Week 1: 100 Days of Solana

Identity on Solana Finally Clicked for Me When I Compared It to SSH Keys

Coming from a Web2 background, I always thought “blockchain identity” sounded way more complicated than it actually is.

People throw around terms like wallets, addresses, private keys, and self-custody, and at first it honestly feels like learning an entirely new internet.

But after spending the past few days working with Solana wallets and keypairs, something finally clicked for me:

A Solana wallet is basically your internet identity backed by cryptography instead of a company database.

And surprisingly, the best analogy I found was SSH keys.

We Already Use This Idea in Web2

If you have ever connected to a remote server using SSH, you already understand the core concept behind Solana identity.

You generate:

• a public key
• a private key

You place the public key on the server, and the server trusts you because only you have the matching private key.

No password needs to be repeatedly stored or sent over the network.

That is actually very close to how identity works on Solana.

When you create a Solana wallet, you generate a cryptographic keypair:

• the public key becomes your wallet address
• the private key proves ownership

Your wallet address is safe to share publicly. It is basically your on-chain identity.

Something like this:

14grJpemFaf88c8tiVb77W7TYg2W3ir6pfkKz3YjhhZ5

At first glance, it looks random and unreadable, but there is actually a reason for the format.

Solana uses Base58 encoding, which intentionally removes visually confusing characters like:

• 0 and O
• I and l

Small detail, but honestly pretty smart.

The Weirdest Part: Nobody Creates Your Account

This was probably the biggest mindset shift for me.

In Web2, every account exists because some company stores it in a database.

Your Gmail account exists because Google says it exists.

Your GitHub username exists because GitHub stores it.

Your bank account exists because a bank manages it.

But on Solana, there is no company creating your identity.

No signup form.
No email verification.
No “forgot password.”

Your identity exists because you generated a keypair.

That is it.

The network simply recognizes cryptographic ownership.

And only whoever controls the private key can approve actions for that wallet.

Ownership Feels Very Different

In Web2, we say we “own” our accounts, but realistically platforms still control access.

Accounts can be:

• suspended
• locked
• recovered
• deleted

On Solana, ownership works differently.

If you hold the private key, you control the wallet.

Nobody can reset it for you.
Nobody can recover it for you.
Nobody can override your signature.

That freedom is powerful, but it also comes with responsibility.

Losing a password in Web2 is annoying.

Losing a private key in Web3 can mean losing access permanently.

I think that is why people emphasize wallet security so much in crypto. Your wallet is not just an app — it is literally your identity and ownership layer.

One Identity Across Everything

Another thing I found really interesting is how portable blockchain identity becomes.

In Web2, every app wants its own login:

• username
• password
• Google OAuth
• GitHub OAuth
• email verification

On Solana, the same wallet can interact across completely different applications.

Once you connect your wallet, apps can recognize:

• what tokens you own
• NFTs you hold
• governance votes
• transaction history
• on-chain activity

Without creating another account.

That part honestly feels futuristic compared to the fragmented identity systems we use today.

Identity Becomes Infrastructure

The more I learn about Solana, the more I realize wallets are not just for storing crypto.

They are the foundation for interacting with the network itself.

Your wallet becomes:

• your login
• your signature
• your ownership proof
• your reputation
• your access layer

And unlike traditional platforms, it works across the entire ecosystem instead of being trapped inside one company’s database.

That was the moment blockchain identity finally started making sense to me.

Not as “magic internet crypto stuff,” but as a completely different model for proving ownership and trust online.

MLH Challenge: [# Identity on Solana Finally Clicked for Me When I Compared It to SSH Keys

Coming from a Web2 background, I always thought “blockchain identity” sounded way more complicated than it actually is.

People throw around terms like wallets, addresses, private keys, and self-custody, and at first it honestly feels like learning an entirely new internet.

But after spending the past few days working with Solana wallets and keypairs, something finally clicked for me:

A Solana wallet is basically your internet identity backed by cryptography instead of a company database.

And surprisingly, the best analogy I found was SSH keys.

We Already Use This Idea in Web2

If you have ever connected to a remote server using SSH, you already understand the core concept behind Solana identity.

You generate:

• a public key
• a private key

You place the public key on the server, and the server trusts you because only you have the matching private key.

No password needs to be repeatedly stored or sent over the network.

That is actually very close to how identity works on Solana.

When you create a Solana wallet, you generate a cryptographic keypair:

• the public key becomes your wallet address
• the private key proves ownership

Your wallet address is safe to share publicly. It is basically your on-chain identity.

Something like this:

14grJpemFaf88c8tiVb77W7TYg2W3ir6pfkKz3YjhhZ5

At first glance, it looks random and unreadable, but there is actually a reason for the format.

Solana uses Base58 encoding, which intentionally removes visually confusing characters like:

• 0 and O
• I and l

Small detail, but honestly pretty smart.

The Weirdest Part: Nobody Creates Your Account

This was probably the biggest mindset shift for me.

In Web2, every account exists because some company stores it in a database.

Your Gmail account exists because Google says it exists.

Your GitHub username exists because GitHub stores it.

Your bank account exists because a bank manages it.

But on Solana, there is no company creating your identity.

No signup form.
No email verification.
No “forgot password.”

Your identity exists because you generated a keypair.

That is it.

The network simply recognizes cryptographic ownership.

And only whoever controls the private key can approve actions for that wallet.

Ownership Feels Very Different

In Web2, we say we “own” our accounts, but realistically platforms still control access.

Accounts can be:

• suspended
• locked
• recovered
• deleted

On Solana, ownership works differently.

If you hold the private key, you control the wallet.

Nobody can reset it for you.
Nobody can recover it for you.
Nobody can override your signature.

That freedom is powerful, but it also comes with responsibility.

Losing a password in Web2 is annoying.

Losing a private key in Web3 can mean losing access permanently.

I think that is why people emphasize wallet security so much in crypto. Your wallet is not just an app — it is literally your identity and ownership layer.

One Identity Across Everything

Another thing I found really interesting is how portable blockchain identity becomes.

In Web2, every app wants its own login:

• username
• password
• Google OAuth
• GitHub OAuth
• email verification

On Solana, the same wallet can interact across completely different applications.

Once you connect your wallet, apps can recognize:

• what tokens you own
• NFTs you hold
• governance votes
• transaction history
• on-chain activity

Without creating another account.

That part honestly feels futuristic compared to the fragmented identity systems we use today.

Identity Becomes Infrastructure

The more I learn about Solana, the more I realize wallets are not just for storing crypto.

They are the foundation for interacting with the network itself.

Your wallet becomes:

• your login
• your signature
• your ownership proof
• your reputation
• your access layer

And unlike traditional platforms, it works across the entire ecosystem instead of being trapped inside one company’s database.

That was the moment blockchain identity finally started making sense to me.

Not as “magic internet crypto stuff,” but as a completely different model for proving ownership and trust online.

MLH Challenge: [https://www.mlh.com/events/100-days-of-solana/challenges]