Hardware Wallet Maintenance 2026
VacuumLabs
ID: 69e8b481b637aef81b4fadd7
*Why now: Cardano protocol evolution, vendor firmware and app release cycles, and growing wallet and dApp integration demand continue to create compatibility risk on this security-critical access layer. Funding continuity in 2026 is less costly and less disruptive than waiting for breakage to accumulate and reacting only after users or integrators lose access.* *Cardano’s hardware-wallet stack must be maintained continuously or users and integrators lose secure access when Cardano, Ledger, or Trezor introduce breaking changes. This proposal requests 12 months of funding for production maintenance of Cardano hardware-wallet support: Ledger and Trezor compatibility updates, maintenance of supporting interoperability libraries and cardano-hw-cli, developer support for ecosystem integrators, support for integration paths involving externally maintained components where shared hardware-wallet flows intersect, and vendor-required product or security audits where firmware or app changes trigger them.* *This is a continuity proposal for an already-proven Cardano access layer, not a request to build a new wallet product; scope is limited to compatibility, security, supporting libraries/tooling, release support, and vendor-required audit work needed to keep supported hardware-wallet flows operational. This proposal is limited to hardware-wallet compatibility, tooling, and vendor-required assurance, and does not duplicate broader core-node, ledger, or general infrastructure maintenance budgets.* *The value to Cardano is continuity: users retain secure signing,builders avoid broken integrations, protocol and vendor changes do not strand hardware-wallet users, and newer utility layers can rely on a maintained hardware-wallet path. The proposal aligns with Cardano’s strategy around security, interoperability, developer experience, and adoption,and it will be delivered with clear milestones,evidence,and transparent capped T&M reporting so DReps can verify value as it is produced.*
Scorecard
How this score works
Each criterion is worth between 1 and 4 points. The score is the points earned out of the points on criteria that have been answered — shown as a percentage. Green is 75% or higher, Amber is 50–74%, and Red is below 50%.
Some criteria are checked automatically against the proposal data (open source, doxxed team, treasury return clauses, etc.). Others are human-judgment calls — value for money, public good, whether the deliverables are realistic. Those stay blank until a DRep ticks them.
Criteria can also be marked Not applicablewhen they don't fit the proposal — for example, "open source" doesn't apply to a DAO governance proposal with no software output. Those are excluded from the score entirely, neither helping nor hurting.
Green requires 80% coverage. If less than 80% of the applicable criteria (by points) have been answered, the verdict stays at Amber — "pending review" — even when every answered criterion passes. This proposal's coverage is currently 68% (13 of 19 applicable criteria answered). The auto-calculated band would have been Green, but coverage is below the threshold so the verdict is shown as Amber to flag that judgment criteria are still pending.
Vote intent
Export & audit
↓ Download scorecard.mdRaw payload · Treasury (true) / Admin (intersect)
{
"_meta": {
"schema_version": "1.2.0",
"ingested_at": "2026-05-11",
"ingested_by": "ai",
"proposal_id": "69e8b481b637aef81b4fadd7",
"title": "Hardware Wallet Maintenance 2026",
"proposer": "VacuumLabs"
},
"id": "hydra-hardware-wallet-maintenance-2026",
"title": "Hardware Wallet Maintenance 2026",
"proposer": "VacuumLabs",
"administrator": "Intersect",
"identity": {
"doxxed": true,
"doxxed_notes": "VacuumLabs is a publicly known Cardano ecosystem company with registered corporate identity and public GitHub presence."
},
"ask": {
"total_ada": 1310960,
"usd_equivalent": 314630,
"usd_peg": 0.24,
"usd_peg_vs_market": "neutral",
"duration_months": 12,
"milestone_payments_disclosed": true,
"milestone_schedule_disclosed": "amounts_and_dates",
"work_packages": [
{
"id": "WP1",
"title": "Cardano Hardware Wallet Maintenance & Compatibility Assurance",
"ada": 1272777
},
{
"id": "admin",
"title": "Intersect Budget Administration Fee",
"ada": 38183
}
]
},
"metadata": {
"open_source": "yes",
"has_prior_delivery": true,
"prior_delivery_notes": "VacuumLabs has maintained Cardano Ledger App, cardano-hw-cli, cardano-hw-interoperability-lib, Trezor support since 2018. Chang upgrade Ledger/Trezor readiness confirmed and marked complete. Multiple Catalyst and Governance Space grants delivered.",
"admin_model": "intersect",
"duplicate_of_existing_solution": {
"value": "no",
"confidence": "high",
"set_by": "ai"
}
},
"treasury_return": {
"has_return_clause": true,
"return_description": "Capped T&M model — unclaimed capacity and unused audit reserve returned to treasury via Intersect reconciliation. Not an entitlement.",
"treasury_favourability": "strong"
},
"ecosystem_demand": {
"evidence_level": "strong",
"evidence_level_confidence": "high",
"evidence_level_set_by": "ai",
"active_users_known": true,
"active_users_examples": [
{
"name": "Ledger hardware wallet users on Cardano",
"kind": "user"
},
{
"name": "Trezor hardware wallet users on Cardano",
"kind": "user"
},
{
"name": "AdaLite wallet (VacuumLabs product)",
"kind": "integrator"
}
],
"developer_demand_signals": [
"Ledger and Trezor are the two dominant hardware wallets globally; breaking Cardano support would strand a large cohort of long-term ADA holders",
"Protocol upgrades (Conway era, upcoming Leios) will create hardware wallet compatibility requirements",
"DRep comment asks about Ledger App Rewrite status — indicates active community attention to this surface"
],
"adoption_risk_notes": "Demand is maintenance/continuity, not new feature adoption. Risk of demand not materialising is extremely low — hardware wallet breakage is a near-certainty without continuous maintenance as Cardano evolves."
},
"incumbents": {
"has_existing_solution": "no",
"has_existing_solution_confidence": "high",
"has_existing_solution_set_by": "ai",
"existing_solutions": [],
"differentiation_claim": "VacuumLabs is the sole current maintainer of Cardano's Ledger and Trezor support stack. No alternative team provides this maintenance.",
"differentiation_credibility": "high"
},
"risk_flags": {
"aggressive_peg": false,
"self_administered_no_oversight": false,
"incumbent_already_delivering": false,
"no_evidence_of_demand": false,
"competes_with_in_batch": false,
"concentration_risk": false
},
"source": {
"hydra_id": "69e8b481b637aef81b4fadd7",
"channels": [
"hydra"
]
}
}