SecondFi has laid out a plan to return roughly 16.1 million Cardano (ADA) tokens stolen in a recent exploit. The company said it is working with the Cardano Foundation to deploy what it calls Web3's first zero-knowledge proof tool, aiming to refund affected users.
What the exploit hit
The hack drained 16.1 million ADA from SecondFi's platform. The company did not disclose how the attackers gained access or whether any other assets were taken. Investigators are still tracing the stolen funds, but SecondFi moved quickly to announce a recovery process rather than wait for law enforcement to act alone.
How the refunds will work
SecondFi's roadmap centers on a zero-knowledge proof system built with the Cardano Foundation. The tool is meant to verify which users lost tokens and how much, without exposing sensitive account data. Once the verification is complete, SecondFi says it will return the equivalent of the stolen ADA to those wallets. The company has not said whether it will use its own reserves or recover the funds first.
Why zero-knowledge proofs matter here
Zero-knowledge proofs let one party prove something is true without revealing the underlying information. In this case, SecondFi can confirm a user's loss without broadcasting their full transaction history. The Cardano Foundation's involvement suggests the tool will be built on Cardano's native infrastructure, though technical details remain sparse.
SecondFi has not set a specific date for the refunds. The company said it will share more details as the zero-knowledge proof tool moves from development to deployment. Users who held ADA on SecondFi during the exploit are advised to watch for official updates from the platform and the Cardano Foundation.
