diff --git a/scripts/sign-xmrig-release.sh b/scripts/sign-xmrig-release.sh
index ae5791d..d8e3aed 100755
--- a/scripts/sign-xmrig-release.sh
+++ b/scripts/sign-xmrig-release.sh
@@ -3,70 +3,64 @@
 #
 # The wallet verifies a detached ed25519 signature over the EXACT archive bytes against a public
 # key pinned in src/util/xmrig_updater.h (kXmrigSignaturePublicKeyBase64). For each archive
-# <name>.zip this produces <name>.zip.sig containing the base64 ed25519 signature — upload that
-# .sig next to the .zip as a release asset.
+# <name>.zip this produces <name>.zip.sig holding the base64 of the raw 64-byte ed25519 signature —
+# upload that .sig next to the .zip as a release asset.
 #
-# Keys are 32-byte ed25519: the secret key signs (keep OFFLINE), the public key goes in the wallet.
+# Uses OpenSSL (>= 1.1.1) only — no Python/PyNaCl needed. OpenSSL's ed25519 is PureEdDSA (RFC 8032),
+# the same primitive libsodium's crypto_sign_verify_detached checks, so signatures are compatible
+# (verified by the wallet's unit tests + an interop check).
 #
 # Usage:
-#   scripts/sign-xmrig-release.sh keygen [out-prefix]      # -> <prefix>.ed25519.{key,pub.b64}
-#   scripts/sign-xmrig-release.sh sign <secret.key> <file>...   # -> <file>.sig per file
-#   scripts/sign-xmrig-release.sh pubkey <secret.key>      # print the base64 public key to pin
+#   scripts/sign-xmrig-release.sh keygen [out-prefix]        # -> <prefix>.ed25519.{key,pub.b64}
+#   scripts/sign-xmrig-release.sh pubkey <secret.key>        # print the base64 public key to pin
+#   scripts/sign-xmrig-release.sh sign <secret.key> <file>...# -> <file>.sig per file
 #
-# Requires python3 with PyNaCl (pip install pynacl). PyNaCl uses the same libsodium primitives the
-# wallet verifies with, so signatures are guaranteed compatible.
+# Keep the secret key (.ed25519.key) OFFLINE. Paste the base64 public key into
+# kXmrigSignaturePublicKeyBase64 in src/util/xmrig_updater.h.
 
 set -euo pipefail
-
 die() { echo "error: $*" >&2; exit 1; }
-command -v python3 >/dev/null || die "python3 not found"
-python3 -c 'import nacl.signing' 2>/dev/null || die "PyNaCl missing — run: pip install pynacl"
+command -v openssl >/dev/null || die "openssl not found (need >= 1.1.1 with ed25519)"
+
+# Raw 32-byte ed25519 public key (base64) from a private key file. The DER SubjectPublicKeyInfo for
+# ed25519 is a fixed 12-byte prefix + the 32-byte key, so the trailing 32 bytes are the raw key.
+pubkey_b64() { openssl pkey -in "$1" -pubout -outform DER | tail -c 32 | openssl base64 -A; }
 
 cmd="${1:-}"; shift || true
-
 case "$cmd" in
   keygen)
     prefix="${1:-drg-xmrig}"
-    python3 - "$prefix" <<'PY'
-import sys, base64, nacl.signing
-prefix = sys.argv[1]
-sk = nacl.signing.SigningKey.generate()
-open(prefix + ".ed25519.key", "wb").write(bytes(sk))
-import os; os.chmod(prefix + ".ed25519.key", 0o600)
-pub_b64 = base64.standard_b64encode(bytes(sk.verify_key)).decode()
-open(prefix + ".ed25519.pub.b64", "w").write(pub_b64 + "\n")
-print("secret key : %s.ed25519.key   (KEEP OFFLINE, mode 600)" % prefix)
-print("public key : %s.ed25519.pub.b64" % prefix)
-print()
-print("Pin this in src/util/xmrig_updater.h (kXmrigSignaturePublicKeyBase64):")
-print("  %s" % pub_b64)
-PY
-    ;;
-  sign)
-    [ $# -ge 2 ] || die "usage: sign <secret.key> <file>..."
-    keyfile="$1"; shift
-    for f in "$@"; do
-      [ -f "$f" ] || die "no such file: $f"
-      python3 - "$keyfile" "$f" <<'PY'
-import sys, base64, nacl.signing
-keyfile, f = sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2]
-sk = nacl.signing.SigningKey(open(keyfile, "rb").read())
-sig = sk.sign(open(f, "rb").read()).signature        # 64-byte detached ed25519 signature
-open(f + ".sig", "w").write(base64.standard_b64encode(sig).decode() + "\n")
-print("signed: %s -> %s.sig" % (f, f))
-PY
-    done
-    echo "Upload each .sig as a release asset next to its archive."
+    [ -e "$prefix.ed25519.key" ] && die "$prefix.ed25519.key already exists — refusing to overwrite"
+    openssl genpkey -algorithm ed25519 -out "$prefix.ed25519.key"
+    chmod 600 "$prefix.ed25519.key"
+    pub="$(pubkey_b64 "$prefix.ed25519.key")"
+    printf '%s\n' "$pub" > "$prefix.ed25519.pub.b64"
+    echo "secret key : $prefix.ed25519.key   (KEEP OFFLINE, mode 600)"
+    echo "public key : $prefix.ed25519.pub.b64"
+    echo
+    echo "Pin this in src/util/xmrig_updater.h (kXmrigSignaturePublicKeyBase64):"
+    echo "  $pub"
     ;;
   pubkey)
     [ $# -ge 1 ] || die "usage: pubkey <secret.key>"
-    python3 - "$1" <<'PY'
-import sys, base64, nacl.signing
-sk = nacl.signing.SigningKey(open(sys.argv[1], "rb").read())
-print(base64.standard_b64encode(bytes(sk.verify_key)).decode())
-PY
+    pubkey_b64 "$1"
+    ;;
+  sign)
+    [ $# -ge 2 ] || die "usage: sign <secret.key> <file>..."
+    key="$1"; shift
+    [ -f "$key" ] || die "no such key: $key"
+    for f in "$@"; do
+      [ -f "$f" ] || die "no such file: $f"
+      raw="$(mktemp)"
+      openssl pkeyutl -sign -inkey "$key" -rawin -in "$f" -out "$raw"
+      openssl base64 -A -in "$raw" > "$f.sig"
+      printf '\n' >> "$f.sig"
+      rm -f "$raw"
+      echo "signed: $f -> $f.sig"
+    done
+    echo "Upload each .sig as a release asset next to its archive."
     ;;
   *)
-    die "usage: $0 {keygen [prefix] | sign <secret.key> <file>... | pubkey <secret.key>}"
+    die "usage: $0 {keygen [prefix] | pubkey <secret.key> | sign <secret.key> <file>...}"
     ;;
 esac