*
+This project is licensed under the MIT License — see the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for details.
 
 ---
 
diff --git a/benches/Cargo.toml b/benches/Cargo.toml
index dece1c5..87bb483 100644
--- a/benches/Cargo.toml
+++ b/benches/Cargo.toml
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 name = "peerx-benchmarks"
 version = "0.1.0"
 edition = "2021"
+license = "MIT"
 
 [[bin]]
 name = "benchmark-runner"
diff --git a/market-data-streaming/Cargo.toml b/market-data-streaming/Cargo.toml
index 67ea3ae..863ddc6 100644
--- a/market-data-streaming/Cargo.toml
+++ b/market-data-streaming/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 [package]
 name = "market-data-streaming"
 version = "0.1.0"
-edition = "2021"authors = ["PeerX Team"] 
+edition = "2021"
+authors = ["PeerX Team"]
 description = "High-performance real-time market data streaming system"
+license = "MIT"
 
 [dependencies]
 tokio = { version = "1.35", features = ["full"] }
diff --git a/peerx-contracts/counter/Cargo.toml b/peerx-contracts/counter/Cargo.toml
index e1bf886..c7dc207 100644
--- a/peerx-contracts/counter/Cargo.toml
+++ b/peerx-contracts/counter/Cargo.toml
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ version = "0.0.0"
 edition = "2021"
 publish = false
 autotests = false
+license = "MIT"
 
 [lib]
 crate-type = ["lib", "cdylib"]
diff --git a/peerx-contracts/counter/src/audit_tools/Cargo.toml b/peerx-contracts/counter/src/audit_tools/Cargo.toml
index 767b4aa..88ad366 100644
--- a/peerx-contracts/counter/src/audit_tools/Cargo.toml
+++ b/peerx-contracts/counter/src/audit_tools/Cargo.toml
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 name = "audit-tools"
 version = "0.1.0"
 edition = "2021"
+license = "MIT"
 
 [[bin]]
 name = "audit-tools"
diff --git a/peerx-contracts/counter/src/governance/Cargo.toml b/peerx-contracts/counter/src/governance/Cargo.toml
index 4aca52b..8564f3e 100644
--- a/peerx-contracts/counter/src/governance/Cargo.toml
+++ b/peerx-contracts/counter/src/governance/Cargo.toml
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 name = "peerx"
 version = "0.2.0"
 edition = "2021"
+license = "MIT"
 
 [dependencies]
 sha2 = "0.10"
diff --git a/peerx-contracts/soroban-ping/Cargo.toml b/peerx-contracts/soroban-ping/Cargo.toml
index 45614b8..8f0970b 100644
--- a/peerx-contracts/soroban-ping/Cargo.toml
+++ b/peerx-contracts/soroban-ping/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ name = "soroban-ping"
 version = "0.0.0"
 edition = "2021"
 publish = false
+license = "MIT"
 
 [lib]
 crate-type = ["lib", "cdylib"]