diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index b7d20f82..dad90cd9 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "matchit",
  "memchr",
  "mime",
- "percent-encoding 2.1.0",
+ "percent-encoding",
  "pin-project-lite",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
@@ -551,8 +551,11 @@ version = "0.4.19"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "670ad68c9088c2a963aaa298cb369688cf3f9465ce5e2d4ca10e6e0098a1ce73"
 dependencies = [
+ "libc",
  "num-integer",
  "num-traits",
+ "time",
+ "winapi 0.3.9",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -626,7 +629,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "digest 0.9.0",
  "getrandom",
  "hmac 0.11.0",
- "k256",
+ "k256 0.10.4",
  "lazy_static",
  "serde",
  "sha2 0.9.9",
@@ -847,6 +850,18 @@ version = "0.2.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "7a81dae078cea95a014a339291cec439d2f232ebe854a9d672b796c6afafa9b7"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "crypto-bigint"
+version = "0.2.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f83bd3bb4314701c568e340cd8cf78c975aa0ca79e03d3f6d1677d5b0c9c0c03"
+dependencies = [
+ "generic-array 0.14.5",
+ "rand_core",
+ "subtle",
+ "zeroize",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "crypto-bigint"
 version = "0.3.2"
@@ -932,6 +947,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "parking_lot_core 0.9.3",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "der"
+version = "0.4.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "79b71cca7d95d7681a4b3b9cdf63c8dbc3730d0584c2c74e31416d64a90493f4"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "der"
 version = "0.5.1"
@@ -966,29 +987,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "zeroize",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "diesel"
-version = "1.4.8"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "b28135ecf6b7d446b43e27e225622a038cc4e2930a1022f51cdb97ada19b8e4d"
-dependencies = [
- "byteorder",
- "diesel_derives",
- "mysqlclient-sys",
- "url 1.7.2",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "diesel_derives"
-version = "1.4.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "45f5098f628d02a7a0f68ddba586fb61e80edec3bdc1be3b921f4ceec60858d3"
-dependencies = [
- "proc-macro2",
- "quote",
- "syn",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "diff"
 version = "0.1.12"
@@ -1057,14 +1055,26 @@ version = "1.0.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "453440c271cf5577fd2a40e4942540cb7d0d2f85e27c8d07dd0023c925a67541"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "ecdsa"
+version = "0.12.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "43ee23aa5b4f68c7a092b5c3beb25f50c406adc75e2363634f242f28ab255372"
+dependencies = [
+ "der 0.4.5",
+ "elliptic-curve 0.10.6",
+ "hmac 0.11.0",
+ "signature",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ecdsa"
 version = "0.13.4"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d0d69ae62e0ce582d56380743515fefaf1a8c70cec685d9677636d7e30ae9dc9"
 dependencies = [
- "der",
- "elliptic-curve",
+ "der 0.5.1",
+ "elliptic-curve 0.11.12",
  "rfc6979",
  "signature",
 ]
@@ -1075,6 +1085,21 @@ version = "1.6.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "e78d4f1cc4ae33bbfc157ed5d5a5ef3bc29227303d595861deb238fcec4e9457"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "elliptic-curve"
+version = "0.10.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "beca177dcb8eb540133e7680baff45e7cc4d93bf22002676cec549f82343721b"
+dependencies = [
+ "crypto-bigint 0.2.11",
+ "ff 0.10.1",
+ "generic-array 0.14.5",
+ "group 0.10.0",
+ "rand_core",
+ "subtle",
+ "zeroize",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "elliptic-curve"
 version = "0.11.12"
@@ -1082,11 +1107,11 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "25b477563c2bfed38a3b7a60964c49e058b2510ad3f12ba3483fd8f62c2306d6"
 dependencies = [
  "base16ct",
- "crypto-bigint",
- "der",
- "ff",
+ "crypto-bigint 0.3.2",
+ "der 0.5.1",
+ "ff 0.11.1",
  "generic-array 0.14.5",
- "group",
+ "group 0.11.0",
  "rand_core",
  "sec1",
  "subtle",
@@ -1245,7 +1270,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
  "syn",
- "url 2.2.2",
+ "url",
  "walkdir",
 ]
 
@@ -1273,11 +1298,11 @@ dependencies = [
  "cargo_metadata",
  "chrono",
  "convert_case 0.5.0",
- "elliptic-curve",
+ "elliptic-curve 0.11.12",
  "ethabi",
  "generic-array 0.14.5",
  "hex",
- "k256",
+ "k256 0.10.4",
  "once_cell",
  "proc-macro2",
  "rand",
@@ -1329,7 +1354,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "tokio",
  "tracing",
  "tracing-futures",
- "url 2.2.2",
+ "url",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1359,7 +1384,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "tokio-tungstenite",
