diff --git a/bigchaindb/common/transaction.py b/bigchaindb/common/transaction.py
index 13af253c..6ba7ab80 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/common/transaction.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/common/transaction.py
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ from bigchaindb.common.utils import serialize
 
 UnspentOutput = namedtuple(
     'UnspentOutput', (
+        # TODO 'utxo_hash': sha3_256(f'{txid}{output_index}'.encode())
+        # 'utxo_hash',   # noqa
         'transaction_id',
         'output_index',
         'amount',
diff --git a/bigchaindb/tendermint/core.py b/bigchaindb/tendermint/core.py
index 704dd592..80d40859 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/tendermint/core.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/tendermint/core.py
@@ -20,9 +20,7 @@ class App(BaseApplication):
     State Machine."""
 
     def __init__(self, bigchaindb=None):
-        if not bigchaindb:
-            bigchaindb = BigchainDB()
-        self.bigchaindb = bigchaindb
+        self.bigchaindb = bigchaindb or BigchainDB()
         self.block_txn_ids = []
         self.block_txn_hash = ''
         self.block_transactions = []
diff --git a/bigchaindb/tendermint/lib.py b/bigchaindb/tendermint/lib.py
index 8ab806ac..0175ebbf 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/tendermint/lib.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/tendermint/lib.py
@@ -8,13 +8,19 @@ from copy import deepcopy
 from os import getenv
 from uuid import uuid4
 
+try:
+    from hashlib import sha3_256
+except ImportError:
+    # NOTE: neeeded for Python < 3.6
+    from sha3 import sha3_256
+
 import requests
 
 from bigchaindb import backend
 from bigchaindb import Bigchain
 from bigchaindb.models import Transaction
 from bigchaindb.common.exceptions import SchemaValidationError, ValidationError
-from bigchaindb.tendermint.utils import encode_transaction
+from bigchaindb.tendermint.utils import encode_transaction, merkleroot
 from bigchaindb.tendermint import fastquery
 from bigchaindb import exceptions as core_exceptions
 
@@ -130,6 +136,40 @@ class BigchainDB(Bigchain):
             return backend.query.store_unspent_outputs(
                                             self.connection, *unspent_outputs)
 
+    def get_utxoset_merkle_root(self):
+        """Returns the merkle root of the utxoset. This implies that
+        the utxoset is first put into a merkle tree.
+
+        For now, the merkle tree and its root will be computed each
+        time. This obviously is not efficient and a better approach
+        that limits the repetition of the same computation when
+        unnecesary should be sought. For instance, future optimizations
+        could simply re-compute the branches of the tree that were
+        affected by a change.
+
+        The transaction hash (id) and output index should be sufficient
+        to uniquely identify a utxo, and consequently only that
+        information from a utxo record is needed to compute the merkle
+        root. Hence, each node of the merkle tree should contain the
+        tuple (txid, output_index).
+
+        .. important:: The leaves of the tree will need to be sorted in
+            some kind of lexicographical order.
+
+        Returns:
+            str: Merkle root in hexadecimal form.
+        """
+        utxoset = backend.query.get_unspent_outputs(self.connection)
+        # TODO Once ready, use the already pre-computed utxo_hash field.
+        # See common/transactions.py for details.
+        hashes = [
+            sha3_256(
+                f'''{utxo['transaction_id']}{utxo['output_index']}'''.encode()
+            ).digest() for utxo in utxoset
+        ]
+        # TODO Notice the sorted call!
+        return merkleroot(sorted(hashes))
+
     def get_unspent_outputs(self):
         """Get the utxoset.
 
diff --git a/bigchaindb/tendermint/utils.py b/bigchaindb/tendermint/utils.py
index b84954a5..eba62908 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/tendermint/utils.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/tendermint/utils.py
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 import base64
 import json
-import sha3
+from binascii import hexlify
+
+try:
+    from hashlib import sha3_256
+except ImportError:
+    from sha3 import sha3_256
 
 
 def encode_transaction(value):
@@ -25,8 +30,38 @@ def calculate_hash(key_list):
     if not key_list:
         return ''
 
