diff --git a/core/auth.go b/core/auth.go
index 7e7669aa2..8937f3690 100644
--- a/core/auth.go
+++ b/core/auth.go
@@ -1,12 +1,10 @@
 package core
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 
 	geth "github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common/hexutil"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/crypto"
 )
 
@@ -25,24 +23,14 @@ func VerifySignature(message []byte, accountAddr geth.Address, sig []byte) error
 		return fmt.Errorf("signature length is unexpected: %d", len(sig))
 	}
 
-	publicKeyBytes, err := hexutil.Decode(accountAddr.Hex())
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to decode public key (%v): %v", accountAddr.Hex(), err)
-	}
-
-	// Decode public key
-	pubKey, err := crypto.UnmarshalPubkey(publicKeyBytes)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to decode public key (%v): %v", accountAddr.Hex(), err)
-	}
-
 	// Verify the signature
 	sigPublicKeyECDSA, err := crypto.SigToPub(message, sig)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to recover public key from signature: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	if !bytes.Equal(pubKey.X.Bytes(), sigPublicKeyECDSA.X.Bytes()) || !bytes.Equal(pubKey.Y.Bytes(), sigPublicKeyECDSA.Y.Bytes()) {
+	pubKey := crypto.PubkeyToAddress(*sigPublicKeyECDSA).Hex()
+	if pubKey != accountAddr.Hex() {
 		return errors.New("signature doesn't match with provided public key")
 	}
 
diff --git a/core/auth/authenticator.go b/core/auth/authenticator.go
index 74fe4bf50..64024f5cb 100644
--- a/core/auth/authenticator.go
+++ b/core/auth/authenticator.go
@@ -1,14 +1,12 @@
 package auth
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/Layr-Labs/eigenda/core"
 
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common/hexutil"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/crypto"
 )
 
@@ -31,25 +29,15 @@ func (*authenticator) AuthenticateBlobRequest(header core.BlobAuthHeader) error
 	buf := make([]byte, 4)
 	binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(buf, header.Nonce)
 	hash := crypto.Keccak256(buf)
-
-	publicKeyBytes, err := hexutil.Decode(header.AccountID)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to decode public key (%v): %v", header.AccountID, err)
-	}
-
-	// Decode public key
-	pubKey, err := crypto.UnmarshalPubkey(publicKeyBytes)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to decode public key (%v): %v", header.AccountID, err)
-	}
-
 	// Verify the signature
 	sigPublicKeyECDSA, err := crypto.SigToPub(hash, sig)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to recover public key from signature: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	if !bytes.Equal(pubKey.X.Bytes(), sigPublicKeyECDSA.X.Bytes()) || !bytes.Equal(pubKey.Y.Bytes(), sigPublicKeyECDSA.Y.Bytes()) {
+	pubKey := crypto.PubkeyToAddress(*sigPublicKeyECDSA).Hex()
+
+	if pubKey != header.AccountID {
 		return errors.New("signature doesn't match with provided public key")
 	}
 
diff --git a/core/auth/v2/auth_test.go b/core/auth/v2/auth_test.go
index fb7c60cec..8893a24c9 100644
--- a/core/auth/v2/auth_test.go
+++ b/core/auth/v2/auth_test.go
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ func TestAuthenticatePaymentStateRequestInvalidPublicKey(t *testing.T) {
 
 	err := authenticator.AuthenticatePaymentStateRequest(make([]byte, 65), "not-hex-encoded")
 	assert.Error(t, err)
-	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "failed to decode public key")
+	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "failed to recover public key from signature")
 }
 
 func TestAuthenticatePaymentStateRequestSignatureMismatch(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/core/auth/v2/authenticator.go b/core/auth/v2/authenticator.go
index 055a0edfb..ecd8b0ba7 100644
--- a/core/auth/v2/authenticator.go
+++ b/core/auth/v2/authenticator.go
@@ -1,13 +1,11 @@
 package v2
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"crypto/sha256"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 
 	core "github.com/Layr-Labs/eigenda/core/v2"
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common/hexutil"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/crypto"
 )
 
@@ -32,24 +30,16 @@ func (*authenticator) AuthenticateBlobRequest(header *core.BlobHeader) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get blob key: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	publicKeyBytes, err := hexutil.Decode(header.PaymentMetadata.AccountID)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to decode public key (%v): %v", header.PaymentMetadata.AccountID, err)
-	}
-
-	// Decode public key
-	pubKey, err := crypto.UnmarshalPubkey(publicKeyBytes)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to convert bytes to public key (%v): %v", header.PaymentMetadata.AccountID, err)
-	}
-
-	// Verify the signature
+	// Recover public key from signature
 	sigPublicKeyECDSA, err := crypto.SigToPub(blobKey[:], sig)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to recover public key from signature: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	if !bytes.Equal(pubKey.X.Bytes(), sigPublicKeyECDSA.X.Bytes()) || !bytes.Equal(pubKey.Y.Bytes(), sigPublicKeyECDSA.Y.Bytes()) {
+	accountId := header.PaymentMetadata.AccountID
+	pubKey := crypto.PubkeyToAddress(*sigPublicKeyECDSA).Hex()
+
+	if pubKey != accountId {
 		return errors.New("signature doesn't match with provided public key")
 	}
 
@@ -62,18 +52,6 @@ func (*authenticator) AuthenticatePaymentStateRequest(sig []byte, accountId stri
 		return fmt.Errorf("signature length is unexpected: %d", len(sig))
 	}
 
-	// Decode public key
-	publicKeyBytes, err := hexutil.Decode(accountId)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to decode public key (%v): %v", accountId, err)
-	}
-
-	// Convert bytes to public key
-	pubKey, err := crypto.UnmarshalPubkey(publicKeyBytes)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to convert bytes to public key (%v): %v", accountId, err)
-	}
-
 	// Verify the signature
 	hash := sha256.Sum256([]byte(accountId))
 	sigPublicKeyECDSA, err := crypto.SigToPub(hash[:], sig)
@@ -81,7 +59,9 @@ func (*authenticator) AuthenticatePaymentStateRequest(sig []byte, accountId stri
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to recover public key from signature: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	if !bytes.Equal(pubKey.X.Bytes(), sigPublicKeyECDSA.X.Bytes()) || !bytes.Equal(pubKey.Y.Bytes(), sigPublicKeyECDSA.Y.Bytes()) {
+	pubKey := crypto.PubkeyToAddress(*sigPublicKeyECDSA).Hex()
+
+	if pubKey != accountId {
 		return errors.New("signature doesn't match with provided public key")
 	}