diff --git a/lib/pleroma/user/signing_key.ex b/lib/pleroma/user/signing_key.ex
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..92ce7ae5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/pleroma/user/signing_key.ex
@@ -0,0 +1,190 @@
+defmodule Pleroma.User.SigningKey do
+  use Ecto.Schema
+  import Ecto.Query
+  import Ecto.Changeset
+  alias Pleroma.User
+  alias Pleroma.Repo
+  alias Pleroma.HTTP
+
+  require Logger
+
+  @primary_key false
+  schema "signing_keys" do
+    belongs_to(:user, Pleroma.User, type: FlakeId.Ecto.CompatType)
+    field :public_key, :string
+    field :private_key, :string
+    # This is an arbitrary field given by the remote instance
+    field :key_id, :string, primary_key: true
+    timestamps()
+  end
+
+  def key_id_of_local_user(%User{local: true, signing_key: %__MODULE__{key_id: key_id}}),
+    do: key_id
+
+  @spec remote_changeset(__MODULE__, map) :: Changeset.t()
+  def remote_changeset(%__MODULE__{} = signing_key, attrs) do
+    signing_key
+    |> cast(attrs, [:public_key, :key_id])
+    |> validate_required([:public_key, :key_id])
+  end
+
+  @spec key_id_to_user_id(String.t()) :: String.t() | nil
+  @doc """
+  Given a key ID, return the user ID associated with that key.
+  Returns nil if the key ID is not found.
+  """
+  def key_id_to_user_id(key_id) do
+    from(sk in __MODULE__, where: sk.key_id == ^key_id)
+    |> select([sk], sk.user_id)
+    |> Repo.one()
+  end
+
+  @spec key_id_to_ap_id(String.t()) :: String.t() | nil
+  @doc """
+  Given a key ID, return the AP ID associated with that key.
+  Returns nil if the key ID is not found.
+  """
+  def key_id_to_ap_id(key_id) do
+    Logger.debug("Looking up key ID: #{key_id}")
+
+    result =
+      from(sk in __MODULE__, where: sk.key_id == ^key_id)
+      |> join(:inner, [sk], u in User, on: sk.user_id == u.id)
+      |> select([sk, u], %{user: u})
+      |> Repo.one()
+
+    case result do
+      %{user: %User{ap_id: ap_id}} -> ap_id
+      _ -> nil
+    end
+  end
+
+  @spec generate_rsa_pem() :: {:ok, binary()}
+  @doc """
+  Generate a new RSA private key and return it as a PEM-encoded string.
+  """
+  def generate_rsa_pem do
+    key = :public_key.generate_key({:rsa, 2048, 65_537})
+    entry = :public_key.pem_entry_encode(:RSAPrivateKey, key)
+    pem = :public_key.pem_encode([entry]) |> String.trim_trailing()
+    {:ok, pem}
+  end
+
+  @spec generate_local_keys(String.t()) :: {:ok, Changeset.t()} | {:error, String.t()}
+  @doc """
+  Generate a new RSA key pair and create a changeset for it
+  """
+  def generate_local_keys(ap_id) do
+    {:ok, private_pem} = generate_rsa_pem()
+    {:ok, local_pem} = private_pem_to_public_pem(private_pem)
+
+    %__MODULE__{}
+    |> change()
+    |> put_change(:public_key, local_pem)
+    |> put_change(:private_key, private_pem)
+    |> put_change(:key_id, ap_id <> "#main-key")
+  end
+
+  @spec private_pem_to_public_pem(binary) :: {:ok, binary()} | {:error, String.t()}
+  @doc """
+  Given a private key in PEM format, return the corresponding public key in PEM format.
+  """
+  def private_pem_to_public_pem(private_pem) do
+    [private_key_code] = :public_key.pem_decode(private_pem)
+    private_key = :public_key.pem_entry_decode(private_key_code)
+    {:RSAPrivateKey, _, modulus, exponent, _, _, _, _, _, _, _} = private_key
+    public_key = {:RSAPublicKey, modulus, exponent}
+    public_key = :public_key.pem_entry_encode(:SubjectPublicKeyInfo, public_key)
+    {:ok, :public_key.pem_encode([public_key])}
+  end
+
+  @spec public_key(User.t()) :: {:ok, binary()} | {:error, String.t()}
+  @doc """
+  Given a user, return the public key for that user in binary format.
+  """
+  def public_key(%User{signing_key: %__MODULE__{public_key: public_key_pem}}) do
+    key =
+      public_key_pem
+      |> :public_key.pem_decode()
+      |> hd()
+      |> :public_key.pem_entry_decode()
+
+    {:ok, key}
+  end
+
+  def public_key(_), do: {:error, "key not found"}
+
+  def public_key_pem(%User{signing_key: %__MODULE__{public_key: public_key_pem}}),
+    do: public_key_pem
+
+  @spec private_key(User.t()) :: {:ok, binary()} | {:error, String.t()}
+  @doc """
+  Given a user, return the private key for that user in binary format.
