diff --git a/conn/dialer.c b/conn/dialer.c
index 54c305d..3b7a6c3 100644
--- a/conn/dialer.c
+++ b/conn/dialer.c
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ struct TransportDialer* libp2p_conn_tcp_transport_dialer_new();
  * @param private_key the local private key
  * @returns a new Dialer struct
  */
-struct Dialer* libp2p_conn_dialer_new(struct Libp2pPeer* peer, struct Peerstore* peerstore, struct PrivateKey* private_key) {
+struct Dialer* libp2p_conn_dialer_new(struct Libp2pPeer* peer, struct Peerstore* peerstore, struct RsaPrivateKey* rsa_private_key) {
 	int success = 0;
 	struct Dialer* dialer = (struct Dialer*)malloc(sizeof(struct Dialer));
 	if (dialer != NULL) {
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ struct Dialer* libp2p_conn_dialer_new(struct Libp2pPeer* peer, struct Peerstore*
 		if (dialer->peer_id != NULL) {
 			strncpy(dialer->peer_id, peer->id, peer->id_size);
 			// convert private key to rsa private key
+			/*
 			struct RsaPrivateKey* rsa_private_key = libp2p_crypto_rsa_rsa_private_key_new();
 			if (!libp2p_crypto_encoding_x509_der_to_private_key(private_key->data, private_key->data_size, rsa_private_key)) {
 				libp2p_crypto_rsa_rsa_private_key_free(rsa_private_key);
@@ -44,10 +45,11 @@ struct Dialer* libp2p_conn_dialer_new(struct Libp2pPeer* peer, struct Peerstore*
 				libp2p_conn_dialer_free(dialer);
 				return NULL;
 			}
+			*/
 			dialer->private_key = rsa_private_key;
 			//TODO: build transport dialers
 			dialer->transport_dialers = NULL;
-			dialer->fallback_dialer = libp2p_conn_tcp_transport_dialer_new(dialer->peer_id, private_key);
+			dialer->fallback_dialer = libp2p_conn_tcp_transport_dialer_new(dialer->peer_id, rsa_private_key);
 			return dialer;
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/conn/tcp_transport_dialer.c b/conn/tcp_transport_dialer.c
index 3d8ab32..5804bb9 100644
--- a/conn/tcp_transport_dialer.c
+++ b/conn/tcp_transport_dialer.c
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ struct Stream* libp2p_conn_tcp_dial(const struct TransportDialer* transport_dial
 	return stream;
 }
 
-struct TransportDialer* libp2p_conn_tcp_transport_dialer_new(char* peer_id, struct PrivateKey* private_key) {
+struct TransportDialer* libp2p_conn_tcp_transport_dialer_new(char* peer_id, struct RsaPrivateKey* private_key) {
 	struct TransportDialer* out = libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_new(peer_id, private_key);
 	out->can_handle = libp2p_conn_tcp_can_handle;
 	out->dial = libp2p_conn_tcp_dial;
diff --git a/conn/transport_dialer.c b/conn/transport_dialer.c
index 88ecfb9..84a2b72 100644
--- a/conn/transport_dialer.c
+++ b/conn/transport_dialer.c
@@ -1,16 +1,15 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
-#include "libp2p/crypto/key.h"
+#include "libp2p/crypto/rsa.h"
 #include "libp2p/conn/transport_dialer.h"
 
-struct TransportDialer* libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_new(char* peer_id, struct PrivateKey* private_key) {
+struct TransportDialer* libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_new(char* peer_id, struct RsaPrivateKey* private_key) {
 	struct TransportDialer* out = (struct TransportDialer*)malloc(sizeof(struct TransportDialer));
 	if (out != NULL) {
 		out->peer_id = malloc(strlen(peer_id) + 1);
 		strcpy(out->peer_id, peer_id);
 		if (private_key != NULL) {
-			out->private_key = (struct PrivateKey*)malloc(sizeof(struct PrivateKey));
-			libp2p_crypto_private_key_copy(private_key, out->private_key);
+			out->private_key = private_key;
 		} else {
 			out->private_key = NULL;
 		}
@@ -26,7 +25,7 @@ void libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_free(struct TransportDialer* in) {
 	if (in != NULL) {
 		if (in->peer_id != NULL)
 			free(in->peer_id);
-		libp2p_crypto_private_key_free(in->private_key);
+		//libp2p_crypto_private_key_free(in->private_key);
 		free(in);
 	}
 }
diff --git a/include/libp2p/conn/dialer.h b/include/libp2p/conn/dialer.h
index 7f5383a..56a39aa 100644
--- a/include/libp2p/conn/dialer.h
+++ b/include/libp2p/conn/dialer.h
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ struct Dialer {
  * @param private_key the local private key
  * @returns a new Dialer struct
  */
-struct Dialer* libp2p_conn_dialer_new(struct Libp2pPeer* peer, struct Peerstore* peerstore, struct PrivateKey* private_key);
+struct Dialer* libp2p_conn_dialer_new(struct Libp2pPeer* peer, struct Peerstore* peerstore, struct RsaPrivateKey* private_key);
 