  "tracing",
  "tracing-futures",
- "url 2.2.2",
+ "url",
  "wasm-bindgen",
  "wasm-bindgen-futures",
  "wasm-timer",
@@ -1375,7 +1400,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "async-trait",
  "coins-bip32",
  "coins-bip39",
- "elliptic-curve",
+ "elliptic-curve 0.11.12",
  "eth-keystore",
  "ethers-core",
  "hex",
@@ -1449,6 +1474,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "libc",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "ff"
+version = "0.10.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "d0f40b2dcd8bc322217a5f6559ae5f9e9d1de202a2ecee2e9eafcbece7562a4f"
+dependencies = [
+ "rand_core",
+ "subtle",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ff"
 version = "0.11.1"
@@ -1515,7 +1550,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "5fc25a87fa4fd2094bffb06925852034d90a17f0d1e05197d4956d3555752191"
 dependencies = [
  "matches",
- "percent-encoding 2.1.0",
+ "percent-encoding",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1739,13 +1774,24 @@ version = "0.3.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "9b919933a397b79c37e33b77bb2aa3dc8eb6e165ad809e58ff75bc7db2e34574"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "group"
+version = "0.10.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1c363a5301b8f153d80747126a04b3c82073b9fe3130571a9d170cacdeaf7912"
+dependencies = [
+ "ff 0.10.1",
+ "rand_core",
+ "subtle",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "group"
 version = "0.11.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "bc5ac374b108929de78460075f3dc439fa66df9d8fc77e8f12caa5165fcf0c89"
 dependencies = [
- "ff",
+ "ff 0.11.1",
  "rand_core",
  "subtle",
 ]
@@ -1943,17 +1989,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "tokio-rustls",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "idna"
-version = "0.1.5"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "38f09e0f0b1fb55fdee1f17470ad800da77af5186a1a76c026b679358b7e844e"
-dependencies = [
- "matches",
- "unicode-bidi",
- "unicode-normalization",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "idna"
 version = "0.2.3"
@@ -2078,6 +2113,15 @@ version = "2.5.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "879d54834c8c76457ef4293a689b2a8c59b076067ad77b15efafbb05f92a592b"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "iri-string"
+version = "0.4.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "8f0f7638c1e223529f1bfdc48c8b133b9e0b434094d1d28473161ee48b235f78"
+dependencies = [
+ "nom",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "itertools"
 version = "0.10.3"
@@ -2108,6 +2152,18 @@ dependencies = [
  "wasm-bindgen",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "k256"
+version = "0.9.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "903ae2481bcdfdb7b68e0a9baa4b7c9aff600b9ae2e8e5bb5833b8c91ab851ea"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if 1.0.0",
+ "ecdsa 0.12.4",
+ "elliptic-curve 0.10.6",
+ "sha3 0.9.1",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "k256"
 version = "0.10.4"
@@ -2115,8 +2171,8 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "19c3a5e0a0b8450278feda242592512e09f61c72e018b8cd5c859482802daf2d"
 dependencies = [
  "cfg-if 1.0.0",
- "ecdsa",
- "elliptic-curve",
+ "ecdsa 0.13.4",
+ "elliptic-curve 0.11.12",
  "sec1",
  "sha2 0.9.9",
  "sha3 0.9.1",
@@ -2275,6 +2331,12 @@ version = "0.3.16"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "2a60c7ce501c71e03a9c9c0d35b861413ae925bd979cc7a4e30d060069aaac8d"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "minimal-lexical"
+version = "0.2.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "68354c5c6bd36d73ff3feceb05efa59b6acb7626617f4962be322a825e61f79a"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "miniz_oxide"
 version = "0.5.1"
@@ -2339,16 +2401,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "ws2_32-sys",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "mysqlclient-sys"
-version = "0.2.5"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "f61b381528ba293005c42a409dd73d034508e273bf90481f17ec2e964a6e969b"
-dependencies = [
- "pkg-config",
- "vcpkg",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "nanorand"
 version = "0.7.0"
@@ -2375,6 +2427,16 @@ version = "1.0.4"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "e4a24736216ec316047a1fc4252e27dabb04218aa4a3f37c6e7ddbf1f9782b54"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "nom"
+version = "7.1.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a8903e5a29a317527874d0402f867152a3d21c908bb0b933e416c65e301d4c36"
+dependencies = [
+ "memchr",
+ "minimal-lexical",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "nonempty"
 version = "0.7.0"
