diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 91d59e2..e79625f 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
         "lru": "^3.1.0",
         "multiformats": "^11.0.1",
         "p-queue": "^7.3.4",
-        "safe-buffer": "^5.2.1"
+        "uint8arrays": "^4.0.3"
       },
       "devDependencies": {
         "assert": "^2.0.0",
@@ -11640,6 +11640,7 @@
       "version": "5.2.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/safe-buffer/-/safe-buffer-5.2.1.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-rp3So07KcdmmKbGvgaNxQSJr7bGVSVk5S9Eq1F+ppbRo70+YeaDxkw5Dd8NPN+GD6bjnYm2VuPuCXmpuYvmCXQ==",
+      "dev": true,
       "funding": [
         {
           "type": "github",
@@ -22433,7 +22434,8 @@
     "safe-buffer": {
       "version": "5.2.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/safe-buffer/-/safe-buffer-5.2.1.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-rp3So07KcdmmKbGvgaNxQSJr7bGVSVk5S9Eq1F+ppbRo70+YeaDxkw5Dd8NPN+GD6bjnYm2VuPuCXmpuYvmCXQ=="
+      "integrity": "sha512-rp3So07KcdmmKbGvgaNxQSJr7bGVSVk5S9Eq1F+ppbRo70+YeaDxkw5Dd8NPN+GD6bjnYm2VuPuCXmpuYvmCXQ==",
+      "dev": true
     },
     "safe-regex-test": {
       "version": "1.0.0",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 1256025..0f0fa97 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
     "lru": "^3.1.0",
     "multiformats": "^11.0.1",
     "p-queue": "^7.3.4",
-    "safe-buffer": "^5.2.1"
+    "uint8arrays": "^4.0.3"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "assert": "^2.0.0",
diff --git a/src/identities/providers/orbitdb.js b/src/identities/providers/orbitdb.js
index 4c7af6a..b46cfe7 100644
--- a/src/identities/providers/orbitdb.js
+++ b/src/identities/providers/orbitdb.js
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { toString as uint8ArrayToString } from 'uint8arrays/to-string'
 import IdentityProvider from './interface.js'
 import { signMessage, verifyMessage } from '../../key-store.js'
 
@@ -22,7 +23,7 @@ class OrbitDBIdentityProvider extends IdentityProvider {
       throw new Error('id is required')
     }
     const key = await this._keystore.getKey(id) || await this._keystore.createKey(id)
-    return Buffer.from(key.public.marshal()).toString('hex')
+    return uint8ArrayToString(key.public.marshal(), 'base16')
   }
 
   async signIdentity (data, { id } = {}) {
diff --git a/src/key-store.js b/src/key-store.js
index f749027..c73e91b 100644
--- a/src/key-store.js
+++ b/src/key-store.js
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import * as crypto from '@libp2p/crypto'
-import { Buffer } from 'safe-buffer'
+import { fromString as uint8ArrayFromString } from 'uint8arrays/from-string'
+import { toString as uint8ArrayToString } from 'uint8arrays/to-string'
+import { compare as uint8ArrayCompare } from 'uint8arrays/compare'
 import ComposedStorage from './storage/composed.js'
 import LevelStorage from './storage/level.js'
 import LRUStorage from './storage/lru.js'
@@ -18,16 +20,16 @@ const verifySignature = async (signature, publicKey, data) => {
     throw new Error('Given input data was undefined')
   }
 
-  if (!Buffer.isBuffer(data)) {
-    data = Buffer.from(data)
+  if (!(data instanceof Uint8Array)) {
+    data = typeof data === "string" ? uint8ArrayFromString(data) : new Uint8Array(data)
   }
 
   const isValid = (key, msg, sig) => key.verify(msg, sig)
 
   let res = false
   try {
-    const pubKey = unmarshalPubKey(Buffer.from(publicKey, 'hex'))
-    res = await isValid(pubKey, data, Buffer.from(signature, 'hex'))
+    const pubKey = unmarshalPubKey(uint8ArrayFromString(publicKey, 'base16'))
+    res = await isValid(pubKey, data, uint8ArrayFromString(signature, 'base16'))
   } catch (e) {
     // Catch error: sig length wrong
   }
@@ -44,11 +46,11 @@ const signMessage = async (key, data) => {
     throw new Error('Given input data was undefined')
   }
 