-    full_hash = sha3.sha3_256()
+    full_hash = sha3_256()
     for key in key_list:
         full_hash.update(key.encode('utf8'))
 
     return full_hash.hexdigest()
+
+
+def merkleroot(hashes):
+    """
+    Computes the merkle root for a given list.
+
+    Args:
+        hashes (:obj:`list` of :obj:`bytes`): The leaves of the tree.
+
+    Returns:
+        str: Merkle root in hexadecimal form.
+
+    """
+    # XXX TEMPORARY -- MUST REVIEW and possibly CHANGE
+    # The idea here is that the UTXO SET would be empty and this function
+    # would be invoked to compute the merkle root, and since there is nothing,
+    # i.e. an empty list, then the hash of the empty string is returned.
+    # This seems too easy but maybe that is good enough? TO REVIEW!
+    if not hashes:
+        return sha3_256(b'').hexdigest()
+    # XXX END TEMPORARY -- MUST REVIEW ...
+    if len(hashes) == 1:
+        return hexlify(hashes[0]).decode()
+    if len(hashes) % 2 == 1:
+        hashes.append(hashes[-1])
+    parent_hashes = [
+        sha3_256(hashes[i] + hashes[i+1]).digest()
+        for i in range(0, len(hashes)-1, 2)
+    ]
+    return merkleroot(parent_hashes)
diff --git a/tests/tendermint/test_lib.py b/tests/tendermint/test_lib.py
index a8bdb9ba..3f1fb438 100644
--- a/tests/tendermint/test_lib.py
+++ b/tests/tendermint/test_lib.py
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
 import os
 from unittest.mock import patch
 
+try:
+    from hashlib import sha3_256
+except ImportError:
+    # NOTE: neeeded for Python < 3.6
+    from sha3 import sha3_256
+
 import pytest
 from pymongo import MongoClient
 
@@ -311,3 +317,16 @@ def test_store_many_unspent_outputs(b, unspent_outputs, utxo_collection):
     assert utxo_collection.find(
         {'transaction_id': unspent_outputs[0]['transaction_id']}
     ).count() == 3
+
+
+def test_get_utxoset_merkle_root_when_no_utxo(b):
+    assert b.get_utxoset_merkle_root() == sha3_256(b'').hexdigest()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.bdb
+@pytest.mark.usefixture('utxoset')
+def test_get_utxoset_merkle_root(b, utxoset):
+    expected_merkle_root = (
+        '86d311c03115bf4d287f8449ca5828505432d69b82762d47077b1c00fe426eac')
+    merkle_root = b.get_utxoset_merkle_root()
+    assert merkle_root == expected_merkle_root
diff --git a/tests/tendermint/test_utils.py b/tests/tendermint/test_utils.py
index ce91c173..a2db214f 100644
--- a/tests/tendermint/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/tendermint/test_utils.py
@@ -1,6 +1,15 @@
 import base64
 import json
 
+try:
+    from hashlib import sha3_256
+except ImportError:
+    from sha3 import sha3_256
+
+import pytest
+
+pytestmark = pytest.mark.tendermint
+
 
 def test_encode_decode_transaction(b):
     from bigchaindb.tendermint.utils import (encode_transaction,
@@ -25,3 +34,11 @@ def test_calculate_hash_no_key(b):
 
     # pass an empty list
     assert calculate_hash([]) == ''
+
+
+# TODO test for the case of an empty list of hashes, and possibly other cases.
+def test_merkleroot():
+    from bigchaindb.tendermint.utils import merkleroot
+    hashes = [sha3_256(i.encode()).digest() for i in 'abc']
+    assert merkleroot(hashes) == (
+        '78c7c394d3158c218916b7ae0ebdea502e0f4e85c08e3b371e3dfd824d389fa3')