diff --git a/keys/ecc.go b/keys/ecc.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ff16345d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/keys/ecc.go
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+package keys
+
+import (
+	"encoding/binary"
+	"errors"
+	"hash/crc32"
+)
+
+// ECC is used for anything that calculates an error-correcting code
+type ECC interface {
+	// AddECC calculates an error-correcting code for the input
+	// returns an output with the code appended
+	AddECC([]byte) []byte
+
+	// CheckECC verifies if the ECC is proper on the input and returns
+	// the data with the code removed, or an error
+	CheckECC([]byte) ([]byte, error)
+}
+
+// NoECC is a no-op placeholder, kind of useless... except for tests
+type NoECC struct{}
+
+var _ ECC = NoECC{}
+
+func (_ NoECC) AddECC(input []byte) []byte            { return input }
+func (_ NoECC) CheckECC(input []byte) ([]byte, error) { return input, nil }
+
+// CRC32 does the ieee crc32 polynomial check
+type CRC32 struct{}
+
+var _ ECC = CRC32{}
+
+func (_ CRC32) AddECC(input []byte) []byte {
+	// get crc and convert to some bytes...
+	crc := crc32.ChecksumIEEE(input)
+	check := make([]byte, 4)
+	binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(check, crc)
+
+	// append it to the input
+	output := append(input, check...)
+	return output
+}
+
+func (_ CRC32) CheckECC(input []byte) ([]byte, error) {
+	if len(input) <= 4 {
+		return nil, errors.New("input too short, no checksum present")
+	}
+	cut := len(input) - 4
+	data, check := input[:cut], input[cut:]
+	crc := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(check)
+	calc := crc32.ChecksumIEEE(data)
+	if crc != calc {
+		return nil, errors.New("Checksum does not match")
+	}
+	return data, nil
+}
diff --git a/keys/ecc_test.go b/keys/ecc_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f58bc7a9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/keys/ecc_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+package keys
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+
+	cmn "github.com/tendermint/tmlibs/common"
+)
+
+// TestECCPasses makes sure that the AddECC/CheckECC methods are symetric
+func TestECCPasses(t *testing.T) {
+	assert := assert.New(t)
+
+	checks := []ECC{NoECC{}, CRC32{}}
+
+	for _, check := range checks {
+		for i := 0; i < 2000; i++ {
+			numBytes := cmn.RandInt()%60 + 1
+			data := cmn.RandBytes(numBytes)
+
+			checked := check.AddECC(data)
+			res, err := check.CheckECC(checked)
+			if assert.Nil(err, "%v: %+v", check, err) {
+				assert.Equal(data, res, "%v", check)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// TestECCFails makes sure random data will (usually) fail the checksum
+func TestECCFails(t *testing.T) {
+	assert := assert.New(t)
+
+	checks := []ECC{CRC32{}}
+
+	attempts := 2000
+
+	for _, check := range checks {
+		failed := 0
+		for i := 0; i < attempts; i++ {
+			numBytes := cmn.RandInt()%60 + 1
+			data := cmn.RandBytes(numBytes)
+			_, err := check.CheckECC(data)
+			if err != nil {
+				failed += 1
+			}
+		}
+		// we allow up to 1 falsely accepted checksums, as there are random matches
+		assert.InDelta(attempts, failed, 1, "%v", check)
+	}
+}