-  if (!Buffer.isBuffer(data)) {
-    data = Buffer.from(data)
+	if (!(data instanceof Uint8Array)) {
+    data = typeof data === "string" ? uint8ArrayFromString(data) : new Uint8Array(data)
   }
 
-  return Buffer.from(await key.sign(data)).toString('hex')
+  return uint8ArrayToString(await key.sign(data), 'base16')
 }
 
 const verifiedCache = await LRUStorage({ size: 1000 })
@@ -66,7 +68,7 @@ const verifyMessage = async (signature, publicKey, data) => {
     }
   } else {
     const compare = (cached, data) => {
-      const match = Buffer.isBuffer(data) ? Buffer.compare(cached, data) === 0 : cached.toString() === data.toString()
+      const match = data instanceof Uint8Array ? uint8ArrayCompare(cached, data) === 0 : cached.toString() === data.toString()
       return match
     }
     res = cached.publicKey === publicKey && compare(cached.data, data)
@@ -127,8 +129,8 @@ const KeyStore = async ({ storage, path } = {}) => {
     const pubKey = keys.public.marshal()
 
     const key = {
-      publicKey: Buffer.from(pubKey),
-      privateKey: Buffer.from(keys.marshal())
+      publicKey: pubKey,
+      privateKey: keys.marshal()
     }
 
     await addKey(id, key)
@@ -161,9 +163,10 @@ const KeyStore = async ({ storage, path } = {}) => {
     if (formats.indexOf(format) === -1) {
       throw new Error('Supported formats are `hex` and `buffer`')
     }
-    let pubKey = keys.public.marshal()
-    pubKey = Buffer.from(pubKey)
-    return format === 'buffer' ? pubKey : pubKey.toString('hex')
+
+    const pubKey = keys.public.marshal()
+
+    return format === 'buffer' ? pubKey : uint8ArrayToString(pubKey, 'base16')
   }
 
   return {
diff --git a/test/browser/setup-fixtures.js b/test/browser/setup-fixtures.js
index a647514..a72293b 100644
--- a/test/browser/setup-fixtures.js
+++ b/test/browser/setup-fixtures.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import * as crypto from '@libp2p/crypto'
+import { fromString as uint8ArrayFromString } from 'uint8arrays/from-string'
 import { Identities, KeyStore } from '../../src/index.js'
 
 const unmarshal = crypto.keys.supportedKeys.secp256k1.unmarshalSecp256k1PrivateKey
@@ -51,10 +52,10 @@ before(async () => {
     ]
 
     for (let user of users) {
-      const privateKey1 = unmarshal(Buffer.from(user.privateKey, 'hex'))
-      const privateKey2 = unmarshal(Buffer.from(user.identity.privateKey, 'hex'))
-      await keystore.addKey(user.id, { privateKey: Buffer.from(privateKey1.marshal()) })
-      await keystore.addKey(user.identity.id, { privateKey: Buffer.from(privateKey2.marshal()) })
+      const privateKey1 = unmarshal(uint8ArrayFromString(user.privateKey, 'base16'))
+      const privateKey2 = unmarshal(uint8ArrayFromString(user.identity.privateKey, 'base16'))
+      await keystore.addKey(user.id, { privateKey: privateKey1.marshal() })
+      await keystore.addKey(user.identity.id, { privateKey: privateKey2.marshal() })
     }
 
     await keystore.close()
diff --git a/test/identities/identities.test.js b/test/identities/identities.test.js
index 53e8736..ec8610a 100644
--- a/test/identities/identities.test.js
+++ b/test/identities/identities.test.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import assert from 'assert'
 import rmrf from 'rimraf'
 import { copy } from 'fs-extra'
+import { toString as uint8ArrayToString } from 'uint8arrays/to-string'
 import KeyStore, { signMessage, verifyMessage } from '../../src/key-store.js'
 import Identities, { addIdentityProvider } from '../../src/identities/identities.js'
 import Identity from '../../src/identities/identity.js'
@@ -34,7 +35,7 @@ describe('Identities', function () {
       identities = await Identities({ path: keysPath })
       identity = await identities.createIdentity({ id })
       const key = await identities.keystore.getKey(id)
-      const externalId = Buffer.from(key.public.marshal()).toString('hex')
+      const externalId = uint8ArrayToString(key.public.marshal(), 'base16')
       assert.strictEqual(identity.id, externalId)
     })
   })
@@ -87,7 +88,7 @@ describe('Identities', function () {
       identity = await identities.createIdentity({ id })
       keystore = identities.keystore
       const key = await keystore.getKey(id)
-      const externalId = Buffer.from(key.public.marshal()).toString('hex')
+      const externalId = uint8ArrayToString(key.public.marshal(), 'base16')
       assert.strictEqual(identity.id, externalId)
     })
 