@@ -2660,12 +2722,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "sha2 0.10.2",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "percent-encoding"
-version = "1.0.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "31010dd2e1ac33d5b46a5b413495239882813e0369f8ed8a5e266f173602f831"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "percent-encoding"
 version = "2.1.0"
@@ -2780,17 +2836,11 @@ version = "0.8.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "7cabda3fb821068a9a4fab19a683eac3af12edf0f34b94a8be53c4972b8149d0"
 dependencies = [
- "der",
+ "der 0.5.1",
  "spki",
  "zeroize",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "pkg-config"
-version = "0.3.25"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "1df8c4ec4b0627e53bdf214615ad287367e482558cf84b109250b37464dc03ae"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "plotters"
 version = "0.3.1"
@@ -2991,11 +3041,11 @@ dependencies = [
  "dtoa",
  "futures-util",
  "itoa 0.4.8",
- "percent-encoding 2.1.0",
+ "percent-encoding",
  "pin-project-lite",
  "tokio",
  "tokio-util 0.6.10",
- "url 2.2.2",
+ "url",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -3082,7 +3132,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "lazy_static",
  "log",
  "mime",
- "percent-encoding 2.1.0",
+ "percent-encoding",
  "pin-project-lite",
  "rustls",
  "rustls-pemfile",
@@ -3092,7 +3142,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "tokio",
  "tokio-rustls",
  "tower-service",
- "url 2.2.2",
+ "url",
  "wasm-bindgen",
  "wasm-bindgen-futures",
  "web-sys",
@@ -3106,7 +3156,7 @@ version = "0.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "96ef608575f6392792f9ecf7890c00086591d29a83910939d430753f7c050525"
 dependencies = [
- "crypto-bigint",
+ "crypto-bigint 0.3.2",
  "hmac 0.11.0",
  "zeroize",
 ]
@@ -3271,7 +3321,7 @@ version = "0.2.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "08da66b8b0965a5555b6bd6639e68ccba85e1e2506f5fbb089e93f8a04e1a2d1"
 dependencies = [
- "der",
+ "der 0.5.1",
  "generic-array 0.14.5",
  "pkcs8",
  "subtle",
@@ -3445,9 +3495,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "signature"
-version = "1.4.0"
+version = "1.3.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "02658e48d89f2bec991f9a78e69cfa4c316f8d6a6c4ec12fae1aeb263d486788"
+checksum = "f2807892cfa58e081aa1f1111391c7a0649d4fa127a4ffbe34bcbfb35a1171a4"
 dependencies = [
  "digest 0.9.0",
  "rand_core",
@@ -3459,6 +3509,22 @@ version = "0.3.10"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "7bd3e3206899af3f8b12af284fafc038cc1dc2b41d1b89dd17297221c5d225de"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "siwe"
+version = "0.3.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "86f2d8ae2d4ae58df46e173aa496562ea857ac6a4f0d435ed30fcd19da0aaa79"
+dependencies = [
+ "chrono",
+ "hex",
+ "http",
+ "iri-string",
+ "k256 0.9.6",
+ "rand",
+ "sha3 0.9.1",
+ "thiserror",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "slab"
 version = "0.4.6"
@@ -3516,7 +3582,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "44d01ac02a6ccf3e07db148d2be087da624fea0221a16152ed01f0496a6b0a27"
 dependencies = [
  "base64ct",
- "der",
+ "der 0.5.1",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -3598,7 +3664,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "thiserror",
  "tokio",
  "tracing",
- "url 2.2.2",
+ "url",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -3723,6 +3789,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "once_cell",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "time"
+version = "0.1.43"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ca8a50ef2360fbd1eeb0ecd46795a87a19024eb4b53c5dc916ca1fd95fe62438"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+ "winapi 0.3.9",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tiny-keccak"
 version = "2.0.2"
@@ -4008,7 +4084,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "rustls",
  "sha-1",
  "thiserror",
- "url 2.2.2",
+ "url",
  "utf-8",
  "webpki",
 ]
@@ -4076,17 +4152,6 @@ version = "0.7.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "a156c684c91ea7d62626509bce3cb4e1d9ed5c4d978f7b4352658f96a4c26b4a"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "url"
-version = "1.7.2"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "dd4e7c0d531266369519a4aa4f399d748bd37043b00bde1e4ff1f60a120b355a"
-dependencies = [
- "idna 0.1.5",
- "matches",
- "percent-encoding 1.0.1",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "url"
 version = "2.2.2"
@@ -4094,9 +4159,9 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "a507c383b2d33b5fc35d1861e77e6b383d158b2da5e14fe51b83dfedf6fd578c"
 dependencies = [
  "form_urlencoded",
- "idna 0.2.3",
+ "idna",
  "matches",
- "percent-encoding 2.1.0",
