diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6dd85d4f21..c7ab4f3ba9 100755
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,20 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/)
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/).
 
+## [5.4.5.0] 2023-04-23, leisure
+
+### Added
+none
+
+### Changed
+none
+
+### Removed
+none
+
+### Fixed
+ - key, rpc: fix key parsing #2682 (@div72)
+
 ## [5.4.4.0] 2023-04-21, leisure
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 295ecb2d22..4f0d63ae38 100755
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ dnl require autoconf 2.60 (AS_ECHO/AS_ECHO_N)
 AC_PREREQ([2.60])
 define(_CLIENT_VERSION_MAJOR, 5)
 define(_CLIENT_VERSION_MINOR, 4)
-define(_CLIENT_VERSION_REVISION, 4)
+define(_CLIENT_VERSION_REVISION, 5)
 define(_CLIENT_VERSION_BUILD, 0)
 define(_CLIENT_VERSION_IS_RELEASE, true)
 define(_COPYRIGHT_YEAR, 2023)
diff --git a/src/key.cpp b/src/key.cpp
index cf0f9fb104..68922d2244 100644
--- a/src/key.cpp
+++ b/src/key.cpp
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ bool CKey::SignCompact(const uint256 &hash, std::vector<unsigned char>& vchSig)
 bool CKey::Load(const CPrivKey &seckey, const CPubKey &vchPubKey, bool fSkipCheck=false) {
     if (!ec_seckey_import_der(secp256k1_context_sign, (unsigned char*)begin(), seckey.data(), seckey.size()))
         return false;
-    fCompressed = seckey.size() == CKey::COMPRESSED_SIZE;
+    fCompressed = vchPubKey.IsCompressed();
     fValid = true;
 
     if (fSkipCheck)
diff --git a/src/rpc/net.cpp b/src/rpc/net.cpp
index f652cdc716..e6a023bd05 100644
--- a/src/rpc/net.cpp
+++ b/src/rpc/net.cpp
@@ -490,7 +490,7 @@ UniValue sendalert(const UniValue& params, bool fHelp)
             "sendalert <message> <privatekey> <minver> <maxver> <priority> <id> [cancelupto]\n"
             "\n"
             "<message> ----> is the alert text message\n"
-            "<privatekey> -> is hex string of alert master private key\n"
+            "<privatekey> -> is WIF encoded alert master private key\n"
             "<minver> -----> is the minimum applicable internal client version\n"
             "<maxver> -----> is the maximum applicable internal client version\n"
             "<priority> ---> is integer priority number\n"
@@ -517,8 +517,20 @@ UniValue sendalert(const UniValue& params, bool fHelp)
     sMsg << (CUnsignedAlert)alert;
     alert.vchMsg = vector<unsigned char>((unsigned char*)&sMsg.begin()[0], (unsigned char*)&sMsg.end()[0]);
 
-    vector<unsigned char> vchPrivKey = ParseHex(params[1].get_str());
-    key.Load(CPrivKey(vchPrivKey.begin(), vchPrivKey.end()), CPubKey(), true);
+    CBitcoinSecret vchSecret;
+
+    if (!vchSecret.SetString(params[0].get_str())) {
+        throw JSONRPCError(RPC_INVALID_ADDRESS_OR_KEY, "Invalid private key");
+    }
+
+    bool fCompressed;
+    CSecret secret = vchSecret.GetSecret(fCompressed);
+    key.Set(secret.begin(), secret.end(), fCompressed);
+
+    if (!key.IsValid()) {
+        throw JSONRPCError(RPC_INVALID_ADDRESS_OR_KEY, "Invalid private key");
+    }
+
     if (!key.Sign(Hash(alert.vchMsg), alert.vchSig))
         throw runtime_error(
             "Unable to sign alert, check private key?\n");
@@ -551,7 +563,7 @@ UniValue sendalert2(const UniValue& params, bool fHelp)
             //          0            1    2            3            4        5          6
             "sendalert2 <privatekey> <id> <subverlist> <cancellist> <expire> <priority> <message>\n"
             "\n"
-            "<privatekey> -> is hex string of alert master private key\n"
+            "<privatekey> -> is WIF encoded alert master private key\n"
             "<id> ---------> is the unique alert number\n"
             "<subverlist> -> comma separated list of versions warning applies to\n"
             "<cancellist> -> comma separated ids of alerts to cancel\n"
@@ -591,8 +603,20 @@ UniValue sendalert2(const UniValue& params, bool fHelp)
     sMsg << (CUnsignedAlert)alert;
     alert.vchMsg = vector<unsigned char>((unsigned char*)&sMsg.begin()[0], (unsigned char*)&sMsg.end()[0]);
 
-    vector<unsigned char> vchPrivKey = ParseHex(params[0].get_str());
-    key.Load(CPrivKey(vchPrivKey.begin(), vchPrivKey.end()), CPubKey(), true);
+    CBitcoinSecret vchSecret;
+
+    if (!vchSecret.SetString(params[0].get_str())) {
+        throw JSONRPCError(RPC_INVALID_ADDRESS_OR_KEY, "Invalid private key");
+    }
+
+    bool fCompressed;
+    CSecret secret = vchSecret.GetSecret(fCompressed);
+    key.Set(secret.begin(), secret.end(), fCompressed);
+
+    if (!key.IsValid()) {
+        throw JSONRPCError(RPC_INVALID_ADDRESS_OR_KEY, "Invalid private key");
+    }
+
     if (!key.Sign(Hash(alert.vchMsg), alert.vchSig))
         throw runtime_error(
             "Unable to sign alert, check private key?\n");
diff --git a/src/wallet/rpcdump.cpp b/src/wallet/rpcdump.cpp
index b806e0378a..b229dc7880 100644
--- a/src/wallet/rpcdump.cpp
+++ b/src/wallet/rpcdump.cpp
@@ -125,20 +125,17 @@ UniValue importprivkey(const UniValue& params, bool fHelp)
 
     CBitcoinSecret vchSecret;
     CKey key;
-    bool fGood = vchSecret.SetString(strSecret);
 
-    // If CBitcoinSecret key decode failed, try to decode the key as hex
-    if(!fGood)
-    {
-        auto vecsecret = ParseHex(strSecret);
-        if (!key.Load(CPrivKey(vecsecret.begin(), vecsecret.end()), CPubKey(), /*fSkipCheck=*/true))
-            throw JSONRPCError(RPC_INVALID_ADDRESS_OR_KEY, "Invalid private key");
+    if (!vchSecret.SetString(strSecret)) {
+        throw JSONRPCError(RPC_INVALID_ADDRESS_OR_KEY, "Invalid private key.");
     }
-    else
-    {
-        bool fCompressed;
-        CSecret secret = vchSecret.GetSecret(fCompressed);
-        key.Set(secret.begin(), secret.end(), fCompressed);
+
+    bool fCompressed;
+    CSecret secret = vchSecret.GetSecret(fCompressed);
+    key.Set(secret.begin(), secret.end(), fCompressed);
+
+    if (!key.IsValid()) {
+        throw JSONRPCError(RPC_INVALID_ADDRESS_OR_KEY, "Invalid private key.");
     }
 
     if (fWalletUnlockStakingOnly)