diff --git a/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md b/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
index 0bfb340f9..d6dd3a3f4 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ Friendly reminder, we have a [bug bounty program](https://hackerone.com/tendermi
 
   - [evidence] \#4725 Remove `Pubkey` from DuplicateVoteEvidence
   - [rpc] [\#4792](https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/pull/4792) `/validators` are now sorted by voting power (@melekes)
+  - [crypto] \#4940 All keys have become `[]byte` instead of `[<size>]byte`. The byte method no longer returns the marshaled value but just the `[]byte` form of the data.
   - [crypto] \#4941 Remove suffixes from all keys.
     - ed25519: type `PrivKeyEd25519` is now `PrivKey`
     - ed25519: type `PubKeyEd25519` is now `PubKey`
diff --git a/abci/example/kvstore/persistent_kvstore.go b/abci/example/kvstore/persistent_kvstore.go
index 245d3e96d..15765c1b8 100644
--- a/abci/example/kvstore/persistent_kvstore.go
+++ b/abci/example/kvstore/persistent_kvstore.go
@@ -232,8 +232,8 @@ func (app *PersistentKVStoreApplication) execValidatorTx(tx []byte) types.Respon
 func (app *PersistentKVStoreApplication) updateValidator(v types.ValidatorUpdate) types.ResponseDeliverTx {
 	key := []byte("val:" + string(v.PubKey.Data))
 
-	pubkey := ed25519.PubKey{}
-	copy(pubkey[:], v.PubKey.Data)
+	pubkey := make(ed25519.PubKey, ed25519.PubKeySize)
+	copy(pubkey, v.PubKey.Data)
 
 	if v.Power == 0 {
 		// remove validator
diff --git a/crypto/ed25519/ed25519.go b/crypto/ed25519/ed25519.go
index 33245db81..eed5906a6 100644
--- a/crypto/ed25519/ed25519.go
+++ b/crypto/ed25519/ed25519.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 
-	amino "github.com/tendermint/go-amino"
 	"golang.org/x/crypto/ed25519"
 
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/crypto"
@@ -20,29 +19,24 @@ var _ crypto.PrivKey = PrivKey{}
 const (
 	PrivKeyAminoName = "tendermint/PrivKeyEd25519"
 	PubKeyAminoName  = "tendermint/PubKeyEd25519"
+	// PubKeySize is is the size, in bytes, of public keys as used in this package.
+	PubKeySize = 32
+	// PrivateKeySize is the size, in bytes, of private keys as used in this package.
+	PrivateKeySize = 64
 	// Size of an Edwards25519 signature. Namely the size of a compressed
 	// Edwards25519 point, and a field element. Both of which are 32 bytes.
 	SignatureSize = 64
+	// SeedSize is the size, in bytes, of private key seeds. These are the
+	// private key representations used by RFC 8032.
+	SeedSize = 32
 )
 
-var cdc = amino.NewCodec()
-
-func init() {
-	cdc.RegisterInterface((*crypto.PubKey)(nil), nil)
-	cdc.RegisterConcrete(PubKey{},
-		PubKeyAminoName, nil)
-
-	cdc.RegisterInterface((*crypto.PrivKey)(nil), nil)
-	cdc.RegisterConcrete(PrivKey{},
-		PrivKeyAminoName, nil)
-}
-
 // PrivKey implements crypto.PrivKey.
-type PrivKey [64]byte
+type PrivKey []byte
 
-// Bytes marshals the privkey using amino encoding.
+// Bytes returns the privkey byte format.
 func (privKey PrivKey) Bytes() []byte {
-	return cdc.MustMarshalBinaryBare(privKey)
+	return []byte(privKey)
 }
 
 // Sign produces a signature on the provided message.
@@ -53,18 +47,18 @@ func (privKey PrivKey) Bytes() []byte {
 // If these conditions aren't met, Sign will panic or produce an
 // incorrect signature.
 func (privKey PrivKey) Sign(msg []byte) ([]byte, error) {
-	signatureBytes := ed25519.Sign(privKey[:], msg)
+	signatureBytes := ed25519.Sign(ed25519.PrivateKey(privKey), msg)
 	return signatureBytes, nil
 }
 
 // PubKey gets the corresponding public key from the private key.
+//
+// Panics if the private key is not initialized.
 func (privKey PrivKey) PubKey() crypto.PubKey {
-	privKeyBytes := [64]byte(privKey)
+	// If the latter 32 bytes of the privkey are all zero, privkey is not
+	// initialized.
 	initialized := false
-	// If the latter 32 bytes of the privkey are all zero, compute the pubkey
-	// otherwise privkey is initialized and we can use the cached value inside
-	// of the private key.
-	for _, v := range privKeyBytes[32:] {
+	for _, v := range privKey[32:] {
 		if v != 0 {
 			initialized = true
 			break
@@ -75,8 +69,8 @@ func (privKey PrivKey) PubKey() crypto.PubKey {
 		panic("Expected ed25519 PrivKey to include concatenated pubkey bytes")
 	}
 