+ "percent-encoding",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -4121,12 +4186,6 @@ version = "0.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "830b7e5d4d90034032940e4ace0d9a9a057e7a45cd94e6c007832e39edb82f6d"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "vcpkg"
-version = "0.2.15"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "accd4ea62f7bb7a82fe23066fb0957d48ef677f6eeb8215f372f52e48bb32426"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "version_check"
 version = "0.9.4"
@@ -4257,20 +4316,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "wasm-bindgen",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "web3-backend"
-version = "0.1.0"
-dependencies = [
- "axum",
- "diesel",
- "serde",
- "serde_json",
- "tokio",
- "toml",
- "tracing",
- "tracing-subscriber",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "web3-proxy"
 version = "0.1.0"
@@ -4299,13 +4344,14 @@ dependencies = [
  "rustc-hash",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
+ "siwe",
  "tokio",
  "tokio-stream",
  "toml",
  "tower",
  "tracing",
  "tracing-subscriber",
- "url 2.2.2",
+ "url",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -4461,6 +4507,6 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "zeroize"
-version = "1.5.5"
+version = "1.4.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "94693807d016b2f2d2e14420eb3bfcca689311ff775dcf113d74ea624b7cdf07"
+checksum = "d68d9dcec5f9b43a30d38c49f91dfedfaac384cb8f085faca366c26207dd1619"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 5af76878..a3721e3b 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 members = [
   "linkedhashmap",
   "redis-cell-client",
-  "web3-backend",
   "web3-proxy",
 ]
 
diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index 0fef52ad..e5d53379 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -80,6 +80,27 @@
   - send getTransaction rpc requests to the private rpc tier
 - [ ] don't "unwrap" anywhere. give proper errors
 
+new endpoints for users:
+- [ ] GET /user/login/$address
+  - returns a JSON string for the user to sign
+- [ ] POST /user/login/$address
+  - returns a JSON string including the api key
+  - sets session cookie
+- [ ] GET /user/$address
+  - checks for api key in session cookie or header
+  - returns a JSON string including user stats
+- [ ] POST /user/$address
+  - opt-in link email address
+  - checks for api key in session cookie or header
+  - allows modifying user settings
+- [ ] GET /$api_key
+  - proxies to web3 websocket
+- [ ] POST /$api_key
+  - proxies to web3
+- [ ] GET /payment/$tx_hash
+  - checks a transaction to see if it modifies a user's balance
+
+
 ## V2
 
 - [ ] ethers has a transactions_unsorted httprpc method that we should probably use. all rpcs probably don't support it, so make it okay for that to fail
diff --git a/web3-backend/Cargo.toml b/web3-backend/Cargo.toml
deleted file mode 100644
index 81856113..00000000
--- a/web3-backend/Cargo.toml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-[package]
-name = "web3-backend"
-version = "0.1.0"
-edition = "2021"
-
-# See more keys and their definitions at https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/manifest.html
-
-[dependencies]
-axum = { version = "0.5.12", features = ["serde_json"] }
-diesel = { version = "1.4.8", features = ["mysql"] }
-serde = { version = "1.0.139", features = ["derive"] }
-serde_json = "1.0.82"
-tokio = { version = "1.19.2", features = ["full", "tracing"] }
-toml = "0.5.9"
-tracing = "0.1.35"
-tracing-subscriber = { version = "0.3.14", features = ["env-filter"] }
diff --git a/web3-backend/src/main.rs b/web3-backend/src/main.rs
deleted file mode 100644
index 3fe179b3..00000000
--- a/web3-backend/src/main.rs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,64 +0,0 @@
-use axum::{
-    http::StatusCode,
-    response::IntoResponse,
-    routing::{get, post},
-    Json, Router,
-};
-use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
-use std::net::SocketAddr;
-
-#[tokio::main]
-async fn main() {
-    // initialize tracing
-    tracing_subscriber::fmt::init();
-
-    // build our application with a route
-    let app = Router::new()
-        // `GET /` goes to `root`
-        .route("/", get(root))
-        // `POST /users` goes to `create_user`
-        .route("/users", post(create_user));
-
-    // run our app with hyper
-    // `axum::Server` is a re-export of `hyper::Server`
-    let addr = SocketAddr::from(([127, 0, 0, 1], 3000));
-    tracing::debug!("listening on {}", addr);
-    axum::Server::bind(&addr)
-        .serve(app.into_make_service())
-        .await
-        .unwrap();
-}
-
-// basic handler that responds with a static string
-async fn root() -> &'static str {
-    "Hello, World!"
