# Prove EVM Address Ownership

When interacting with third-party protocols or auditors, you may be asked to prove that
you control a given EVM address without moving any funds. Common scenarios include
protocol onboarding, institutional audits and OTC arrangements.

Rather than relying on a test transaction - which is inefficient and leaves an on-chain
trace - the standard approach is to sign an arbitrary message with the private key of the
address in question. Because only the holder of the private key can produce a valid
signature, a successful verification is cryptographic proof of ownership.

This guide demonstrates how to do this using Fordefi and Etherscan's `Verified Signature`
tool. You have two options for how to share the result with the verifier:

- **Publish** the signed message to Etherscan and share the public URL.
- **Share privately** by sending your wallet address, message, and signature hash directly to the verifier.


## Steps

1. Go to Etherscan. Open the Verify Signature tool by selecting **More** > **Verified Signature** from the menu options:

2. Click **Sign Message** then, for the connection option, select **Other Wallets** > **Fordefi**:

3. Type in your message and click **Sign**.
4. Sign the message with Fordefi.


You will then be presented with two sharing options.

### Option A: Publish and share a URL

Click **Publish** to publish the signed message to Etherscan:

Publishing makes your message permanently and publicly visible on Etherscan. Do not publish if your message contains any PII or sensitive information.

image.png
You can then share the resulting public URL with the verifier:

image.png
The verifier now has cryptographic proof of ownership over that EVM address.

### Option B: Share the signature details privately

If you prefer not to publish the message, share the following fields directly with the verifier, instead:

- **Wallet Address**
- **Message**
- **Signature Hash**


The verifier can confirm your ownership using these fields in the Verify Signature tool:

image.png