diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index bcc6250e1ee..51c26a16831 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@ wasmer = { version = "2.2.1" }
 wasmer-compiler-singlepass = { version = "2.2.1" }
 wasmparser = { version = "0.107.0", default-features = false }
 extend = { version = "1.2.0" }
+zeroize = { version = "1.3.0" }
 
 # Both the release and test profiles use `panic = "unwind"` to allow certain parts of the Radix
 # Engine to be able to catch panics. As an example, the native-vm has a `catch_unwind` to catch
diff --git a/examples/everything/Cargo.lock b/examples/everything/Cargo.lock
index 3c2e1d3f77d..cbd9d68982c 100644
--- a/examples/everything/Cargo.lock
+++ b/examples/everything/Cargo.lock
@@ -817,6 +817,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde",
  "sha3",
  "strum",
+ "zeroize",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
diff --git a/radix-clis/Cargo.lock b/radix-clis/Cargo.lock
index edf9932d980..571046f1672 100644
--- a/radix-clis/Cargo.lock
+++ b/radix-clis/Cargo.lock
@@ -1145,6 +1145,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "secp256k1",
  "sha3",
  "strum",
+ "zeroize",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
diff --git a/radix-common/Cargo.toml b/radix-common/Cargo.toml
index 65a5979f94b..e2de46b403a 100644
--- a/radix-common/Cargo.toml
+++ b/radix-common/Cargo.toml
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ ed25519-dalek = { workspace = true, features = ["u64_backend"] }
 secp256k1 = { workspace = true, features = ["recovery"], optional = true }
 blst = { workspace = true, optional = false }
 sha3 = { workspace = true, optional = false }
+zeroize = { workspace = true, optional = false }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 serde_json = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/radix-common/src/crypto/ed25519/private_key.rs b/radix-common/src/crypto/ed25519/private_key.rs
index 5ac75758719..74f4a16edf1 100644
--- a/radix-common/src/crypto/ed25519/private_key.rs
+++ b/radix-common/src/crypto/ed25519/private_key.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 use super::Ed25519Signature;
 use crate::internal_prelude::*;
 use ed25519_dalek::{Keypair, PublicKey, SecretKey, Signer};
+use zeroize::Zeroize;
 
+#[derive(Zeroize)]
+#[zeroize(drop)]
 pub struct Ed25519PrivateKey(SecretKey);
 
 impl Ed25519PrivateKey {
diff --git a/radix-common/src/crypto/secp256k1/private_key.rs b/radix-common/src/crypto/secp256k1/private_key.rs
index e854d31c4ec..9072037faf2 100644
--- a/radix-common/src/crypto/secp256k1/private_key.rs
+++ b/radix-common/src/crypto/secp256k1/private_key.rs
@@ -1,35 +1,48 @@
+use super::Secp256k1Signature;
 use crate::internal_prelude::*;
 use ::secp256k1::{All, Message, PublicKey, Secp256k1, SecretKey};
-
-use super::Secp256k1Signature;
+use zeroize::{DefaultIsZeroes, Zeroize};
 
 lazy_static::lazy_static! {
     pub(crate) static ref SECP256K1_CTX: Secp256k1<All> = secp256k1::Secp256k1::new();
 }
 
-pub struct Secp256k1PrivateKey(SecretKey);
+#[derive(Copy, Clone)]
+pub struct SecretKeyWrapper(SecretKey);
+impl Default for SecretKeyWrapper {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        let mut data = [0u8; secp256k1::constants::SECRET_KEY_SIZE];
+        data[secp256k1::constants::SECRET_KEY_SIZE - 1] = 1;
+        Self(SecretKey::from_slice(&data).unwrap())
+    }
+}
+impl DefaultIsZeroes for SecretKeyWrapper {}
+
+#[derive(Zeroize)]
+#[zeroize(drop)]
+pub struct Secp256k1PrivateKey(SecretKeyWrapper);
 
 impl Secp256k1PrivateKey {
-    pub const LENGTH: usize = 32;
+    pub const LENGTH: usize = secp256k1::constants::SECRET_KEY_SIZE;
 
     pub fn public_key(&self) -> Secp256k1PublicKey {
-        Secp256k1PublicKey(PublicKey::from_secret_key(&SECP256K1_CTX, &self.0).serialize())
+        Secp256k1PublicKey(PublicKey::from_secret_key(&SECP256K1_CTX, &self.0 .0).serialize())
     }
 
     pub fn sign(&self, msg_hash: &impl IsHash) -> Secp256k1Signature {
         let m =
             Message::from_digest_slice(msg_hash.as_ref()).expect("Hash is always a valid message");
-        let signature = SECP256K1_CTX.sign_ecdsa_recoverable(&m, &self.0);
+        let signature = SECP256K1_CTX.sign_ecdsa_recoverable(&m, &self.0 .0);
         let (recovery_id, signature_data) = signature.serialize_compact();
 
-        let mut buf = [0u8; 65];
+        let mut buf = [0u8; Secp256k1Signature::LENGTH];
         buf[0] = recovery_id.to_i32() as u8;
         buf[1..].copy_from_slice(&signature_data);
         Secp256k1Signature(buf)
     }
 
     pub fn to_bytes(&self) -> Vec<u8> {
-        self.0.secret_bytes().to_vec()
+        self.0 .0.secret_bytes().to_vec()
     }
 
     pub fn to_hex(&self) -> String {
@@ -46,7 +59,9 @@ impl Secp256k1PrivateKey {
         if slice.len() != Secp256k1PrivateKey::LENGTH {
             return Err(());
         }
-        Ok(Self(SecretKey::from_slice(slice).map_err(|_| ())?))
+        Ok(Self(SecretKeyWrapper(
+            SecretKey::from_slice(slice).map_err(|_| ())?,
+        )))
     }
 
     pub fn from_u64(n: u64) -> Result<Self, ()> {
@@ -54,7 +69,9 @@ impl Secp256k1PrivateKey {
         (&mut bytes[Secp256k1PrivateKey::LENGTH - 8..Secp256k1PrivateKey::LENGTH])
             .copy_from_slice(&n.to_be_bytes());
 
-        Ok(Self(SecretKey::from_slice(&bytes).map_err(|_| ())?))
+        Ok(Self(SecretKeyWrapper(
+            SecretKey::from_slice(&bytes).map_err(|_| ())?,
+        )))
     }
 }
 
@@ -77,4 +94,28 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(sk.sign(&test_message_hash), sig);
         assert!(verify_secp256k1(&test_message_hash, &pk, &sig));
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn default_value() {
+        let key: SecretKeyWrapper = SecretKeyWrapper::default();
+        assert_eq!(
+            key.0.secret_bytes(),
+            [
+                0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,
+                0, 0, 0, 1
+            ]
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn verify_zeroize() {
+        let bytes = "4fd3fb62d6b7a4749f75d56d06b0aea1ec2c2a6986d2bfa975d7891585590fea";
+        let mut key = Secp256k1PrivateKey::from_bytes(&hex::decode(bytes).unwrap()).unwrap();
+        key.zeroize();
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            key.0 .0.secret_bytes(),
+            SecretKeyWrapper::default().0.secret_bytes()
+        );
+    }
 }