diff --git a/lib/encryption.js b/lib/encryption.js
index 313fa22..9238171 100644
--- a/lib/encryption.js
+++ b/lib/encryption.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
-const MsgV2 = require('./msg-v2')
 const base58 = require('bs58')
+const b4a = require('b4a')
+const MsgV2 = require('./msg-v2')
 
 /**
  * @typedef {import('./index').Rec} Rec
@@ -8,7 +9,7 @@ const base58 = require('bs58')
 
 function ciphertextStrToBuffer(str) {
   const dot = str.indexOf('.')
-  return Buffer.from(str.slice(0, dot), 'base64')
+  return b4a.from(str.slice(0, dot), 'base64')
 }
 
 /**
@@ -16,8 +17,8 @@ function ciphertextStrToBuffer(str) {
  * @param {Keypair} keypair
  */
 function keypairToSSBKeys(keypair) {
-  const public = Buffer.from(base58.decode(keypair.public)).toString('base64')
-  const private = Buffer.from(base58.decode(keypair.private)).toString('base64')
+  const public = b4a.from(base58.decode(keypair.public)).toString('base64')
+  const private = b4a.from(base58.decode(keypair.private)).toString('base64')
   return {
     id: `@${public}.ed25519`,
     curve: keypair.curve,
diff --git a/lib/index.js b/lib/index.js
index 4491701..664ffdb 100644
--- a/lib/index.js
+++ b/lib/index.js
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ const path = require('node:path')
 const push = require('push-stream')
 const AAOL = require('async-append-only-log')
 const promisify = require('promisify-4loc')
+const b4a = require('b4a')
 const base58 = require('bs58')
 const Obz = require('obz')
 const MsgV2 = require('./msg-v2')
@@ -78,7 +79,7 @@ exports.init = function initDB(peer, config) {
     blockSize: 64 * 1024,
     codec: {
       encode(msg) {
-        return Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(msg), 'utf8')
+        return b4a.from(JSON.stringify(msg), 'utf8')
       },
       decode(buf) {
         return JSON.parse(buf.toString('utf8'))
@@ -141,7 +142,7 @@ exports.init = function initDB(peer, config) {
     log.append(rec, (err, newOffset) => {
       if (err) return cb(new Error('logAppend failed', { cause: err }))
       const offset = newOffset // latestOffset
-      const size = Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(rec), 'utf8').length
+      const size = b4a.from(JSON.stringify(rec), 'utf8').length
       const seq = recs.length
       const recExposed = decrypt(rec, peer, config)
       rec.misc = recExposed.misc = { offset, size, seq }
@@ -326,7 +327,7 @@ exports.init = function initDB(peer, config) {
           recps: recps.map(
             (recp) =>
               // TODO: temporary until our encryption formats are ppppp not SSB
-              `@${Buffer.from(base58.decode(recp)).toString('base64')}.ed25519`
+              `@${b4a.from(base58.decode(recp)).toString('base64')}.ed25519`
           ),
         }
         let ciphertextBuf
diff --git a/lib/msg-v2/get-msg-id.js b/lib/msg-v2/get-msg-id.js
index e3152f8..6d92036 100644
--- a/lib/msg-v2/get-msg-id.js
+++ b/lib/msg-v2/get-msg-id.js
@@ -1,17 +1,19 @@
+const b4a = require('b4a')
 const blake3 = require('blake3')
 const base58 = require('bs58')
 const stringify = require('json-canon')
 
 /**
  * @typedef {import('./index').Msg} Msg
+ * @typedef {Buffer | Uint8Array} B4A
  */
 
 /**
  * @param {Msg} msg
- * @returns {Buffer}
+ * @returns {B4A}
  */
 function getMsgHashBuf(msg) {
-  const metadataBuf = Buffer.from(stringify(msg.metadata), 'utf8')
+  const metadataBuf = b4a.from(stringify(msg.metadata), 'utf8')
   return blake3.hash(metadataBuf).subarray(0, 16)
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/msg-v2/index.js b/lib/msg-v2/index.js
index f6685bc..3b88e63 100644
--- a/lib/msg-v2/index.js
+++ b/lib/msg-v2/index.js
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
-const crypto = require('crypto')
+const crypto = require('node:crypto')
+const base58 = require('bs58')
+const b4a = require('b4a')
 const stringify = require('json-canon')
 const Keypair = require('ppppp-keypair')
-const base58 = require('bs58')
 const union = require('set.prototype.union')
 const { stripGroup } = require('./strip')
 const isFeedRoot = require('./is-feed-root')
@@ -19,6 +20,7 @@ const Tangle = require('./tangle')
 /**
  * @typedef {Iterator<Msg> & {values: () => Iterator<Msg>}} MsgIter
  * @typedef {import('ppppp-keypair').Keypair} Keypair
+ * @typedef {Buffer | Uint8Array} B4A
  */
 
