diff --git a/side-node/src/init/mod.rs b/side-node/src/init/mod.rs
index 06881ab..5e75f60 100644
--- a/side-node/src/init/mod.rs
+++ b/side-node/src/init/mod.rs
@@ -36,6 +36,11 @@ fn ensure_side_directory_exists(side_dir: &PathBuf) -> Result<(), std::io::Error
 mod tests {
     use std::{fs, path::Path};
 
+    use fastcrypto::{
+        ed25519::Ed25519KeyPair,
+        traits::{EncodeDecodeBase64, KeyPair, ToFromBytes},
+    };
+
     use super::*;
 
     fn default_side_node_config() -> SideNodeConfig {
@@ -69,8 +74,9 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(file_path.exists());
 
         // check that the pem is readable
-        let pem = fs::read_to_string(file_path).unwrap();
-        assert!(pem::parse_many(&pem).is_ok());
+        let data = fs::read_to_string(file_path).expect("couldn't read key file");
+        let keys = Ed25519KeyPair::decode_base64(&data).expect("couldn't load keypair from file");
+        assert_eq!(keys.public().as_bytes().len(), 32);
     }
 
     #[test]
diff --git a/side-node/src/list_transaction_crdt.rs b/side-node/src/list_transaction_crdt.rs
index b98358b..eae3822 100644
--- a/side-node/src/list_transaction_crdt.rs
+++ b/side-node/src/list_transaction_crdt.rs
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ use bft_crdt_derive::add_crdt_fields;
 
 use bft_json_crdt::{
     json_crdt::{BaseCrdt, CrdtNode, IntoCrdtNode},
-    keypair::{make_keypair, Ed25519KeyPair, KeyPair},
+    keypair::{Ed25519KeyPair, KeyPair},
     list_crdt::ListCrdt,
 };
 
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ pub(crate) struct Transaction {
 
 pub(crate) fn new(side_dir: PathBuf) -> (BaseCrdt<CrdtList>, Ed25519KeyPair) {
     let keys = keys::load_from_file(side_dir);
-    // let keys = make_keypair();
     let bft_crdt = BaseCrdt::<CrdtList>::new(&keys);
     println!("Author is {}", keys.public().to_string());
     (bft_crdt, keys)