RealHandles

RealHandles (realhandles.com) is an online identity-verification service and open protocol that lets a person prove which social media and web accounts are theirs. It describes itself as tying online profiles to a person through proof signed by their own key, anchored in Bitcoin, and recoverable if the key is lost. Its site says the proofs keep working even if the service disappears.

How it works

According to the service, a user generates an Ed25519 signing key in the browser, verifies accounts, and signs a manifest listing everything proven. Verification is described as one click for GitHub and Discord, a public post for X and TikTok, a token in the profile bio for YouTube and Bluesky, and a file on any domain the user controls. Each version of the signed manifest is hash-linked and timestamped into Bitcoin. A signed "disavowal" can name an account that is impersonating the user. Users keep an "Emergency Kit" that can authorise a new signing key if the old one is lost.

Each person gets a public profile page at realhandles.com/<handle> and a JSON export. The file format is published as an open specification, with an npm package (@realhandles/verify) and other code on GitHub for checking a profile without the service.

Availability

RealHandles runs as a website, an Android app on Google Play, and browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox that report whether the profile being viewed belongs to a verified identity. The site credits David V. Kimball as its builder, and its copyright notice is dated 2026.