notes / how
How it works
What we read, how we follow it to the keys, and the edges of what a public-chain audit can see.
why keys
The address is the public key.
Bitcoin and Ethereum addresses are hashes: the public key stays hidden until it signs. Solana addresses are the Ed25519 public key itself, so every key is on display the moment it exists. Shor's algorithm, on a large fault-tolerant quantum computer, turns a public key into its private key.
Nobody can do that today, and Solana's developers have migration paths in the works. In the meantime the same keys face ordinary theft. The question that matters either way is the same: how much power rests on how few keys.
Tracing a holder to its keys
WalletOn the Ed25519 curve, so a private key exists and its public key is the address.1 key
SPL multisigToken-program account with m, n and up to 11 signers. Each signer is traced in turn.the m cheapest signers
Squads v4 / v3Vaults are system-owned addresses with no key. We read the vault's recent transactions, find the multisig, and check the vault really derives from it.the threshold of voting members
Program-heldAn address owned by a program's data account. Whoever can upgrade that program can make it sign.the program's upgrade authority
Upgradeable programThe loader's program-data account names the upgrade authority, which we trace.that authority's keys
Immutable / revokedNo upgrade authority, or no authority at all.none: nobody can
powers we read
Every authority, weighted by what it can do.
Mint authority
Print unlimited supply
Permanent delegate
Move or burn any holder's tokens
Program upgrade
Replace a program's code
Freeze authority
Freeze holders in place
Pause authority
Stop every transfer
Transfer hook
Run code on every transfer
Metadata / pointer
Rename, relogo, re-link
Transfer fee / rates
Change fees or displayed balances
Close, withheld, groups
Housekeeping powers
The platform layer is graded separately: a Token-2022 coin also depends on whoever can upgrade Token-2022, and a pump.fun coin on whoever can upgrade pump.fun. Those keys aren't the issuer's, but your coin still rests on them.
post-quantum bindings
Dated proof of who the dev is.
- 1. Your browser draws 32 random bytes and derives an ML-DSA-65 key pair (FIPS 204). The seed goes into a key file only you keep.
- 2. A plain-text statement names your wallet, the new mint, the network and the key's SHA-256. Your wallet signs it (Ed25519) and so does the ML-DSA key, with a context string that keeps the signature from being reused elsewhere.
- 3. The SHA-256 of the canonical binding goes into the pump.fun create transaction as a memo, curvebreak:bind:v1:…. The server checks both signatures before building the transaction and checks the memo again after it lands.
- 4. Later, statements signed with the key file verify against the bound key. If Ed25519 falls, an attacker can sign as your wallet, but can't insert a different binding into a transaction that confirmed years earlier.
Harden, safely
- Before building anything, the server re-reads the chain and refuses unless your connected wallet holds that exact power right now.
- Every change is simulated first; your wallet shows the transaction before you sign.
- The relay only sends single-signer transactions made of token, metadata, loader, stake and compute-budget instructions.
- Making a program immutable needs you to type IMMUTABLE. Revoking is permanent; handing off is only as safe as the address you paste.
coverage
What each tool sees, and what it can't.
| Tool | Reads | Can't see |
|---|---|---|
| Blast Radius | Token mints (SPL Token and Token-2022, every extension), Metaplex metadata, programs on every loader, top holders, prices and TVL | Off-chain custody, legal control, keys held by a multisig's members elsewhere |
| Key Radius | Programs a key upgrades and stake it controls (exact); mints and metadata from its recent transactions (re-checked live) | Powers handed to the key long ago and never used since |
| Harden | Revoke or hand off token authorities, Token-2022 metadata, Metaplex metadata, program upgrades, stake roles | Changes a multisig must approve (do those in Squads) |
| PQ binding | ML-DSA-65 key made in your browser, Ed25519 + ML-DSA signatures, memo in the launch transaction | Moving funds or making Solana itself quantum-resistant |