> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.useprivatus.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.useprivatus.com/using-privatus/creating-your-account.md). # Creating Your Account Opening a Privatus account takes a few minutes. No seed phrase, no hardware wallet, no prior crypto experience. This is what self-custody looks like when it's built for everyone. *** ## Prerequisites * A device with passkey support (Face ID, Touch ID, Windows Hello, or a hardware security key) * An email address * A government-issued ID if you plan to verify for a higher tier *** ## Step-by-step ### 1. Sign up Enter your email and create a passkey on your device. That passkey becomes the root of your Privatus keypair: cryptographic self-custody with nothing to write down and nothing to memorize. ### 2. Verify Verification depends on the tier you're opening. A Shadow Lite account requires your email plus an on-chain wallet attestation, and unlocks standard transaction limits. Shadow Pro and Shadow Enterprise require identity verification through our KYC provider: * A photo of a government-issued ID * A liveness check (a quick selfie video) Privacy from the public, accountability where the law requires it. Note that US persons are excluded during beta; initial markets are the EU, UK, Singapore, and UAE. ### 3. Claim your handle Choose a `@handle`. This is your name in the network, how people send you money without ever needing your raw Solana address. See [Privatus Handles](/using-privatus/privatus-handles.md). ### 4. Fund your account Deposit USDG or USDC (both natively issued on Solana) from an exchange or a Solana wallet such as Phantom, Solflare, or Backpack, or use a linked bank transfer where available in your jurisdiction. A small SOL reserve is maintained automatically to cover network fees. You never need to hold or think about SOL directly. That's our job. *** ## What happens on-chain during signup Behind that few-minute flow, your account creation provisions real infrastructure: * A Privatus smart account on Solana: a program-derived address (PDA) deterministically derived from your handle * A confidential token account for USDG using Token-2022 confidential balances, Solana's protocol-native encrypted-balance extension, which is what enables encrypted transfers * An off-chain profile record linking your `@handle` to your public key, used only for lookup and display No balance or transaction data exists yet. Your first transfer is the first thing that gets encrypted. Privacy isn't switched on later; it's there from transaction one. *** ## Account types at signup By default, new signups get a Shadow Lite account with confidential amounts enabled from the start. If you're onboarding as a company, choose Business during signup for team-oriented features and higher limits. See [Account Types](/overview/account-types.md) for the full comparison, including Agent accounts. *** ## Next * [Sending & Receiving](/using-privatus/sending-and-receiving.md) * [Privatus Handles](/using-privatus/privatus-handles.md) --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.useprivatus.com/using-privatus/creating-your-account.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.