Cardanoscan Adds Calidus Identity Keys to Cardano Stake Pools

Cardanoscan has added Calidus key information to Cardano stake pool profiles, giving users a direct way to view the authentication credentials registered by pool operators. The update integrates CIP-151, a standard designed to separate everyday identity verification from the sensitive cryptographic keys used to administer stake pools.

The new field allows applications and third-party services to identify authorized operators through public blockchain records. For delegators, it adds another piece of verifiable information to existing stake pool profiles.

Cardanoscan Brings Calidus IDs to Stake Pool Profiles

Cardanoscan now displays a Calidus ID alongside the existing pool identifier when an operator has registered the credential on-chain. The identifier uses Bech32 encoding with the prefix "calidus".

The explorer highlighted Austrian stake pool ATADA as an example of the integration. The pool had approximately 65.6 million ADA delegated as of November 3, according to the figures included in the original report.

Calidus keys use Ed25519 cryptography and provide a separate signing identity linked to a registered stake pool. Compatible applications can verify signatures against the public key recorded on Cardano, establishing whether a message or authentication request originated from an authorized credential.

The underlying CIP-151 proposal was authored by Adam Dean and Martin Lang, the operator of ATADA. Its implementation is supported by ecosystem tools and infrastructure providers including Cardano Signer, Koios, Blockfrost, and CNTools.

How CIP-151 Separates Identity Verification From Cold Keys

Cardano stake pool operators rely on cold keys to authorize sensitive administrative operations. These credentials are normally kept offline, making them unsuitable for frequent authentication requests from external platforms.

CIP-151 introduces a separate Calidus key that operators can authorize through a one-time registration. The process links the public key to the stake pool through transaction metadata under label 867, with the registration authenticated using the pool's cold key.

After registration, the Calidus private key can sign messages and authentication requests. Supported services verify those signatures against the on-chain record without requiring further access to the cold key.

The registration mechanism builds on CIP-0088 and supports compatible signing workflows involving hardware wallets, including Ledger, Trezor, and Keystone.

Calidus does not replace the operational authority of a stake pool's cold key. In particular, Cardano's native on-chain SPO governance votes still require the appropriate cold-key authorization. Calidus provides an alternative for identity verification and application-level interactions, not a replacement for protocol-level voting credentials.

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Key Rotation and Public Verification Through Cardanoscan

CIP-151 also establishes a mechanism for replacing compromised or outdated Calidus credentials.

Each registration contains a nonce value used to determine which authorization is current. A new valid registration with a higher nonce supersedes the previous credential, allowing operators to rotate keys without changing their stake pool identity.

Operators can also revoke an existing authorization without registering a replacement by submitting an all-zero public key. Compatible services recognize this registration as invalidating earlier Calidus credentials.

The mechanism supports services that require verified operator identities, including authentication systems, governance interfaces, and applications that accept cryptographically signed messages.

With the Cardanoscan integration, delegators can view registered Calidus identifiers alongside existing pool information, including delegation levels, fees, and performance metrics.

The Calidus ID field is available on Cardanoscan profiles for pools with registered credentials. Operators who have not registered a key can use compatible tooling and the authorization procedure defined by CIP-151 to make their credentials publicly verifiable.