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    Is delegating ADA to a stake pool safe?

    Delegating ADA to a stake pool does not move your ADA: it is a certificate on your stake key, your ADA stays in your wallet, and you can spend or redelegate it at any time. Gatewayz cannot touch your ADA, your keys or your exit. What you do need to protect is your seed phrase and your Gatewayz API key, which can spend your discount.

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    Delegating ADA to a stake pool is safe for your principal in one specific sense: delegation never moves your ADA. It is a delegation certificate on your own stake key, your ADA stays in your wallet, and you can spend or redelegate at any time. With Gatewayz, there is no contract holding funds and no lock-up. The things you still have to protect are your wallet's seed phrase and your Gatewayz API key.

    Pre-launch. The program is built and switched off on mainnet. A working demo runs on Cardano's preprod testnet with test ADA, by invitation. Not available to US or Canadian persons. Every participant must confirm they are not a US or Canadian person before linking a wallet.

    What can't Gatewayz touch?

    Gatewayz cannot touch your ADA, your keys or your exit. Delegation is non-custodial: the network records which pool your stake supports, and nothing else changes hands.

    Who controls itCan Gatewayz change it?
    Your ADAYou, with your wallet's spending keysNo
    Your stake key and delegation choiceYouNo; only your wallet can sign a new delegation
    Leaving the programYou, by redelegating or deregisteringNo; leaving is never blocked
    Discounts already creditedYour Gatewayz accountThey stay on your account if you stop delegating

    Cardano's own documentation says anyone who owns ADA can delegate while keeping their spending power, and can spend it normally at any time, however it is delegated. There is no lock-up, and you can switch pools whenever you like. Cardano delegation also has no slashing: the Cardano Developer Portal says delegated ADA is never at risk and an underperforming pool only costs you that epoch's rewards. Custodial vs non-custodial staking compares this with exchanges that hold your coins.

    What does Gatewayz actually run?

    Gatewayz runs the stake pool and the accounting that turns its rewards into discounts. Neither gives it access to your funds.

    • The pool. The pool produces blocks when elected and receives rewards the protocol calculates. Cardano rewards come from transaction fees and monetary expansion, and operators do not manage them.
    • Daily accounting, capped at what was received. Each day, after a finished epoch's rewards are recorded, Gatewayz splits what it actually received across linked wallets in proportion to their stake and credits 95% of each share as a discount. It never credits in advance or from a promised rate.
    • An automatic pause. The program pauses itself if discounts granted ever exceed 95% of rewards received, so an accounting error cannot quietly run away.

    You can check the accounting from public data: Verify your discount recomputes your share from your stake address.

    How does CIP-8 signing prove control without a transaction?

    CIP-8 is Cardano's standard for signing arbitrary data with a wallet key. Signing a message proves you control an address without sending a transaction or paying a fee, and nothing on chain changes.

    To link a wallet, Gatewayz issues a one-time message, your wallet signs it with your stake key through CIP-30 signData, and Gatewayz checks the signature against your stake address. The signature cannot be used to spend your ADA or to sign a transaction; it only matches the message that was issued, and that message expires. The step-by-step is in the agent quickstart.

    Why is there no contract to audit for ADA?

    Because there is no contract. Delegation on Cardano is a native certificate built into the protocol, not a smart contract Gatewayz wrote, so no Gatewayz code ever holds or controls your ADA.

    Delegating one staking key takes a single transaction containing a delegation certificate and costs only the usual transaction fee. The only other on-chain amount is the stake address deposit, currently 2 ADA, paid once to register the stake address and returned in full on deregistration. Future assets that would need contracts or lending protocols are a different matter: they will not go live without a published audit, and each lists its own contract risk on its page.

    What do you need to protect?

    Two things: your wallet's recovery phrase, which controls your ADA, and your Gatewayz API key, which controls your discount.

    • Your API key. The discount balance lives on your Gatewayz account, and anyone with your key can spend it. Store it in a secret manager or environment variable, never in source code or chat. How Gatewayz keeps you secure covers account and key security.
    • Your agents. If an agent uses the key unattended, give it a spending limit; see Spend ceilings for unattended agents.
    • Your wallet. Keep the recovery phrase offline. Delegation does not change how your wallet is secured.

    How do you avoid phishing when linking a wallet?

    Never share your seed phrase, and only sign the exact message you expect. Gatewayz never asks for a seed phrase, a private key or a transaction to link your wallet.

    • A real link request asks your wallet to sign a message, not to approve a transaction that sends funds. If your wallet shows outputs, amounts or a fee, reject it.
    • The message comes from api.gatewayz.ai and contains a one-time nonce. Do not sign messages someone pastes to you in chat or email.
    • Treat any unsolicited request to "verify", "validate" or "sync" a wallet as an attack, whoever it claims to come from.
    • Check the domain before connecting a wallet: gatewayz.ai.

    Frequently asked questions

    Can a stake pool steal my ADA?

    No. Delegation assigns your stake to a pool without transferring your ADA, and the pool never gets a key that can spend it. You can spend your ADA or move your delegation at any time.

    Can Gatewayz stop me from leaving?

    No. Redelegating or deregistering is a transaction only your wallet can sign, and Gatewayz is not part of it. Leaving is never blocked, and discounts already credited stay on your account.

    Is signing the link message risky?

    Signing the issued message is not a transaction and costs nothing; it only proves you control the stake address. The risk is signing something else: only sign a message that came from the Gatewayz nonce call, and reject anything your wallet presents as a transaction.

    What happens if someone gets my Gatewayz API key?

    They can spend your discount balance and your credits on inference. They cannot touch your ADA or your wallet. Replace the key and review your usage if you think it was exposed.

    Has Gatewayz's ADA program been through a smart contract audit?

    There is nothing to audit on chain for ADA, because delegation is a native Cardano certificate and no Gatewayz contract holds funds. Assets that need contracts will not go live without a published audit.

    Sources

    Discounts are a share of staking rewards Gatewayz actually received, can change at any time, and are not a guaranteed return. Not available to US or Canadian persons. Every participant must confirm they are not a US or Canadian person before linking a wallet. Not investment, legal or tax advice. Figures as of 2026-10-27. Program disclosures