diff --git a/src/avalanche/proofbuilder.cpp b/src/avalanche/proofbuilder.cpp
--- a/src/avalanche/proofbuilder.cpp
+++ b/src/avalanche/proofbuilder.cpp
@@ -64,12 +64,9 @@
 }
 
 Proof ProofBuilder::buildRandom(uint32_t score) {
-    CKey key;
-    key.MakeNewKey(true);
-
     ProofBuilder pb(0, std::numeric_limits<uint32_t>::max(), CPubKey());
     pb.addUTXO(COutPoint(TxId(GetRandHash()), 0), (int64_t(score) * COIN) / 100,
-               0, false, std::move(key));
+               0, false, CKey{true});
     return pb.build();
 }
 
diff --git a/src/avalanche/test/delegation_tests.cpp b/src/avalanche/test/delegation_tests.cpp
--- a/src/avalanche/test/delegation_tests.cpp
+++ b/src/avalanche/test/delegation_tests.cpp
@@ -31,8 +31,7 @@
 }
 
 BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(verify_random) {
-    CKey key;
-    key.MakeNewKey(true);
+    CKey key{true};
 
     const Proof p = buildRandomProof(123456, key.GetPubKey());
     DelegationBuilder dgb(p);
@@ -43,15 +42,13 @@
         CheckDelegation(dg, p, p.getMaster());
     }
 
-    CKey l1key;
-    l1key.MakeNewKey(true);
+    CKey l1key{true};
     BOOST_CHECK(!dgb.addLevel(l1key, key.GetPubKey()));
 
     dgb.addLevel(key, l1key.GetPubKey());
     CheckDelegation(dgb.build(), p, l1key.GetPubKey());
 
-    CKey l2key;
-    l2key.MakeNewKey(true);
+    CKey l2key{true};
     BOOST_CHECK(!dgb.addLevel(key, l2key.GetPubKey()));
     BOOST_CHECK(!dgb.addLevel(l2key, l2key.GetPubKey()));
 
diff --git a/src/avalanche/test/orphanproofpool_tests.cpp b/src/avalanche/test/orphanproofpool_tests.cpp
--- a/src/avalanche/test/orphanproofpool_tests.cpp
+++ b/src/avalanche/test/orphanproofpool_tests.cpp
@@ -22,12 +22,10 @@
 static std::shared_ptr<Proof> makeProof(const size_t nStakes) {
     const Amount v = 5 * COIN;
     const int height = 1234;
-    CKey key;
-    key.MakeNewKey(true);
     ProofBuilder pb(0, 0, CPubKey());
     for (size_t i = 0; i < nStakes; i++) {
         TxId txid(GetRandHash());
-        pb.addUTXO(COutPoint(txid, 0), v, height, false, key);
+        pb.addUTXO(COutPoint(txid, 0), v, height, false, CKey{true});
     }
     return std::make_shared<Proof>(pb.build());
 }
diff --git a/src/avalanche/test/peermanager_tests.cpp b/src/avalanche/test/peermanager_tests.cpp
--- a/src/avalanche/test/peermanager_tests.cpp
+++ b/src/avalanche/test/peermanager_tests.cpp
@@ -459,8 +459,7 @@
     avalanche::PeerManager pm;
 
     ProofBuilder pb(0, 0, CPubKey());
-    CKey key;
-    key.MakeNewKey(true);
+    CKey key{true};
     const CScript script = GetScriptForDestination(PKHash(key.GetPubKey()));
     COutPoint utxo(TxId(GetRandHash()), 0);
     Amount amount = 1 * COIN;
@@ -523,8 +522,7 @@
 }
 
 BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(proof_conflict) {
-    CKey key;
-    key.MakeNewKey(true);
+    CKey key{true};
     const CScript script = GetScriptForDestination(PKHash(key.GetPubKey()));
 
     TxId txid1(GetRandHash());
@@ -598,8 +596,7 @@
 BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(orphan_proofs) {
     avalanche::PeerManager pm;
 
-    CKey key;
-    key.MakeNewKey(true);
+    CKey key{true};
     const CScript script = GetScriptForDestination(PKHash(key.GetPubKey()));
 
     COutPoint outpoint1 = COutPoint(TxId(GetRandHash()), 0);
diff --git a/src/avalanche/test/processor_tests.cpp b/src/avalanche/test/processor_tests.cpp
--- a/src/avalanche/test/processor_tests.cpp
+++ b/src/avalanche/test/processor_tests.cpp
@@ -69,10 +69,11 @@
 
     std::unique_ptr<Processor> m_processor;
 
+    // The master private key we delegate to.
     CKey masterpriv;
 
     AvalancheTestingSetup()
-        : TestChain100Setup(), config(GetConfig()), masterpriv() {
+        : TestChain100Setup(), config(GetConfig()), masterpriv(true) {
         // Deterministic randomness for tests.
         auto connman = std::make_unique<CConnmanTest>(config, 0x1337, 0x1337);
         m_connman = connman.get();
@@ -87,9 +88,6 @@
         m_processor = Processor::MakeProcessor(*m_node.args, *m_node.chain,
                                                m_node.connman.get(), error);
         BOOST_CHECK(m_processor);
-
-        // The master private key we delegate to.
-        masterpriv.MakeNewKey(true);
     }
 
     ~AvalancheTestingSetup() {
diff --git a/src/avalanche/test/proof_tests.cpp b/src/avalanche/test/proof_tests.cpp
--- a/src/avalanche/test/proof_tests.cpp
+++ b/src/avalanche/test/proof_tests.cpp
@@ -38,10 +38,8 @@
 }
 
 BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(proofbuilder) {
-    CKey key;
-
     // Master key.
-    key.MakeNewKey(true);
+    CKey key{true};
     const CPubKey master = key.GetPubKey();
 
     const uint64_t sequence = InsecureRandBits(64);
@@ -328,8 +326,7 @@
     CCoinsView coinsDummy;
     CCoinsViewCache coins(&coinsDummy);
 
-    CKey key;
-    key.MakeNewKey(true);
+    CKey key{true};
     const CPubKey pubkey = key.GetPubKey();
 
     const Amount value = 12345 * COIN;
@@ -398,10 +395,8 @@
 
     // Mismatching key
     {
-        CKey altkey;
-        altkey.MakeNewKey(true);
         runCheck(ProofValidationResult::DESTINATION_MISMATCH, pkh_outpoint,
-                 value, height, false, altkey);
+                 value, height, false, CKey{true});
     }
 
     // No stake
diff --git a/src/avalanche/test/util.cpp b/src/avalanche/test/util.cpp
--- a/src/avalanche/test/util.cpp
+++ b/src/avalanche/test/util.cpp
@@ -16,8 +16,7 @@
 namespace avalanche {
 
 Proof buildRandomProof(uint32_t score, const CPubKey &master) {
-    CKey key;
-    key.MakeNewKey(true);
+    CKey key{true};
 
     const COutPoint o(TxId(GetRandHash()), 0);
     const Amount v = (int64_t(score) * COIN) / 100;
diff --git a/src/key.h b/src/key.h
--- a/src/key.h
+++ b/src/key.h
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@
         // Important: vch must be 32 bytes in length to not break serialization
         keydata.resize(32);
     }
+    //! Syntactic sugar for constructing a valid key
+    CKey(bool isCompressed) : CKey() { this->MakeNewKey(isCompressed); }
 
     friend bool operator==(const CKey &a, const CKey &b) {
         return a.fCompressed == b.fCompressed && a.size() == b.size() &&