diff --git a/async_substrate_interface/async_substrate.py b/async_substrate_interface/async_substrate.py
index f60902b..8df2341 100644
--- a/async_substrate_interface/async_substrate.py
+++ b/async_substrate_interface/async_substrate.py
@@ -21,8 +21,6 @@
 )
 
 import asyncstdlib as a
-from bittensor_wallet.keypair import Keypair
-from bittensor_wallet.utils import SS58_FORMAT
 from bt_decode import MetadataV15, PortableRegistry, decode as decode_by_type_string
 from scalecodec.base import ScaleBytes, ScaleType, RuntimeConfigurationObject
 from scalecodec.types import (
@@ -35,12 +33,14 @@
 from websockets.asyncio.client import connect
 from websockets.exceptions import ConnectionClosed
 
+from async_substrate_interface.const import SS58_FORMAT
 from async_substrate_interface.errors import (
     SubstrateRequestException,
     ExtrinsicNotFound,
     BlockNotFound,
     MaxRetriesExceeded,
 )
+from async_substrate_interface.protocols import Keypair
 from async_substrate_interface.types import (
     ScaleObj,
     RequestManager,
@@ -2628,6 +2628,8 @@ async def create_signed_extrinsic(
 
             # Sign payload
             signature = keypair.sign(signature_payload)
+            if inspect.isawaitable(signature):
+                signature = await signature
 
         # Create extrinsic
         extrinsic = self.runtime_config.create_scale_object(
diff --git a/async_substrate_interface/const.py b/async_substrate_interface/const.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..983f9e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/async_substrate_interface/const.py
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# Re-define SS58 format here to remove unnecessary dependencies.
+SS58_FORMAT = 42
diff --git a/async_substrate_interface/protocols.py b/async_substrate_interface/protocols.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b50605f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/async_substrate_interface/protocols.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+from typing import Awaitable, Protocol, Union, Optional, runtime_checkable
+
+
+__all__: list[str] = ["Keypair"]
+
+
+# For reference only
+# class KeypairType:
+#     """
+#     Type of cryptography, used in `Keypair` instance to encrypt and sign data
+#
+#     * ED25519 = 0
+#     * SR25519 = 1
+#     * ECDSA = 2
+#
+#     """
+#     ED25519 = 0
+#     SR25519 = 1
+#     ECDSA = 2
+
+
+@runtime_checkable
+class Keypair(Protocol):
+    @property
+    def crypto_type(self) -> int: ...
+
+    @property
+    def public_key(self) -> Optional[bytes]: ...
+
+    @property
+    def ss58_address(self) -> str: ...
+
+    @property
+    def ss58_format(self) -> int: ...
+
+    def sign(self, data: Union[bytes, str]) -> Union[bytes, Awaitable[bytes]]: ...
diff --git a/async_substrate_interface/sync_substrate.py b/async_substrate_interface/sync_substrate.py
index 01f5fdb..21664d4 100644
--- a/async_substrate_interface/sync_substrate.py
+++ b/async_substrate_interface/sync_substrate.py
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@
 from hashlib import blake2b
 from typing import Optional, Union, Callable, Any
 
-from bittensor_wallet.keypair import Keypair
-from bittensor_wallet.utils import SS58_FORMAT
 from bt_decode import MetadataV15, PortableRegistry, decode as decode_by_type_string
 from scalecodec import (
     GenericCall,
@@ -17,12 +15,14 @@
 from websockets.sync.client import connect
 from websockets.exceptions import ConnectionClosed
 
+from async_substrate_interface.const import SS58_FORMAT
 from async_substrate_interface.errors import (
     ExtrinsicNotFound,
     SubstrateRequestException,
     BlockNotFound,
     MaxRetriesExceeded,
 )
+from async_substrate_interface.protocols import Keypair
 from async_substrate_interface.types import (
     SubstrateMixin,
     RuntimeCache,
diff --git a/async_substrate_interface/types.py b/async_substrate_interface/types.py
index 261f73a..5a83895 100644
--- a/async_substrate_interface/types.py
+++ b/async_substrate_interface/types.py
@@ -7,12 +7,12 @@
 from typing import Optional, Union, Any
 
 from bt_decode import PortableRegistry, encode as encode_by_type_string
-from bittensor_wallet.utils import SS58_FORMAT
 from scalecodec import ss58_encode, ss58_decode, is_valid_ss58_address
 from scalecodec.base import RuntimeConfigurationObject, ScaleBytes
 from scalecodec.type_registry import load_type_registry_preset
 from scalecodec.types import GenericCall, ScaleType, MultiAccountId
 
+from .const import SS58_FORMAT
 from .utils import json
 
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 8fe5ee8..f5b7cec 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ keywords = ["substrate", "development", "bittensor"]
 dependencies = [
   "wheel",
   "asyncstdlib~=3.13.0",
-  "bittensor-wallet>=2.1.3",
   "bt-decode==v0.6.0",
   "scalecodec~=1.2.11",
   "websockets>=14.1",