@@ -98,7 +99,7 @@ describe('Identities', function () {
 
     it('has the correct public key', async () => {
       const key = await keystore.getKey(id)
-      const externalId = Buffer.from(key.public.marshal()).toString('hex')
+      const externalId = uint8ArrayToString(key.public.marshal(), 'base16')
       const signingKey = await keystore.getKey(externalId)
       assert.notStrictEqual(signingKey, undefined)
       assert.strictEqual(identity.publicKey, keystore.getPublic(signingKey))
@@ -106,10 +107,10 @@ describe('Identities', function () {
 
     it('has a signature for the id', async () => {
       const key = await keystore.getKey(id)
-      const externalId = Buffer.from(key.public.marshal()).toString('hex')
+      const externalId = uint8ArrayToString(key.public.marshal(), 'base16')
       const signingKey = await keystore.getKey(externalId)
       const idSignature = await signMessage(signingKey, externalId)
-      const publicKey = Buffer.from(signingKey.public.marshal()).toString('hex')
+      const publicKey = uint8ArrayToString(signingKey.public.marshal(), 'base16')
       const verifies = await verifyMessage(idSignature, publicKey, externalId)
       assert.strictEqual(verifies, true)
       assert.strictEqual(identity.signatures.id, idSignature)
@@ -117,7 +118,7 @@ describe('Identities', function () {
 
     it('has a signature for the publicKey', async () => {
       const key = await keystore.getKey(id)
-      const externalId = Buffer.from(key.public.marshal()).toString('hex')
+      const externalId = uint8ArrayToString(key.public.marshal(), 'base16')
       const signingKey = await keystore.getKey(externalId)
       const idSignature = await signMessage(signingKey, externalId)
       const externalKey = await keystore.getKey(id)
@@ -152,7 +153,7 @@ describe('Identities', function () {
 
     it('has the correct id', async () => {
       const key = await savedKeysKeyStore.getKey(id)
-      assert.strictEqual(identity.id, Buffer.from(key.public.marshal()).toString('hex'))
+      assert.strictEqual(identity.id, uint8ArrayToString(key.public.marshal(), 'base16'))
     })
 
     it('has the correct public key', async () => {
diff --git a/test/key-store.test.js b/test/key-store.test.js
index 15e1360..171c63f 100644
--- a/test/key-store.test.js
+++ b/test/key-store.test.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { strictEqual, deepStrictEqual, deepEqual } from 'assert'
 import * as crypto from '@libp2p/crypto'
-import { Buffer } from 'safe-buffer'
+import { toString as uint8ArrayToString } from 'uint8arrays/to-string'
+import { fromString as uint8ArrayFromString } from 'uint8arrays/from-string'
 import rmrf from 'rimraf'
 import { copy } from 'fs-extra'
 import KeyStore, { signMessage, verifyMessage } from '../src/key-store.js'
@@ -150,8 +151,8 @@ describe('KeyStore', () => {
     let privateKeyBuffer, publicKeyBuffer, unmarshalledPrivateKey
 
     before(async () => {
-      privateKeyBuffer = Buffer.from(privateKey, 'hex')
-      publicKeyBuffer = Buffer.from(publicKey, 'hex')
+      privateKeyBuffer = uint8ArrayFromString(privateKey, 'base16')
+      publicKeyBuffer = uint8ArrayFromString(publicKey, 'base16')
       unmarshalledPrivateKey = await unmarshal(privateKeyBuffer)
     })
 
@@ -296,7 +297,7 @@ describe('KeyStore', () => {
         const expected = '02e7247a4c155b63d182a23c70cb6fe8ba2e44bc9e9d62dc45d4c4167ccde95944'
         const publicKey = await keystore.getPublic(key, { format: 'buffer' })
 
-        deepStrictEqual(publicKey.toString('hex'), expected)
+        deepStrictEqual(uint8ArrayToString(publicKey, 'base16'), expected)
       })
 
       it('throws an error if no keys are passed', async () => {