diff --git a/bitchat/Identity/SecureIdentityStateManager.swift b/bitchat/Identity/SecureIdentityStateManager.swift
index 2b7f69a4..fe6eb9c8 100644
--- a/bitchat/Identity/SecureIdentityStateManager.swift
+++ b/bitchat/Identity/SecureIdentityStateManager.swift
@@ -137,9 +137,6 @@ protocol SecureIdentityStateManagerProtocol {
     /// Whether this peer now announces a different nickname than the one its
     /// trust was earned under.
     func trustedNicknameMismatch(fingerprint: String) -> Bool
-    /// Verified AND still presenting the name it was verified under — what a
-    /// seal beside a LIVE name is actually asserting. One lock, not two.
-    func isVerifiedAndNameBound(fingerprint: String) -> Bool
     /// Verified AND `renderedSender` is the name it was verified under — what
     /// a seal beside a name frozen on a message row is asserting.
     func sealAppliesToRow(fingerprint: String, renderedSender: String) -> Bool
@@ -164,15 +161,11 @@ protocol SecureIdentityStateManagerProtocol {
 }
 
 extension SecureIdentityStateManagerProtocol {
-    // Default implementations so a conformance only has to provide the two
-    // primitives. `SecureIdentityStateManager` overrides both to answer in a
-    // single lock acquisition — these seal checks run per row, per render, and
-    // the format cache does not shield the one in ChatMessageFormatter because
-    // the answer is part of its cache key.
-    func isVerifiedAndNameBound(fingerprint: String) -> Bool {
-        isVerified(fingerprint: fingerprint) && !trustedNicknameMismatch(fingerprint: fingerprint)
-    }
-
+    // A default implementation so a conformance only has to provide the two
+    // primitives. `SecureIdentityStateManager` overrides it to answer in a
+    // single lock acquisition — this runs per row, per render, and the format
+    // cache does not shield the call in ChatMessageFormatter because the
+    // answer is part of its cache key.
     func sealAppliesToRow(fingerprint: String, renderedSender: String) -> Bool {
         guard isVerified(fingerprint: fingerprint) else { return false }
         guard let pinned = trustedNickname(fingerprint: fingerprint), !pinned.isEmpty
@@ -802,13 +795,6 @@ final class SecureIdentityStateManager: SecureIdentityStateManagerProtocol {
         queue.sync { cache.trustedNicknames?[fingerprint] }
     }
 
