TLDR
- Charles Hoskinson said Cardano was not hacked after the SecondFi wallet breach.
- He said Cardano’s protocol, cryptography, nodes, and open-source wallet code remain secure.
- Hoskinson described the breach as an application-level security failure, not a blockchain failure.
- SecondFi said attackers exploited weaknesses at the address and transaction-signing layer.
- The attacks affected 374 wallets and led to the theft of about 16 million ADA.
Charles Hoskinson moved to calm ADA users after a SecondFi incident raised concern across Cardano. He said the breach did not affect the Cardano blockchain, its protocol, or its core infrastructure. The issue involved SecondFi wallets and signing activity, not the base network.
Hoskinson Says Cardano Core Systems Remain Secure
Hoskinson said the incident did not compromise Cardano’s technology stack. He pointed to the protocol, cryptography, node systems, and open-source wallet code as operating normally.
Update https://t.co/23F2M0YrUp
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) June 24, 2026
He described the breach as an application-level failure. Therefore, he argued that the event should not carry the label of a network breach.
Hoskinson rejected claims that attackers had hacked Cardano. He said, “Cardano was not hacked,” while addressing concerns from ADA holders.
He warned that loose wording could mislead users about the source of the failure. In his view, the problem sat with one application, not the blockchain.
Hoskinson compared the case to a flawed third-party app on Windows. He said users do not blame Microsoft whenever an outside app contains a bug.
The logic applies to Cardano, he argued. A wallet or finance app can fail without proving weakness in the protocol.
His comments separated SecondFi’s security incident from the wider ADA network. He said ordinary users who avoided SecondFi did not face the same issue.
SecondFi Traces ADA Losses to Wallet Signing Layer
SecondFi, formerly Yoroi Wallet, confirmed that attackers targeted the address and transaction-signing layer. The company said that the weakness allowed unauthorized transactions.
The firm reported four wallet-draining incidents earlier this week. Three attacks involved external threat actors and affected 374 wallets.
SecondFi said those external attacks led to losses of about 16 million ADA. The company moved 129 million ADA to a third-party custodian.
EMURGO owns SecondFi, and EMURGO remains one of Cardano’s founding entities. That link increased attention within the ADA community.
After the breach, SecondFi said it deployed a security patch. It hired an external auditor to verify customer holdings after the wallet attacks.
The company said it would build a claims process for affected users. That process will support compensation and recovery for eligible wallet holders.
SecondFi also issued guidance about recovery phrases. It told users not to restore those phrases into other wallets during the claims process.
The firm said that the step could disrupt the handling of affected funds. For now, SecondFi continues recovery work after patching the signing-layer vulnerability.
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