diff --git a/account/priv_account.go b/account/priv_account.go
index 4b4107d8e..f9179ec84 100644
--- a/account/priv_account.go
+++ b/account/priv_account.go
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 package account
 
 import (
-	"github.com/tendermint/go-ed25519"
-
 	. "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/common"
 )
 
@@ -14,15 +12,11 @@ type PrivAccount struct {
 
 // Generates a new account with private key.
 func GenPrivAccount() *PrivAccount {
-	privKey := CRandBytes(32)
-	pubKey := PubKeyEd25519(ed25519.MakePubKey(privKey))
+	privKey := PrivKeyEd25519(CRandBytes(32))
 	return &PrivAccount{
-		pubKey.Address(),
-		pubKey,
-		PrivKeyEd25519{
-			PubKey:  pubKey,
-			PrivKey: privKey,
-		},
+		Address: privKey.PubKey().Address(),
+		PubKey:  privKey.PubKey(),
+		PrivKey: privKey,
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/account/privkey.go b/account/privkey.go
index eee63f527..87d634acb 100644
--- a/account/privkey.go
+++ b/account/privkey.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 // PrivKey is part of PrivAccount and state.PrivValidator.
 type PrivKey interface {
 	Sign(msg []byte) Signature
+	PubKey() PubKey
 }
 
 // Types of PrivKey implementations
@@ -26,24 +27,22 @@ var _ = RegisterInterface(
 //-------------------------------------
 
 // Implements PrivKey
-type PrivKeyEd25519 struct {
-	PubKey  []byte
-	PrivKey []byte
-}
+type PrivKeyEd25519 []byte
 
 func (key PrivKeyEd25519) TypeByte() byte { return PrivKeyTypeEd25519 }
 
 func (key PrivKeyEd25519) ValidateBasic() error {
-	if len(key.PubKey) != ed25519.PublicKeySize {
-		return errors.New("Invalid PrivKeyEd25519 pubkey size")
-	}
-	if len(key.PrivKey) != ed25519.PrivateKeySize {
+	if len(key) != ed25519.PrivateKeySize {
 		return errors.New("Invalid PrivKeyEd25519 privkey size")
 	}
 	return nil
 }
 
 func (key PrivKeyEd25519) Sign(msg []byte) Signature {
-	signature := ed25519.SignMessage(msg, key.PrivKey, key.PubKey)
+	signature := ed25519.SignMessage(msg, key, ed25519.MakePubKey(key))
 	return SignatureEd25519(signature)
 }
+
+func (key PrivKeyEd25519) PubKey() PubKey {
+	return PubKeyEd25519(ed25519.MakePubKey(key))
+}
diff --git a/cmd/gen_account.go b/cmd/gen_account.go
index fe8301813..d7f4b2d46 100644
--- a/cmd/gen_account.go
+++ b/cmd/gen_account.go
@@ -1,24 +1,20 @@
 package main
 
 import (
-	"encoding/hex"
 	"fmt"
 
-	. "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/account"
+	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/account"
 	. "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/binary"
 )
 
 func gen_account() {
+	privAccount := account.GenPrivAccount()
+	privAccountJSONBytes := JSONBytes(privAccount)
+	fmt.Printf(`Generated a new account!
 
-	// TODO: uh, write better logic.
-	// Generate private account
-	privAccount := GenPrivAccount()
+%v
 
-	fmt.Printf(`Generated account:
-Account Public Key:  %v
-Account Private Key: %v
 `,
-		hex.EncodeToString(BinaryBytes(privAccount.PubKey)),
-		hex.EncodeToString(BinaryBytes(privAccount.PrivKey)),
+		string(privAccountJSONBytes),
 	)
 }
diff --git a/cmd/gen_validator.go b/cmd/gen_validator.go
index 8b5e3e943..7f2b08fc5 100644
--- a/cmd/gen_validator.go
+++ b/cmd/gen_validator.go
@@ -5,12 +5,14 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/config"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/state"
+
+	. "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/binary"
 )
 
 func gen_validator() {
 
 	privValidator := state.GenPrivValidator()
-	privValidatorJSONBytes := privValidator.JSONBytes()
+	privValidatorJSONBytes := JSONBytes(privValidator)
 	fmt.Printf(`Generated a new validator!
 Paste the following JSON into your %v file
 
diff --git a/rpc/accounts.go b/rpc/accounts.go
index 2f0e29799..12dcd7b7d 100644
--- a/rpc/accounts.go
+++ b/rpc/accounts.go
@@ -33,6 +33,11 @@ func GetAccountHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	state := consensusState.GetState()
 	account_ := state.GetAccount(address)
 
+	if account_ == nil {
+		WriteAPIResponse(w, API_OK, struct{}{})
+		return
+	}
+
 	WriteAPIResponse(w, API_OK, struct {
 		Account *account.Account
 	}{account_})
diff --git a/state/priv_validator.go b/state/priv_validator.go
index ac11f5c83..7d235c40f 100644
--- a/state/priv_validator.go
+++ b/state/priv_validator.go
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ func GenPrivValidator() *PrivValidator {
 	privKeyBytes := CRandBytes(32)
 	pubKeyBytes := ed25519.MakePubKey(privKeyBytes)
 	pubKey := PubKeyEd25519(pubKeyBytes)
-	privKey := PrivKeyEd25519{pubKeyBytes, privKeyBytes}
+	privKey := PrivKeyEd25519(privKeyBytes)
 	return &PrivValidator{
 		Address:    pubKey.Address(),
 		PubKey:     pubKey,
@@ -91,15 +91,13 @@ func (privVal *PrivValidator) Save() {
 }
 
 func (privVal *PrivValidator) save() {
-	jsonBytes := privVal.JSONBytes()
+	jsonBytes := JSONBytes(privVal)
 	err := ioutil.WriteFile(privVal.filename, jsonBytes, 0700)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
 }
 
-func (privVal *PrivValidator) JSONBytes() []byte { return JSONBytes(privVal) }
-
 // TODO: test
 func (privVal *PrivValidator) SignVote(vote *Vote) error {
 	privVal.mtx.Lock()