diff --git a/envelopes.go b/envelopes.go
index eec494c..3081537 100644
--- a/envelopes.go
+++ b/envelopes.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package nostr
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"strconv"
 
diff --git a/envelopes_test.go b/envelopes_test.go
index 165d028..a2fc538 100644
--- a/envelopes_test.go
+++ b/envelopes_test.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package nostr
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
diff --git a/event_easyjson.go b/event_easyjson.go
index c1db59f..435583c 100644
--- a/event_easyjson.go
+++ b/event_easyjson.go
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 package nostr
 
 import (
-	json "encoding/json"
-
 	easyjson "github.com/mailru/easyjson"
 	jlexer "github.com/mailru/easyjson/jlexer"
 	jwriter "github.com/mailru/easyjson/jwriter"
@@ -10,7 +8,6 @@ import (
 
 // suppress unused package warning
 var (
-	_ *json.RawMessage
 	_ *jlexer.Lexer
 	_ *jwriter.Writer
 	_ easyjson.Marshaler
diff --git a/event_test.go b/event_test.go
index 0cde38b..c05e534 100644
--- a/event_test.go
+++ b/event_test.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package nostr
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"math/rand/v2"
 	"testing"
diff --git a/example/example.go b/example/example.go
index 94c91f8..e5826d1 100644
--- a/example/example.go
+++ b/example/example.go
@@ -2,13 +2,13 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
+	jsoniter "github.com/json-iterator/go"
 	"github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr"
 	"github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr/nip19"
 )
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ func main() {
 	if f, err := os.Create(filename); err == nil {
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "returned events saved to %s\n", filename)
 		// encode the returned events in a file
-		enc := json.NewEncoder(f)
+		enc := jsoniter.NewEncoder(f)
 		enc.SetIndent("", " ")
 		enc.Encode(evs)
 		f.Close()
diff --git a/filter.go b/filter.go
index 68e03e1..ed4b1f0 100644
--- a/filter.go
+++ b/filter.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package nostr
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"slices"
 
 	"github.com/mailru/easyjson"
diff --git a/filter_easyjson.go b/filter_easyjson.go
index 2d30f51..d980045 100644
--- a/filter_easyjson.go
+++ b/filter_easyjson.go
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 package nostr
 
 import (
-	json "encoding/json"
-
 	easyjson "github.com/mailru/easyjson"
 	jlexer "github.com/mailru/easyjson/jlexer"
 	jwriter "github.com/mailru/easyjson/jwriter"
@@ -10,7 +8,6 @@ import (
 
 // suppress unused package warning
 var (
-	_ *json.RawMessage
 	_ *jlexer.Lexer
 	_ *jwriter.Writer
 	_ easyjson.Marshaler
diff --git a/filter_test.go b/filter_test.go
index c9f6d56..5979eff 100644
--- a/filter_test.go
+++ b/filter_test.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package nostr
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"slices"
 	"testing"
 
