Monad has proposed a new account-authentication system that would allow users to replace, add, or retire the cryptographic credentials controlling a wallet without changing its blockchain address.
The proposal, published as a Monad Improvement Proposal (MIP) on August 24 and titled “Flexible and Upgradeable Account Authentication,” was authored by Kushal Babel and Jan Camenisch. It separates a wallet’s permanent address from the authentication methods used to approve transactions.
If adopted, the system could allow users to replace a lost or compromised key, add passkeys, convert an account to a multisignature setup or upgrade to post-quantum cryptography without transferring assets to a new address.
The proposal comes as Monad’s blockchain ecosystem continues to grow. The network has about $940.7 million in total value locked (TVL) across DeFi applications, according to DeFiLlama data as of publishing. It also has about $732 million in stablecoins, while decentralized exchanges on the network recorded around $389 million in trading volume over the previous 24 hours.
Keys could change, but the address stays
The main change is treating an account address and its authentication keys as two separate things.
Today, blockchain accounts are closely linked to their cryptographic keys. If a user loses a private key, recovering the account can be difficult or impossible. If the key is compromised, the assets controlled by that key could also be at risk.
Monad’s proposal recommends changes to this model. Instead of permanently linking an account to one key, the account would store an authentication configuration. This configuration could contain several authenticators and rules that determine which ones can approve transactions.
For example, an account could allow either a traditional crypto key or a passkey to approve transactions. A separate recovery rule could require two trusted guardians to approve a key change if the main key is lost. The account address would remain unchanged during these updates.
Passkeys, Multisig and Quantum Resistance
The proposal supports several authentication methods, including ECDSA on secp256k1, ECDSA on P-256, WebAuthn-based P-256 passkeys, Ed25519 and ML-DSA, a post-quantum signature scheme.
This would let users strengthen account security as new technologies become available. Users could also create rules around multiple authenticators. For example, a threshold policy could require two of three authorized signers to approve an action.
The system could also help accounts prepare for future quantum threats. Users could add a quantum-resistant authenticator, update their security policy and later remove an older key while keeping the same wallet address.
Recovery is built into the account
Account recovery is another key part of the proposal. Users could create recovery rules that allow trusted authenticators to replace a lost or compromised key. For example, a wallet could allow its main key or passkey to approve normal transactions, while two guardians would be required to approve a replacement key.
If the main key is lost, the guardians could approve a new one without requiring the user to move assets to another wallet.
Monad proposes using an AuthConfigManager precompile to handle these configuration changes. New authentication methods would also need to prove that the user controls the corresponding credential.
Existing accounts can keep working
The proposal is designed to support existing Monad accounts without forcing users to migrate.
Legacy accounts without the new authentication configuration would continue using the existing secp256k1 model. Their current addresses would remain unchanged, and existing transaction types would continue to work.
An existing account could later upgrade to the new system through a transaction that calls the proposed authentication-management precompile.
For new accounts, the initial authentication configuration would be used to derive the address. After that, the authentication configuration could be changed without changing the address.
The proposal is still in the draft stage, so the final implementation and timeline have not been decided. Monad is expected to gather community feedback before moving toward a detailed implementation specification.
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