 /**
  * free resources from the Dialer struct
diff --git a/include/libp2p/conn/transport_dialer.h b/include/libp2p/conn/transport_dialer.h
index 5ac8977..9792588 100644
--- a/include/libp2p/conn/transport_dialer.h
+++ b/include/libp2p/conn/transport_dialer.h
@@ -6,12 +6,12 @@
 
 struct TransportDialer {
 	char* peer_id;
-	struct PrivateKey* private_key;
+	struct RsaPrivateKey* private_key;
 	int (*can_handle)(const struct MultiAddress* multiaddr);
 	struct Stream* (*dial)(const struct TransportDialer* transport_dialer, const struct MultiAddress* multiaddr);
 };
 
-struct TransportDialer* libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_new(char* peer_id, struct PrivateKey* private_key);
+struct TransportDialer* libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_new(char* peer_id, struct RsaPrivateKey* private_key);
 void libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_free(struct TransportDialer* in);
 
 struct Stream* libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_get(const struct Libp2pLinkedList* transport_dialers, const struct MultiAddress* multiaddr);
diff --git a/test/test_conn.h b/test/test_conn.h
index e45830c..46933d5 100644
--- a/test/test_conn.h
+++ b/test/test_conn.h
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 int test_dialer_new() {
 	int retVal = 0;
 	char* peer_id = "QmQSDGgxSVTkHmtT25rTzQtc5C1Yg8SpGK3BTws8YsJ4x3";
-	struct PrivateKey* private_key = NULL;
+	struct RsaPrivateKey* private_key = NULL;
 	struct Libp2pPeer* peer = libp2p_peer_new();
 	peer->id = malloc(strlen(peer_id)+1);
 	strcpy(peer->id, peer_id);
@@ -75,7 +75,8 @@ int test_dialer_join_swarm() {
 	char* orig_peer_id = "QmRKm1d9kSCRpMFtLYpfhhCQ3DKuSSPJa3qn9wWXfwnWnY";
 	char* remote_peer_id = "QmRjLCELimPe7aUdYRVNLD7UmB1CiJdJf8HLovKAB4KwmA";
 	size_t orig_peer_id_size = strlen(orig_peer_id);
-	struct PrivateKey* private_key = NULL;
+	struct RsaPrivateKey* rsa_private_key = NULL;
+	struct PrivateKey* priv = NULL;
 	size_t decode_base64_size = 0;
 	uint8_t* decode_base64 = NULL;
 	struct Libp2pPeer* local_peer = NULL;
@@ -93,9 +94,11 @@ int test_dialer_join_swarm() {
 	if (!libp2p_crypto_encoding_base64_decode((unsigned char*)orig_priv_key, strlen(orig_priv_key), &decode_base64[0], decode_base64_size, &decode_base64_size))
 		goto exit;
 
-	if (!libp2p_crypto_private_key_protobuf_decode(decode_base64, decode_base64_size, &private_key))
+	if (!libp2p_crypto_private_key_protobuf_decode(decode_base64, decode_base64_size, &priv))
 		goto exit;
 
+	//TODO turn PrivateKey into RsaPrivateKey
+
 	// 2) make the local peer
 	local_peer = libp2p_peer_new();
 	local_peer->id = orig_peer_id;
@@ -104,7 +107,7 @@ int test_dialer_join_swarm() {
 	peerstore = libp2p_peerstore_new(local_peer);
 
 	// 3) make the dialer
-	dialer = libp2p_conn_dialer_new(local_peer, peerstore, private_key);
+	dialer = libp2p_conn_dialer_new(local_peer, peerstore, rsa_private_key);
 
 	// 4) make the remote peer
 	remote_ma = multiaddress_new_from_string(remote_swarm);
@@ -126,7 +129,7 @@ int test_dialer_join_swarm() {
 	libp2p_peer_free(local_peer);
 	libp2p_peerstore_free(peerstore);
 	libp2p_conn_dialer_free(dialer);
-	libp2p_crypto_private_key_free(private_key);
+	libp2p_crypto_private_key_free(priv);
 	return retVal;
 
 }