-}
-
-async fn create_user(
-    // this argument tells axum to parse the request body
-    // as JSON into a `CreateUser` type
-    Json(payload): Json<CreateUser>,
-) -> impl IntoResponse {
-    // insert your application logic here
-    let user = User {
-        id: 1337,
-        username: payload.username,
-    };
-
-    // this will be converted into a JSON response
-    // with a status code of `201 Created`
-    (StatusCode::CREATED, Json(user))
-}
-
-// the input to our `create_user` handler
-#[derive(Deserialize)]
-struct CreateUser {
-    username: String,
-}
-
-// the output to our `create_user` handler
-#[derive(Serialize)]
-struct User {
-    id: u64,
-    username: String,
-}
diff --git a/web3-proxy/Cargo.toml b/web3-proxy/Cargo.toml
index 2c75b8f1..978e09cf 100644
--- a/web3-proxy/Cargo.toml
+++ b/web3-proxy/Cargo.toml
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ proctitle = "0.1.1"
 regex = "1.6.0"
 reqwest = { version = "0.11.11", default-features = false, features = ["json", "tokio-rustls"] }
 rustc-hash = "1.1.0"
+siwe = "0.3"
 serde = { version = "1.0.139", features = [] }
 serde_json = { version = "1.0.82", default-features = false, features = ["alloc", "raw_value"] }
 tokio = { version = "1.19.2", features = ["full", "tracing"] }
diff --git a/web3-proxy/src/frontend/mod.rs b/web3-proxy/src/frontend/mod.rs
index a9e1feb9..a8513421 100644
--- a/web3-proxy/src/frontend/mod.rs
+++ b/web3-proxy/src/frontend/mod.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 mod errors;
 mod http;
 mod http_proxy;
+mod users;
 mod ws_proxy;
 
 use axum::{
@@ -27,6 +28,8 @@ pub async fn run(port: u16, proxy_app: Arc<Web3ProxyApp>) -> anyhow::Result<()>
         .route("/health", get(http::health))
         // `GET /status` goes to `status`
         .route("/status", get(http::status))
+        // `POST /users` goes to `create_user`
+        .route("/users", post(users::create_user))
         .layer(Extension(proxy_app));
 
     // 404 for any unknown routes
diff --git a/web3-proxy/src/frontend/users.rs b/web3-proxy/src/frontend/users.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..339ba502
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web3-proxy/src/frontend/users.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+// So the API needs to show for any given user:
+// - show balance in USD
+// - show deposits history (currency, amounts, transaction id)
+// - show number of requests used (so we can calculate average spending over a month, burn rate for a user etc, something like "Your balance will be depleted in xx days)
+// - the email address of a user if he opted in to get contacted via email
+// - all the monitoring and stats but that will come from someplace else if I understand corectly?
+// I wonder how we handle payment
+// probably have to do manual withdrawals
+
+use axum::{http::StatusCode, response::IntoResponse, Json};
+use ethers::prelude::{Address, Bytes};
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+
+pub async fn create_user(
+    // this argument tells axum to parse the request body
+    // as JSON into a `CreateUser` type
+    Json(payload): Json<CreateUser>,
+) -> impl IntoResponse {
+    // TODO: rate limit by ip
+    // TODO: insert your application logic here
+    let user = User {
+        id: 1337,
+        eth_address: payload.eth_address,
+    };
+
+    // this will be converted into a JSON response
+    // with a status code of `201 Created`
+    (StatusCode::CREATED, Json(user))
+}
+
+// the input to our `create_user` handler
+#[derive(Deserialize)]
+pub struct CreateUser {
+    eth_address: Address,
+    // TODO: validation
+    email: Option<String>,
+    signature: Bytes,
+}
+
+// the output to our `create_user` handler
+#[derive(Serialize)]
+struct User {
+    id: u64,
+    eth_address: Address,
+}