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index c208cde..ba3b94b 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/gobwas/ws v1.4.0
 	github.com/graph-gophers/dataloader/v7 v7.1.0
 	github.com/jmoiron/sqlx v1.3.5
+	github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.12
 	github.com/mailru/easyjson v0.7.7
 	github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.18
 	github.com/ncruces/go-sqlite3 v0.18.3
@@ -45,6 +46,8 @@ require (
 	github.com/kr/pretty v0.3.1 // indirect
 	github.com/libsql/sqlite-antlr4-parser v0.0.0-20240327125255-dbf53b6cbf06 // indirect
 	github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20 // indirect
+	github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180228061459-e0a39a4cb421 // indirect
+	github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v1.0.2 // indirect
 	github.com/ncruces/go-strftime v0.1.9 // indirect
 	github.com/ncruces/julianday v1.0.0 // indirect
 	github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 1523547..8239e7a 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ github.com/google/go-cmp v0.3.1/go.mod h1:8QqcDgzrUqlUb/G2PQTWiueGozuR1884gddMyw
 github.com/google/go-cmp v0.4.0/go.mod h1:v8dTdLbMG2kIc/vJvl+f65V22dbkXbowE6jgT/gNBxE=
 github.com/google/go-cmp v0.6.0 h1:ofyhxvXcZhMsU5ulbFiLKl/XBFqE1GSq7atu8tAmTRI=
 github.com/google/go-cmp v0.6.0/go.mod h1:17dUlkBOakJ0+DkrSSNjCkIjxS6bF9zb3elmeNGIjoY=
+github.com/google/gofuzz v1.0.0/go.mod h1:dBl0BpW6vV/+mYPU4Po3pmUjxk6FQPldtuIdl/M65Eg=
 github.com/google/pprof v0.0.0-20240409012703-83162a5b38cd h1:gbpYu9NMq8jhDVbvlGkMFWCjLFlqqEZjEmObmhUy6Vo=
 github.com/google/pprof v0.0.0-20240409012703-83162a5b38cd/go.mod h1:kf6iHlnVGwgKolg33glAes7Yg/8iWP8ukqeldJSO7jw=
 github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0 h1:NIvaJDMOsjHA8n1jAhLSgzrAzy1Hgr+hNrb57e+94F0=
@@ -95,6 +96,8 @@ github.com/jmoiron/sqlx v1.3.5/go.mod h1:nRVWtLre0KfCLJvgxzCsLVMogSvQ1zNJtpYr2Cc
 github.com/josharian/intern v1.0.0 h1:vlS4z54oSdjm0bgjRigI+G1HpF+tI+9rE5LLzOg8HmY=
 github.com/josharian/intern v1.0.0/go.mod h1:5DoeVV0s6jJacbCEi61lwdGj/aVlrQvzHFFd8Hwg//Y=
 github.com/jrick/logrotate v1.0.0/go.mod h1:LNinyqDIJnpAur+b8yyulnQw/wDuN1+BYKlTRt3OuAQ=
+github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.12 h1:PV8peI4a0ysnczrg+LtxykD8LfKY9ML6u2jnxaEnrnM=
+github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.12/go.mod h1:e30LSqwooZae/UwlEbR2852Gd8hjQvJoHmT4TnhNGBo=
 github.com/kkdai/bstream v0.0.0-20161212061736-f391b8402d23/go.mod h1:J+Gs4SYgM6CZQHDETBtE9HaSEkGmuNXF86RwHhHUvq4=
 github.com/kr/pretty v0.3.1 h1:flRD4NNwYAUpkphVc1HcthR4KEIFJ65n8Mw5qdRn3LE=
 github.com/kr/pretty v0.3.1/go.mod h1:hoEshYVHaxMs3cyo3Yncou5ZscifuDolrwPKZanG3xk=
@@ -112,6 +115,10 @@ github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20/go.mod h1:W+V8PltTTMOvKvAeJH7IuucS94S2C6jfK/D
 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.6/go.mod h1:NyWgC/yNuGj7Q9rpYnZvas74GogHl5/Z4A/KQRfk6bU=
 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.18 h1:JL0eqdCOq6DJVNPSvArO/bIV9/P7fbGrV00LZHc+5aI=
 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.18/go.mod h1:2eHXhiwb8IkHr+BDWZGa96P6+rkvnG63S2DGjv9HUNg=
+github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180228061459-e0a39a4cb421 h1:ZqeYNhU3OHLH3mGKHDcjJRFFRrJa6eAM5H+CtDdOsPc=
+github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180228061459-e0a39a4cb421/go.mod h1:6dJC0mAP4ikYIbvyc7fijjWJddQyLn8Ig3JB5CqoB9Q=
+github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v1.0.2 h1:xBagoLtFs94CBntxluKeaWgTMpvLxC4ur3nMaC9Gz0M=
+github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v1.0.2/go.mod h1:yWuevngMOJpCy52FWWMvUC8ws7m/LJsjYzDa0/r8luk=
 github.com/ncruces/go-sqlite3 v0.18.3 h1:tyMa75uh7LcINcfo0WrzOvcTkfz8Hqu0TEPX+KVyes4=
 github.com/ncruces/go-sqlite3 v0.18.3/go.mod h1:HAwOtA+cyEX3iN6YmkpQwfT4vMMgCB7rQRFUdOgEFik=
 github.com/ncruces/go-strftime v0.1.9 h1:bY0MQC28UADQmHmaF5dgpLmImcShSi2kHU9XLdhx/f4=
@@ -141,6 +148,7 @@ github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.12.0 h1:exVL4IDcn6na9z1rAb56Vxr+CgyK3nn3O+epU
 github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.12.0/go.mod h1:E+RYuTGaKKdloAfM02xzb0FW3Paa99yedzYV+kq4uf4=
 github.com/stretchr/objx v0.1.0/go.mod h1:HFkY916IF+rwdDfMAkV7OtwuqBVzrE8GR6GFx+wExME=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.1.5-0.20170601210322-f6abca593680/go.mod h1:a8OnRcib4nhh0OaRAV+Yts87kKdq0PP7pXfy6kDkUVs=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.3.0/go.mod h1:M5WIy9Dh21IEIfnGCwXGc5bZfKNJtfHm1UVUgZn+9EI=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.7.0/go.mod h1:6Fq8oRcR53rry900zMqJjRRixrwX3KX962/h/Wwjteg=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.9.0 h1:HtqpIVDClZ4nwg75+f6Lvsy/wHu+3BoSGCbBAcpTsTg=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.9.0/go.mod h1:r2ic/lqez/lEtzL7wO/rwa5dbSLXVDPFyf8C91i36aY=
diff --git a/helpers.go b/helpers.go
index f4feeb4..9217e00 100644
--- a/helpers.go
+++ b/helpers.go
@@ -6,12 +6,16 @@ import (
 	"sync"
 	"unsafe"
 