 /**
@@ -74,7 +76,7 @@ function getFeedRootHash(groupId, type) {
 }
 
 function toPlaintextBuffer(opts) {
-  return Buffer.from(stringify(opts.data), 'utf8')
+  return b4a.from(stringify(opts.data), 'utf8')
 }
 
 /**
@@ -123,7 +125,7 @@ function create(opts) {
   if ((err = validateData(msg))) throw err
 
   // TODO: add a label prefix to the metadata before signing
-  const metadataBuf = Buffer.from(stringify(msg.metadata), 'utf8')
+  const metadataBuf = b4a.from(stringify(msg.metadata), 'utf8')
   msg.sig = Keypair.sign(opts.keypair, metadataBuf)
 
   return msg
@@ -155,7 +157,7 @@ function createRoot(group, type, keypair) {
   }
 
   // TODO: add a label prefix to the metadata before signing
-  const metadataBuf = Buffer.from(stringify(msg.metadata), 'utf8')
+  const metadataBuf = b4a.from(stringify(msg.metadata), 'utf8')
   msg.sig = Keypair.sign(keypair, metadataBuf)
 
   return msg
@@ -186,7 +188,7 @@ function erase(msg) {
 }
 
 /**
- * @param {Buffer} plaintextBuf
+ * @param {B4A} plaintextBuf
  * @param {Msg} msg
  * @returns {Msg}
  */
diff --git a/lib/msg-v2/represent-data.js b/lib/msg-v2/represent-data.js
index fcba698..afc4472 100644
--- a/lib/msg-v2/represent-data.js
+++ b/lib/msg-v2/represent-data.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 const blake3 = require('blake3')
+const b4a = require('b4a')
 const base58 = require('bs58')
 const stringify = require('json-canon')
 
@@ -7,7 +8,7 @@ const stringify = require('json-canon')
  * @returns {[string, number]}
  */
 function representData(data) {
-  const dataBuf = Buffer.from(stringify(data), 'utf8')
+  const dataBuf = b4a.from(stringify(data), 'utf8')
   const dataHash = base58.encode(blake3.hash(dataBuf).subarray(0, 16))
   const dataSize = dataBuf.length
   return [dataHash, dataSize]
diff --git a/lib/msg-v2/validation.js b/lib/msg-v2/validation.js
index c9f4c85..4e4d8a3 100644
--- a/lib/msg-v2/validation.js
+++ b/lib/msg-v2/validation.js
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+const b4a = require('b4a')
 const base58 = require('bs58')
 const Keypair = require('ppppp-keypair')
 const stringify = require('json-canon')
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ function validateGroupPubkey(msg, pubkeys) {
 
 function validateMsgHash(str) {
   try {
-    const hashBuf = Buffer.from(base58.decode(str))
+    const hashBuf = b4a.from(base58.decode(str))
     if (hashBuf.length !== 16) {
       // prettier-ignore
       return `invalid message: decoded hash should be 16 bytes but was ${hashBuf.length}`
@@ -102,7 +103,7 @@ function validateSignature(msg) {
   }
   let sigBuf
   try {
-    sigBuf = Buffer.from(base58.decode(sig))
+    sigBuf = b4a.from(base58.decode(sig))
     if (sigBuf.length !== 64) {
       // prettier-ignore
       return `invalid message: sig should be 64 bytes but was ${sigBuf.length}\n` + JSON.stringify(msg)
@@ -112,7 +113,7 @@ function validateSignature(msg) {
     return `invalid message: sig "${sig}" should have been a base58 string\n` + JSON.stringify(msg)
   }
 
-  const signableBuf = Buffer.from(stringify(msg.metadata), 'utf8')
+  const signableBuf = b4a.from(stringify(msg.metadata), 'utf8')
   const keypair = {curve: 'ed25519', public: msg.pubkey}
   const verified = Keypair.verify(keypair, signableBuf, sig)
   if (!verified) {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 4a1560f..6dc2a2c 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -26,17 +26,19 @@
     }
   },
   "dependencies": {
-    "async-append-only-log": "^4.3.10",
-    "blake3": "^2.1.7",
-    "bs58": "^5.0.0",
-    "json-canon": "^1.0.0",
-    "obz": "^1.1.0",
+    "async-append-only-log": "~4.3.10",
+    "blake3": "~2.1.7",
+    "b4a": "~1.6.4",
+    "bs58": "~5.0.0",
+    "json-canon": "~1.0.0",
+    "obz": "~1.1.0",
     "ppppp-keypair": "github:staltz/ppppp-keypair",
-    "promisify-4loc": "^1.0.0",
-    "push-stream": "^11.2.0",
-    "set.prototype.union": "^1.0.2"
+    "promisify-4loc": "~1.0.0",
+    "push-stream": "~11.2.0",
+    "set.prototype.union": "~1.0.2"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
+    "@types/b4a": "^1.6.0",
     "c8": "^7.11.0",
     "husky": "^4.3.0",
     "prettier": "^2.6.2",