diff --git a/common/internal_address.go b/common/internal_address.go
index 6e9515a555..d43ea4f8a4 100644
--- a/common/internal_address.go
+++ b/common/internal_address.go
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ type InternalAddress [AddressLength]byte
 func (a InternalAddress) Bytes() []byte { return a[:] }
 
 // Bytes20 gets the bytes20 representation of the underlying address.
-func (a InternalAddress) Bytes20() (addr AddressBytes) { copy(addr[:], a[:]); return addr } // this is not very performant
+func (a InternalAddress) Bytes20() (addr AddressBytes) { return AddressBytes(a) }
 
 // Hash converts an address to a hash by left-padding it with zeros.
 func (a InternalAddress) Hash() Hash { return BytesToHash(a[:]) }
diff --git a/core/state/statedb.go b/core/state/statedb.go
index 4902817ae3..45886809fa 100644
--- a/core/state/statedb.go
+++ b/core/state/statedb.go
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
-	"google.golang.org/protobuf/proto"
 
 	"github.com/dominant-strategies/go-quai/common"
 	"github.com/dominant-strategies/go-quai/core/rawdb"
@@ -647,11 +646,7 @@ func (s *StateDB) PushETX(etx *types.Transaction) error {
 	if metrics_config.MetricsEnabled() {
 		defer func(start time.Time) { stateMetrics.WithLabelValues("AddETX").Add(float64(time.Since(start))) }(time.Now())
 	}
-	protoTx, err := etx.ProtoEncode()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	protoTxBytes, err := proto.Marshal(protoTx)
+	data, err := rlp.EncodeToBytes(etx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -659,7 +654,7 @@ func (s *StateDB) PushETX(etx *types.Transaction) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	if err := s.etxTrie.TryUpdate(newestIndex.Bytes(), protoTxBytes); err != nil {
+	if err := s.etxTrie.TryUpdate(newestIndex.Bytes(), data); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	newestIndex.Add(newestIndex, big.NewInt(1))
@@ -678,15 +673,11 @@ func (s *StateDB) PushETXs(etxs []*types.Transaction) error {
 		return err
 	}
 	for _, etx := range etxs {
-		protoTx, err := etx.ProtoEncode()
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		protoTxBytes, err := proto.Marshal(protoTx)
+		data, err := rlp.EncodeToBytes(etx)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		if err := s.etxTrie.TryUpdate(newestIndex.Bytes(), protoTxBytes); err != nil {
+		if err := s.etxTrie.TryUpdate(newestIndex.Bytes(), data); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 		newestIndex.Add(newestIndex, big.NewInt(1))
@@ -712,14 +703,11 @@ func (s *StateDB) PopETX() (*types.Transaction, error) {
 	if len(enc) == 0 {
 		return nil, nil
 	}
-	protoEtx := new(types.ProtoTransaction)
-	if err := proto.Unmarshal(enc, protoEtx); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
 	etx := new(types.Transaction)
-	if err := etx.ProtoDecode(protoEtx, s.nodeLocation); err != nil {
+	if err := rlp.DecodeBytes(enc, etx); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	etx.SetTo(common.BytesToAddress(etx.To().Bytes(), s.nodeLocation))
 	if err := s.etxTrie.TryDelete(oldestIndex.Bytes()); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -738,14 +726,11 @@ func (s *StateDB) ReadETX(index *big.Int) (*types.Transaction, error) {
 	if len(enc) == 0 {
 		return nil, nil
 	}
-	protoEtx := new(types.ProtoTransaction)
-	if err := proto.Unmarshal(enc, protoEtx); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
 	etx := new(types.Transaction)
-	if err := etx.ProtoDecode(protoEtx, s.nodeLocation); err != nil {
+	if err := rlp.DecodeBytes(enc, etx); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	etx.SetTo(common.BytesToAddress(etx.To().Bytes(), s.nodeLocation))
 	return etx, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/core/types/transaction.go b/core/types/transaction.go
index 8d9869a769..5f6a6764fd 100644
--- a/core/types/transaction.go
+++ b/core/types/transaction.go
@@ -73,12 +73,7 @@ func NewTx(inner TxData) *Transaction {
 	return tx
 }
 
-// SetInner sets the inner transaction data of a transaction.
 func (tx *Transaction) SetInner(inner TxData) {
-	tx.setDecoded(inner.copy(), 0)
-}
-
-func (tx *Transaction) SetInnerNoCopy(inner TxData) {
 	tx.setDecoded(inner, 0)
 }
 
@@ -291,7 +286,7 @@ func (tx *Transaction) ProtoDecode(protoTx *ProtoTransaction, location common.Lo
 			nonce := BlockNonce(uint64ToByteArr(*protoTx.WorkNonce))
 			quaiTx.WorkNonce = &nonce
 		}
-		tx.SetInnerNoCopy(&quaiTx)
+		tx.SetInner(&quaiTx)
 
 	case 1:
 		if protoTx.Gas == nil {
@@ -329,7 +324,7 @@ func (tx *Transaction) ProtoDecode(protoTx *ProtoTransaction, location common.Lo
 		etx.ETXIndex = uint16(protoTx.GetEtxIndex())
 		etx.Sender = common.BytesToAddress(protoTx.GetEtxSender(), location)
 
-		tx.SetInnerNoCopy(&etx)
+		tx.SetInner(&etx)
 
 	case 2:
 		if protoTx.TxIns == nil {
@@ -382,7 +377,7 @@ func (tx *Transaction) ProtoDecode(protoTx *ProtoTransaction, location common.Lo
 			nonce := BlockNonce(uint64ToByteArr(*protoTx.WorkNonce))
 			qiTx.WorkNonce = &nonce
 		}
-		tx.SetInnerNoCopy(&qiTx)
+		tx.SetInner(&qiTx)
 
 	default:
 		return errors.New("invalid transaction type")
@@ -597,13 +592,7 @@ func (tx *Transaction) From(nodeLocation common.Location) *common.Address {
 // To returns the recipient address of the transaction.
 // For contract-creation transactions, To returns nil.
 func (tx *Transaction) To() *common.Address {
-	// Copy the pointed-to address.
-	ito := tx.inner.to()
-	if ito == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-	cpy := *ito
-	return &cpy
+	return tx.inner.to()
 }
 
 func (tx *Transaction) SetTo(addr common.Address) {