+	jsoniter "github.com/json-iterator/go"
 	"golang.org/x/exp/constraints"
 )
 
 const MAX_LOCKS = 50
 
-var namedMutexPool = make([]sync.Mutex, MAX_LOCKS)
+var (
+	namedMutexPool = make([]sync.Mutex, MAX_LOCKS)
+	json           = jsoniter.ConfigFastest
+)
 
 //go:noescape
 //go:linkname memhash runtime.memhash
diff --git a/log_debug.go b/log_debug.go
index 3fb34c8..16ef75d 100644
--- a/log_debug.go
+++ b/log_debug.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 package nostr
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 )
 
diff --git a/nip05/nip05.go b/nip05/nip05.go
index 6e48d54..2f7e82e 100644
--- a/nip05/nip05.go
+++ b/nip05/nip05.go
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@ package nip05
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 
+	jsoniter "github.com/json-iterator/go"
 	"github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr"
 )
 
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ func Fetch(ctx context.Context, fullname string) (resp WellKnownResponse, name s
 	defer res.Body.Close()
 
 	var result WellKnownResponse
-	if err := json.NewDecoder(res.Body).Decode(&result); err != nil {
+	if err := jsoniter.NewDecoder(res.Body).Decode(&result); err != nil {
 		return resp, name, fmt.Errorf("failed to decode json response: %w", err)
 	}
 
diff --git a/nip11/fetch.go b/nip11/fetch.go
index b230a98..2b705ff 100644
--- a/nip11/fetch.go
+++ b/nip11/fetch.go
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@ package nip11
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
 	"time"
 
+	jsoniter "github.com/json-iterator/go"
 	"github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr"
 )
 
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ func Fetch(ctx context.Context, u string) (info RelayInformationDocument, err er
 	}
 	defer resp.Body.Close()
 
-	if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&info); err != nil {
+	if err := jsoniter.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&info); err != nil {
 		return info, fmt.Errorf("invalid json: %w", err)
 	}
 
diff --git a/nip46/bunker_session.go b/nip46/bunker_session.go
index 74c1fd2..1023fe6 100644
--- a/nip46/bunker_session.go
+++ b/nip46/bunker_session.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package nip46
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr"
diff --git a/nip46/client.go b/nip46/client.go
index 471bf6d..1291a6c 100644
--- a/nip46/client.go
+++ b/nip46/client.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package nip46
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"math/rand"
 	"net/url"
diff --git a/nip46/dynamic-signer.go b/nip46/dynamic-signer.go
index 9dda28a..5cc29a8 100644
--- a/nip46/dynamic-signer.go
+++ b/nip46/dynamic-signer.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package nip46
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"slices"
 	"sync"
diff --git a/nip46/nip46.go b/nip46/nip46.go
index c975e34..88f0414 100644
--- a/nip46/nip46.go
+++ b/nip46/nip46.go
@@ -2,13 +2,16 @@ package nip46
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"regexp"
 
+	jsoniter "github.com/json-iterator/go"
 	"github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr"
 )
 
