Cardano Founder Explains Why He Doesn’t Have Public Wallet Addresses

Cardano Founder Hoskinson has divulged why he doesn’t have public wallet addresses following an inciting comment from a crypto proponent.

The public wallet address subject resurfaced last weekend courtesy of anonymous crypto proponent Gabscrypto, who identifies as a “Censorship-Resistant Cypherpunk Maximalist.”. The crypto enthusiast compared Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson with Vitalik Buterin. 

He noted that the Ethereum co-founder has a public wallet address despite being the Cardano community’s “favorite piñata.” On the other hand, he submitted that Hoskinson does not have one. “Where is your public wallet address, Charles?” Gabscrypto tweeted.  

Cardano Founder Responds

Hoskinson promptly reacted to the question. Citing security issues, the ADA creator confirmed not having public wallet addresses. “I don’t have public addresses because of security,” he remarked. 

I don't have public addresses because of security. People can send transactions without my consent from sanctioned nations and wallets like the tornado cash issue to me and thus blacklist my account. This is why I like the concept of contingent settlement

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) July 29, 2023

He noted that public wallet addresses could expose his account to the risk of getting blacklisted. He remarked that people in sanctioned nations or those using banned services could send crypto assets to him. In this regard, Hoskinson expressed admiration for the concept of contingent settlement. 

For the uninitiated, contingent settlement allows both the sender and receiver of a crypto transaction to sign the transaction before it is processed. This pattern helps to ensure that the recipient approves of the transaction.

Community Members React

Notably, Hoskinson’s contingent settlement comment was misinterpreted by some users, including Gabscrypto. Accordingly, the critic implied that Hoskinson advocated for contingent transactions on Cardano. 

He further recalled that the Cardano founder had earlier proposed contingent staking. “I guess blockchains don’t need to be permissionless anymore,” he touted. Reacting to this statement, several ADA proponents slammed Gabscrypto. 

Alan, the host of the Cardano community podcast “Artists on Cardano,” noted that Hoskinson’s comment was misunderstood. The user clarified that Hoskinson never advocated for any parameter change on Cardano. Likewise, Reddstar urged Gabscrypto to delete his comment to avoid future references.

Where tf did you get that from lol; you should slow down and read the response more carefully before replying Gab, Charles wasn’t saying that at all. It’s not like he advocated for any parameter changes re: “contingent transactions”

After all, it’s a free, open and…

— Alan (@buxdabomb) July 30, 2023

Hoskinson’s Contingent Staking Proposal

Recall that the Cardano founder proposed contingent staking in February. The proposal recommended that the stake pool operator and delegators sign transactions before they can be processed on Cardano. This development came amid the SEC’s crackdown on crypto staking in the US. 

He proposed this staking model because it aligns with legal requirements. More so, it complies with global know-your-customer (KYC) standards. However, the proposal was met with mixed community reactions.