diff --git a/bigchaindb/upsert_validator/validator_utils.py b/bigchaindb/upsert_validator/validator_utils.py
index fe6b1e02..47f96b3d 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/upsert_validator/validator_utils.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/upsert_validator/validator_utils.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ def encode_validator(v):
 
 
 def decode_validator(v):
-    return {'public_key': {'type': v.pub_key.type,
+    return {'public_key': {'type': 'ed25519-base64',
                            'value': codecs.encode(v.pub_key.data, 'base64').decode().rstrip('\n')},
             'voting_power': v.power}
 
diff --git a/tests/upsert_validator/conftest.py b/tests/upsert_validator/conftest.py
index 77179f70..c9bb4870 100644
--- a/tests/upsert_validator/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/upsert_validator/conftest.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ def mock_get_validators(network_validators):
         validators = []
         for public_key, power in network_validators.items():
             validators.append({
-                'public_key': {'type': 'AC26791624DE60', 'value': public_key},
+                'public_key': {'type': 'ed25519-base64', 'value': public_key},
                 'voting_power': power
             })
         return validators