What are Human Keys
Feb 10, 2025
Perfect Crypto Onboarding is Here
Keys are everything— they secure wallets, sign transactions, and verify identity. But what if keys weren’t just random numbers? What if they actually represented people? This shift in perspective solves one of crypto’s biggest challenges: onboarding users into a private, self-custodial, and secure system—without relying on traditional recovery methods that require custodians or guardians.
Introducing Human Keys
Human Keys derive cryptographic keys from human attributes—such as biometrics, passphrases, or secret knowledge—rather than from pure randomness. This approach, powered by the Human Network, ensures keys are:
Secure – Resistant to attacks and unpredictable, quantum proof.
Private – Derived without exposing personal data.
Recoverable – Restorable using human-friendly factors, without relying on centralized services.
Persistent – Keys can always be derived by a resilient decentralized network.
This fixes crypto’s long-standing UX issues and provides a roadmap for self-custodial security at a global scale.
How Cryptographic Keys Work
Cryptographic keys are the foundation of secure communications, data integrity, and authentication. In public key cryptography, we distinguish between:
Public Keys – Shared openly, used for encrypting data and verifying signatures.
Private Keys – Kept secret, used to decrypt data and generate signatures.
Security Assumptions for Keys
Private keys are the most sensitive part of cryptographic security—they must be:
Long enough (e.g., 256 bits for modern security).
Completely unpredictable to attackers.
Never revealed
The Flaws in Traditional Key Generation
Most systems generate private keys using cryptographically secure random number generators (CSPRNGs) which produce random values that are computationally infeasible to predict or replicate. True randomness often requires entropy sources like thermal noise, radioactive decay, or even chaotic physical processes, which are inherently unpredictable. However, translating these natural phenomena into usable digital randomness is technically challenging and prone to mistakes.
In practice, most systems rely on pseudo-random number generators (PRNGs), which simulate randomness using deterministic algorithms. To make these outputs unpredictable, they require high-quality entropy seeds. If the entropy source or the PRNG implementation is compromised—through poor design, insufficient entropy, or malicious interference—the generated cryptographic keys can become vulnerable. This is why ensuring robust, reliable sources of randomness is essential for maintaining the integrity of cryptographic systems.
The Human Network Makes Human-Friendly Cryptographic Keys
Human Attributes as Cryptographic Entropy
Instead of relying solely on randomness, Human Keys derive security from human uniqueness—acting as an additional source of entropy. These attributes fall into three categories:
What you are – Biometrics (fingerprints, iris patterns, voice).
What you know – Passphrases, security questions, personal secrets.
What you have – Secure devices, hardware wallets, physical tokens.
However, not all human data has enough entropy for cryptographic security—which is where the Human Network comes in.
The Human Network is An Entropy Network
A threshold verifiable oblivious pseudorandom function (tVOPRF) is at the core of Human Keys. It transforms low-entropy personal attributes into high-entropy cryptographic keys while preserving privacy.
How it Works
User inputs private data (e.g., a biometric scan or passphrase, can be combined).
The network applies a blinded cryptographic function (OPRF) to generate a secure key.
The final output is cryptographically secure and private—ensuring that neither the network nor an attacker can reconstruct the key.
Why this is Secure
No single entity can generate or control the key.
Keys are collision-resistant (no two users get the same key).
The process remains private—no personal data is ever exposed.
Decentralized using Ethereum Proof of Stake via Eigenlayer & Symbiotic
Quantum-Proof by Design – Unlike traditional cryptographic randomness, Human Keys are informationally theoretically secure and leverage structured entropy sources that can be adapted for post-quantum security, ensuring long-term resistance against future attacks.
How Human Keys Maintain Security & Privacy
To be effective, Human Keys must be both cryptographically secure and privacy-preserving. This is ensured through two fundamental cryptographic properties:
Security in Key Derivation The resulting key must be resistant to attacks and impossible to guess. Even if an attacker gains partial information about the input (e.g., a leaked biometric template), they cannot reconstruct the full cryptographic key. This is achieved through:
Privacy Preservation The raw human attributes used in key derivation must remain private and secure. The MPC-based Human Network guarantees that:
For example, when deriving a key from a fingerprint, the system would apply a cryptographic hash function to the fingerprint data combined with a unique salt (masking). This produces a key that is securely linked to the individual without storing or exposing their raw biometric data.
Traditional cryptographic systems often rely on external devices or complex passwords that can be forgotten, lost, or stolen. Human keys empower users to leverage what they already possess—be it their biometrics, knowledge, or personal devices—making security more intuitive and less cumbersome.
Human Keys are Human Tech
The Human Key approach is a game-changer for crypto adoption, self-custody, and privacy-preserving identity.
Security Without Complexity – Users no longer need to manage fragile seed phrases or passwords.
Decentralized Recovery – Keys can always be re-derived using personal attributes—without centralized recovery services.
Enhanced Usability – Users can access crypto securely without relying on external hardware or complex authentication methods.
By anchoring security in human attributes, Human Keys unlock new possibilities in:
Decentralized Identity & Proof-of-Personhood
Privacy-Preserving Transactions & ZK Credentials
Secure & Self-Sovereign Access Control
The future of crypto onboarding isn’t just secure—it’s human. Welcome to a world where your identity is the key.
About Holonym Foundation
Holonym Foundation’s mission is the foundation of natural digital rights for privacy, security, and data ownership. As the parent organization of human.tech, Holonym Foundation fosters innovation through strategic partnerships, research, and advocacy, ensuring that technological advancements align with fundamental human values.
About human.tech
human.tech is a suite of key, wallet, and identity protocols to direct capital flow for humans - not bots, middlemen, or bad actors. human.tech is rolling out the world’s best capital allocation infrastructure to billions of humans with biometric keys, self-custodial wallets, and private identity.
