A cryptographic identity — the only identity we have in cipherspace — is not an identity that is held or can be seen as immanent in who you are. Rather, all identities in cipherspace are performed. What sets one node apart from another is each node’s ability to perform a certain mathematical operation on data, turing it from plaintext to ciphertext. The identity lies in this, as each ciphertext is unique to the key that was used to create the cipher. Hence no identities can be said to be held, since they are only expressed in the performance of encryption. Similarily, the expressed identity cannot be seen as immanent in the node, since the expression of the node’s identity only comes about when plaintext is encrypted — and as such cannot be expressed by the node (or the key) alone.

Therefore, to be in cipherspace is an act in itself.