# Generate an account

In this step, an Ethereum account is created by generating an ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm) signing key. Here’s how it works:

#### Generate an account

* Script: The script named gen\_account, available in both Python and JavaScript, is provided to facilitate the generation of a user's signing key.
* Execution: To execute the script, navigate to the main directory and run the appropriate command depending on the language choice:

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Python" %}

```bash
python3 -m onboardUser.scripts.python.gen_account
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="JavaScript" %}

<pre class="language-bash"><code class="lang-bash"><strong>node onboardUser/scripts/js/gen_account.mjs
</strong></code></pre>

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

* Output: The script will create a new account and save the private key in a .env file in the user's file system.
* Environment Loading: The user should load the private key into their environment using the command:

  ```bash
  source .env
  ```

After the account was generated, it should be funded with some coins in order to be able to use it to deploy contracts or execute transactions.

This can be done using the faucet, as described in:
