Cardano

Assist with Cardano ADA transactions, staking, native tokens, and UTxO model.

Security Scan

This is an instruction-only, read-only Cardano reference: it contains educational guidance about ADA, staking, UTxO, tokens and wallets and requests no installs, binaries, or credentials — nothing in the skill's materials attempts to access or exfiltrate secrets or run code.

Purpose & Capability

Name and description match the content of SKILL.md: the document is a Cardano reference covering UTxO, staking, native tokens, wallets, and related concepts. No unrelated capabilities, binaries, or credentials are requested.

Instruction Scope

SKILL.md is purely informational and does not instruct the agent to run commands, read files, access environment variables, or send data to external endpoints. It does not ask for seed phrases or other secrets; it warns users not to share them.

Install Mechanism

No install spec is provided and there are no code files. Being instruction-only means nothing is written to disk or installed by the skill.

Credentials

The skill declares no required environment variables, credentials, or config paths. No secrets or unrelated service tokens are requested.

Persistence & Privilege

always is false and the skill does not request persistent or elevated privileges. Autonomous invocation is allowed by platform default but, because the skill has no network/install footprint, that autonomy has low blast radius.

Assessment

This skill is an offline reference and appears safe to install from a coherence standpoint. It does not perform transactions or access your wallets. Before acting on any transaction-related advice it provides, cross-check with official Cardano documentation and your wallet/hardware device: never paste your seed phrase into the agent or any web form, verify transactions on hardware wallets, and use official wallets/faucets when testing. If you plan to integrate this with real keys or automation later, require explicit review because this skill currently has no code but an agent could still relay user-provided sensitive data if asked.

UTxO Model (Critical Difference)

• Cardano uses UTxO like Bitcoin, not accounts like Ethereum — each transaction consumes and creates outputs
• Wallet balance is sum of all UTxOs — not a single account balance
• Transaction fees depend on size — more inputs/outputs = higher fee
• Change outputs created automatically — transactions consume full UTxOs and return change
• Minimum UTxO value required — can't create outputs below threshold (currently ~1 ADA)

Transaction Characteristics

• Transactions are deterministic — you know exact fee before submitting
• No failed transactions that consume fees — if it fails, no fee charged
• Multi-asset transactions native — send ADA and tokens in same transaction
• Metadata can be attached — up to 16KB of arbitrary data

Native Tokens

• Tokens are first-class citizens — not smart contracts, native protocol support
• Minting requires policy script — defines who can mint/burn and when
• Tokens must be sent with minimum ADA — tokens can't exist alone in UTxO
• Policy ID identifies the token — verify policy ID for authenticity
• Burning requires same policy script — time-locked policies can't burn after deadline

Staking

• Non-custodial staking — ADA stays in your wallet, fully liquid
• Delegate to stake pools — no minimum, no lockup
• Rewards every epoch (5 days) — automatic, no claiming required
• First rewards appear after 15-20 days — registration and reward delay
• Pool saturation affects rewards — overly popular pools give diminishing returns

Choosing Stake Pools

• Pool margin is operator's cut — lower isn't always better, quality matters
• Fixed cost (340 ADA minimum) taken before margin — affects small delegators more
• Pledge shows operator commitment — higher pledge often indicates reliability
• Check pool uptime and block production — missed blocks mean missed rewards
• Avoid pools near saturation — rewards decrease above saturation point

Wallets

• Daedalus is full node wallet — downloads entire blockchain, most secure
• Yoroi is light wallet — faster, browser extension available
• Hardware wallet support — Ledger and Trezor via compatible software
• 15 or 24 word seed phrases — don't mix formats between wallets
• Staking key separate from spending key — can stake without exposing full access

Smart Contracts (Plutus)

• eUTxO model extends UTxO with data and scripts — different from Ethereum EVM
• Transactions must be built off-chain — then submitted to chain
• Deterministic execution — same inputs always produce same outputs
• Higher collateral requirements — locked ADA returned if transaction succeeds
• Script size affects fees — optimize for smaller scripts

Common Transaction Issues

• "Insufficient funds for fee" — need more ADA than just transfer amount
• "Minimum UTxO not met" — output too small, must include more ADA
• "UTxO too fragmented" — many small UTxOs, consolidate with self-transfer
• "Collateral required" — smart contract interaction needs collateral UTxO
• "Transaction too large" — too many inputs, split into multiple transactions

Network and Epochs

• Epoch is 5 days — staking rewards and protocol updates follow epoch boundaries
• Slot every 1 second — blocks approximately every 20 seconds
• Hard forks via Hard Fork Combinator — seamless upgrades without chain splits
• Testnet (preprod, preview) for development — free test ADA from faucets

Security

• Seed phrase is everything — never share, never enter online
• Verify transaction details on hardware wallet screen — software can lie
• Check policy IDs for tokens — scam tokens can have same name as legitimate ones
• DApp connections don't expose seed — only public key and signing requests
• Stake pool changes take effect after epoch boundary — not instant

NFTs and Metadata

• NFTs are native tokens with quantity 1 — no special contract needed
• CIP-25 standard for NFT metadata — JSON metadata with image links
• Metadata stored on-chain — permanent and verifiable
• IPFS commonly used for images — verify IPFS pinning is permanent
• jpg.store, cnft.io for marketplace — verify NFT policies before buying

Governance

• Voltaire era introducing on-chain governance — ADA holders vote on proposals
• Project Catalyst for treasury funding — community-voted grants
• Constitutional Committee, DReps — delegated representation coming
• Staking and governance participation can overlap — same ADA, different roles