+  """
+  def private_key(%User{signing_key: %__MODULE__{private_key: private_key_pem}}) do
+    key =
+      private_key_pem
+      |> :public_key.pem_decode()
+      |> hd()
+      |> :public_key.pem_entry_decode()
+
+    {:ok, key}
+  end
+
+  @spec fetch_remote_key(String.t()) :: {:ok, __MODULE__} | {:error, String.t()}
+  @doc """
+  Fetch a remote key by key ID.
+  Will send a request to the remote instance to get the key ID.
+  This request should, at the very least, return a user ID and a public key object.
+  Though bear in mind that some implementations (looking at you, pleroma) may require a signature for this request.
+  This has the potential to create an infinite loop if the remote instance requires a signature to fetch the key...
+  So if we're rejected, we should probably just give up.
+  """
+  def fetch_remote_key(key_id) do
+    resp = HTTP.Backoff.get(key_id)
+
+    case handle_signature_response(resp) do
+      {:ok, ap_id, public_key_pem} ->
+        # fetch the user
+        user = User.get_or_fetch_by_ap_id(ap_id)
+        # store the key
+        key = %__MODULE__{
+          user_id: user.id,
+          public_key: public_key_pem,
+          key_id: key_id
+        }
+
+        Repo.insert(key)
+
+      _ ->
+        {:error, "Could not fetch key"}
+    end
+  end
+
+  # Take the response from the remote instance and extract the key details
+  # will check if the key ID matches the owner of the key, if not, error
+  defp extract_key_details(%{"id" => ap_id, "publicKey" => public_key}) do
+    if ap_id !== public_key["owner"] do
+      {:error, "Key ID does not match owner"}
+    else
+      %{"publicKeyPem" => public_key_pem} = public_key
+      {:ok, ap_id, public_key_pem}
+    end
+  end
+
+  defp handle_signature_response({:ok, %{status: status, body: body}}) when status in 200..299 do
+    case Jason.decode(body) do
+      {:ok, %{"id" => _user_id, "publicKey" => _public_key} = body} ->
+        extract_key_details(body)
+
+      {:ok, %{"error" => error}} ->
+        {:error, error}
+
+      {:error, _} ->
+        {:error, "Could not parse key"}
+    end
+  end
+
+  defp handle_signature_response({:error, e}), do: {:error, e}
+  defp handle_signature_response(other), do: {:error, "Could not fetch key: #{inspect(other)}"}
+end
diff --git a/priv/repo/migrations/20240625213637_create_signing_key_table.exs b/priv/repo/migrations/20240625213637_create_signing_key_table.exs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..34169f78c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/priv/repo/migrations/20240625213637_create_signing_key_table.exs
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+defmodule Pleroma.Repo.Migrations.CreateSigningKeyTable do
+  use Ecto.Migration
+
+  def change do
+    create table(:signing_keys, primary_key: false) do
+      add :user_id, references(:users, type: :uuid, on_delete: :delete_all)
+      add :key_id, :text, primary_key: true
+      add :public_key, :text
+      add :private_key, :text
+      timestamps()
+    end
+
+    create index(:signing_keys, [:key_id])
+  end
+end
diff --git a/priv/repo/migrations/20240625220752_move_signing_keys.exs b/priv/repo/migrations/20240625220752_move_signing_keys.exs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d9ef1acab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/priv/repo/migrations/20240625220752_move_signing_keys.exs
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+defmodule Pleroma.Repo.Migrations.MoveSigningKeys do
+  use Ecto.Migration
+  alias Pleroma.User
+  alias Pleroma.Repo
+  import Ecto.Query
+
+  def up do
+    # we do not handle remote users here!
+    # because we want to store a key id -> user id mapping, and we don't
+    # currently store key ids for remote users...
+    query =
+      from(u in User)
+      |> where(local: true)
+
+    Repo.stream(query, timeout: :infinity)
+    |> Enum.each(fn
+      %User{id: user_id, keys: private_key, local: true} ->
+        # we can precompute the public key here...
+        # we do use it on every user view which makes it a bit of a dos attack vector
+        # so we should probably cache it
+        {:ok, public_key} = User.SigningKey.private_pem_to_public_pem(private_key)
+
+        key = %User.SigningKey{
+          user_id: user_id,
+          public_key: public_key,
+          private_key: private_key
+        }
+
+        {:ok, _} = Repo.insert(key)
+    end)
+  end
+
+  # no need to rollback
+  def down, do: :ok
+end