-    func isVerifiedAndNameBound(fingerprint: String) -> Bool {
-        queue.sync {
-            guard cache.verifiedFingerprints.contains(fingerprint) else { return false }
-            return !liveNameMismatchLocked(fingerprint)
-        }
-    }
-
     /// A message row shows the sender name frozen at receipt, so asking about
     /// the peer's CURRENT name is the wrong question: rename away, post, rename
     /// back, and the live name matches the baseline again while the archived row
diff --git a/bitchat/ViewModels/ChatPeerIdentityCoordinator.swift b/bitchat/ViewModels/ChatPeerIdentityCoordinator.swift
index fbe8338e..0d6d92b8 100644
--- a/bitchat/ViewModels/ChatPeerIdentityCoordinator.swift
+++ b/bitchat/ViewModels/ChatPeerIdentityCoordinator.swift
@@ -477,9 +477,16 @@ final class ChatPeerIdentityCoordinator {
     /// invalidated by verification and session changes, never by a rename, so a
     /// demotion written into the cache would be both stale and sticky. The
     /// session really is Noise-secured; only the claim about *who* is weakened,
-    /// which is exactly the difference between the two cases. Nothing branches
-    /// on `.noiseVerified` beyond the glyph — every behavioural site treats it
-    /// and `.noiseSecured` alike.
+    /// which is exactly the difference between the two cases.
+    ///
+    /// No BEHAVIOUR branches on the distinction — `VerificationModel:33`,
+    /// `ContentSheetViews:659` and `:760` all treat `.noiseVerified` and
+    /// `.noiseSecured` alike. Four things the user perceives do, and all four
+    /// are meant to move: the icon (`checkmark.seal.fill` → `lock.fill`), the
+    /// `description` caption, the `accessibilityDescription` — so VoiceOver
+    /// stops saying "verified" on a demoted DM header — and the green tint on
+    /// the nickname at `FingerprintView:87`, which is the one site that does
+    /// NOT treat the two statuses identically.
     @MainActor
     private func demotedIfRenamed(_ status: EncryptionStatus, for peerID: PeerID) -> EncryptionStatus {
         guard status == .noiseVerified,
diff --git a/bitchatTests/Mocks/MockIdentityManager.swift b/bitchatTests/Mocks/MockIdentityManager.swift
index 2e1fc12d..8d00187b 100644
--- a/bitchatTests/Mocks/MockIdentityManager.swift
+++ b/bitchatTests/Mocks/MockIdentityManager.swift
@@ -107,7 +107,11 @@ final class MockIdentityManager: SecureIdentityStateManagerProtocol {
     func trustedNicknameMismatch(fingerprint: String) -> Bool {
         guard let pinned = trustedNicknames[fingerprint], !pinned.isEmpty,
               let claimed = claimedNicknames[fingerprint], !claimed.isEmpty else { return false }
-        return pinned != claimed
+        // Folded like the real one. A mock that compared raw strings would
+        // call a recase a rename, so a view test could pass here and fail in
+        // production — and which fold applies is the whole subject of this
+        // change, so it is the last thing a double should get wrong.
+        return pinned.nicknameBindingKey != claimed.nicknameBindingKey
     }
 
     func isVerified(fingerprint: String) -> Bool {
diff --git a/bitchatTests/Services/SecureIdentityStateManagerNicknameBindingTests.swift b/bitchatTests/Services/SecureIdentityStateManagerNicknameBindingTests.swift
index adef9eb1..f582041b 100644
--- a/bitchatTests/Services/SecureIdentityStateManagerNicknameBindingTests.swift
+++ b/bitchatTests/Services/SecureIdentityStateManagerNicknameBindingTests.swift
@@ -265,17 +265,17 @@ struct SecureIdentityStateManagerNicknameBindingTests {
     }
 
     @Test
-    func theCombinedLiveQueryAgreesWithItsParts() {
+    func theBaselineIsKeptSoASheetCanNameIt() {
+        // Suppressing the seal is the security fix; saying WHICH name was
+        // verified is what lets a reader recognise the peer instead of
+        // guessing. The baseline therefore survives the rename it detects.
         let manager = makeManager()
         announce(manager, vouchee, as: "ravi")
-        #expect(!manager.isVerifiedAndNameBound(fingerprint: vouchee), "not verified yet")
-
         manager.setVerified(fingerprint: vouchee, verified: true)
-        #expect(manager.isVerifiedAndNameBound(fingerprint: vouchee))
         #expect(manager.trustedNickname(fingerprint: vouchee) == "ravi")
 
         announce(manager, vouchee, as: "medic")
-        #expect(!manager.isVerifiedAndNameBound(fingerprint: vouchee))
+        #expect(manager.trustedNicknameMismatch(fingerprint: vouchee))
         #expect(manager.trustedNickname(fingerprint: vouchee) == "ravi",
                 "the baseline is what the sheet needs to name")
     }
@@ -292,7 +292,6 @@ struct SecureIdentityStateManagerNicknameBindingTests {
 
         announce(manager, vouchee, as: "ravi")
         #expect(!manager.trustedNicknameMismatch(fingerprint: vouchee))
-        #expect(manager.isVerifiedAndNameBound(fingerprint: vouchee))
         #expect(manager.sealAppliesToRow(fingerprint: vouchee, renderedSender: "RAVI"))
     }