-var BUNKER_REGEX = regexp.MustCompile(`^bunker:\/\/([0-9a-f]{64})\??([?\/\w:.=&%]*)$`)
+var (
+	BUNKER_REGEX = regexp.MustCompile(`^bunker:\/\/([0-9a-f]{64})\??([?\/\w:.=&%]*)$`)
+	json         = jsoniter.ConfigFastest
+)
 
 type Request struct {
 	ID     string   `json:"id"`
diff --git a/nip46/static-key-signer.go b/nip46/static-key-signer.go
index 4fc471a..75e2dea 100644
--- a/nip46/static-key-signer.go
+++ b/nip46/static-key-signer.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package nip46
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"slices"
 	"sync"
diff --git a/nip96/nip96.go b/nip96/nip96.go
index f940b3f..eae7349 100644
--- a/nip96/nip96.go
+++ b/nip96/nip96.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import (
 	"crypto/sha256"
 	"encoding/base64"
 	"encoding/hex"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"hash"
 	"io"
@@ -14,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"strconv"
 
+	jsoniter "github.com/json-iterator/go"
 	"github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr"
 )
 
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ func Upload(ctx context.Context, req UploadRequest) (*UploadResponse, error) {
 
 	case http.StatusOK, http.StatusCreated, http.StatusAccepted:
 		var uploadResp UploadResponse
-		if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&uploadResp); err != nil {
+		if err := jsoniter.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&uploadResp); err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("Error decoding JSON: %w", err)
 		}
 		return &uploadResp, nil
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ func generateAuthHeader(sk, host string, fileHash hash.Hash) (string, error) {
 	}
 	event.Sign(sk)
 
-	b, err := json.Marshal(event)
+	b, err := jsoniter.ConfigFastest.Marshal(event)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("json.Marshal: %w", err)
 	}
diff --git a/relay_test.go b/relay_test.go
index 7d64bea..97f5bc1 100644
--- a/relay_test.go
+++ b/relay_test.go
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ package nostr
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
-	"encoding/json"
+	stdjson "encoding/json"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ func TestPublish(t *testing.T) {
 		published = true
 		mu.Unlock()
 		// verify the client sent exactly the textNote
-		var raw []json.RawMessage
+		var raw []stdjson.RawMessage
 		err := websocket.JSON.Receive(conn, &raw)
 		assert.NoError(t, err)
 
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ func TestPublishBlocked(t *testing.T) {
 	// fake relay server
 	ws := newWebsocketServer(func(conn *websocket.Conn) {
 		// discard received message; not interested
-		var raw []json.RawMessage
+		var raw []stdjson.RawMessage
 		err := websocket.JSON.Receive(conn, &raw)
 		assert.NoError(t, err)
 
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ func mustRelayConnect(t *testing.T, url string) *Relay {
 	return rl
 }
 
-func parseEventMessage(t *testing.T, raw []json.RawMessage) Event {
+func parseEventMessage(t *testing.T, raw []stdjson.RawMessage) Event {
 	t.Helper()
 
 	assert.Condition(t, func() (success bool) {
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ func parseEventMessage(t *testing.T, raw []json.RawMessage) Event {
 	return event
 }
 
-func parseSubscriptionMessage(t *testing.T, raw []json.RawMessage) (subid string, filters []Filter) {
+func parseSubscriptionMessage(t *testing.T, raw []stdjson.RawMessage) (subid string, filters []Filter) {
 	t.Helper()
 
 	assert.Greater(t, len(raw), 3)
diff --git a/sdk/helpers.go b/sdk/helpers.go
index dbb36dd..45139d6 100644
--- a/sdk/helpers.go
+++ b/sdk/helpers.go
@@ -3,8 +3,12 @@ package sdk
 import (
 	"slices"
 	"time"
+
+	jsoniter "github.com/json-iterator/go"
 )
 
+var json = jsoniter.ConfigFastest
+
 func appendUnique[I comparable](arr []I, item ...I) []I {
 	for _, item := range item {
 		if slices.Contains(arr, item) {
diff --git a/sdk/metadata.go b/sdk/metadata.go
index 92e46e0..4b73eee 100644
--- a/sdk/metadata.go
+++ b/sdk/metadata.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package sdk
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
diff --git a/tags.go b/tags.go
index 3070880..507ce82 100644
--- a/tags.go
+++ b/tags.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package nostr
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"iter"
 	"slices"