- Hoskinson has begun testing a zero-knowledge wallet recovery smart contract.
- Recovery system aims to let blockchain replace trusted custodians, he told Coinedition.
- Cardano has recorded 29,025 daily active addresses despite the recent market crash.
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has started work on an experimental recovery smart contract that could change how lost self-custody wallets are recovered on the network.
In a post on X, Hoskinson said he is testing a system that would allow users to claim ADA and Cardano Native Tokens (CNTs) from a recovery pool by proving ownership of their wallet’s 24-word recovery phrase through a zero-knowledge proof. The concept aims to verify ownership without exposing the recovery phrase itself.
Hoskinson said he plans to work with Quantumplation, Sebastien Guillemot, and the Midnight team as development progresses.
Focus Is on White-Hat Wallet Recovery
The proposal is still experimental and is not intended to become a universal wallet standard across Web3.
When CoinEdition asked whether the idea could become the foundation for self-custodial wallets across the industry, Hoskinson said it is designed specifically to solve the “white-hat issue.”
And when asked whether the approach would reduce reliance on trusted custodians during white-hat recoveries, Hoskinson replied that “the blockchain becomes the custodian.”
The design would change the recovery process from a trusted third party to a smart contract that verifies wallet ownership using cryptographic proofs before releasing assets from a recovery pool.
Development Continues Despite Weak Market Sentiment
Hoskinson’s latest experiment comes as Cardano continues to record strong development activity despite a difficult market environment. He has recently discussed plans for a globally distributed Cardano Summit with dedicated zones for individual decentralized applications and ecosystem projects.
Separately, Hoskinson recently defended Input Output’s use of AI-generated content, saying autonomous AI agents will eventually help manage community updates, organize ecosystem activity, and support the growth of Midnight City.
He said AI tools will become necessary as Cardano’s user base expands, while Midnight remains one of the ecosystem’s major long-term development projects.
On-Chain Activity Climbs
While Cardano continues to build new technology, network activity has started to increase. According to Santiment data, Cardano recently reached a multi-year high in daily active addresses, with roughly 29,025 active addresses recorded on the network.
At the same time, Cardano accounted for about 0.33% of all crypto-related social discussions, showing that online attention has risen sharply.
The analytics platform noted that similar periods of rising on-chain activity and social discussion during times of heavy market fear have historically been followed by mild relief rallies. However, it cautioned that the pattern does not guarantee another recovery.
Related: Charles Hoskinson Says Cardano Now Hosts the World’s Largest DAO
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