-	var pubkeyBytes [PubKeySize]byte
-	copy(pubkeyBytes[:], privKeyBytes[32:])
+	pubkeyBytes := make([]byte, PubKeySize)
+	copy(pubkeyBytes, privKey[32:])
 	return PubKey(pubkeyBytes)
 }
 
@@ -99,16 +93,14 @@ func GenPrivKey() PrivKey {
 
 // genPrivKey generates a new ed25519 private key using the provided reader.
 func genPrivKey(rand io.Reader) PrivKey {
-	seed := make([]byte, 32)
+	seed := make([]byte, SeedSize)
+
 	_, err := io.ReadFull(rand, seed)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
 
-	privKey := ed25519.NewKeyFromSeed(seed)
-	var privKeyEd PrivKey
-	copy(privKeyEd[:], privKey)
-	return privKeyEd
+	return PrivKey(ed25519.NewKeyFromSeed(seed))
 }
 
 // GenPrivKeyFromSecret hashes the secret with SHA2, and uses
@@ -118,34 +110,27 @@ func genPrivKey(rand io.Reader) PrivKey {
 func GenPrivKeyFromSecret(secret []byte) PrivKey {
 	seed := crypto.Sha256(secret) // Not Ripemd160 because we want 32 bytes.
 
-	privKey := ed25519.NewKeyFromSeed(seed)
-	var privKeyEd PrivKey
-	copy(privKeyEd[:], privKey)
-	return privKeyEd
+	return PrivKey(ed25519.NewKeyFromSeed(seed))
 }
 
 //-------------------------------------
 
 var _ crypto.PubKey = PubKey{}
 
-// PubKeySize is the number of bytes in an Ed25519 signature.
-const PubKeySize = 32
-
-// PubKey implements crypto.PubKey for the Ed25519 signature scheme.
-type PubKey [PubKeySize]byte
+// PubKeyEd25519 implements crypto.PubKey for the Ed25519 signature scheme.
+type PubKey []byte
 
 // Address is the SHA256-20 of the raw pubkey bytes.
 func (pubKey PubKey) Address() crypto.Address {
-	return crypto.Address(tmhash.SumTruncated(pubKey[:]))
+	if len(pubKey) != PubKeySize {
+		panic("pubkey is incorrect size")
+	}
+	return crypto.Address(tmhash.SumTruncated(pubKey))
 }
 
-// Bytes marshals the PubKey using amino encoding.
+// Bytes returns the PubKey byte format.
 func (pubKey PubKey) Bytes() []byte {
-	bz, err := cdc.MarshalBinaryBare(pubKey)
-	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
-	}
-	return bz
+	return []byte(pubKey)
 }
 
 func (pubKey PubKey) VerifyBytes(msg []byte, sig []byte) bool {
@@ -153,11 +138,11 @@ func (pubKey PubKey) VerifyBytes(msg []byte, sig []byte) bool {
 	if len(sig) != SignatureSize {
 		return false
 	}
-	return ed25519.Verify(pubKey[:], msg, sig)
+	return ed25519.Verify(ed25519.PublicKey(pubKey), msg, sig)
 }
 
 func (pubKey PubKey) String() string {
-	return fmt.Sprintf("PubKey{%X}", pubKey[:])
+	return fmt.Sprintf("PubKeyEd25519{%X}", []byte(pubKey))
 }
 
 func (pubKey PubKey) Equals(other crypto.PubKey) bool {
diff --git a/crypto/ed25519/encoding.go b/crypto/ed25519/encoding.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e53931e7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crypto/ed25519/encoding.go
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+package ed25519
+
+import (
+	amino "github.com/tendermint/go-amino"
+	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/crypto"
+)
+
+var cdc = amino.NewCodec()
+
+func init() {
+	cdc.RegisterInterface((*crypto.PubKey)(nil), nil)
+	cdc.RegisterConcrete(PubKey{},
+		PubKeyAminoName, nil)
+
+	cdc.RegisterInterface((*crypto.PrivKey)(nil), nil)
+	cdc.RegisterConcrete(PrivKey{},
+		PrivKeyAminoName, nil)
+}
diff --git a/crypto/encoding/amino/encode_test.go b/crypto/encoding/amino/encode_test.go
index 18be9351c..a867ea68e 100644
--- a/crypto/encoding/amino/encode_test.go
+++ b/crypto/encoding/amino/encode_test.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package cryptoamino
 
 import (
-	"os"
 	"reflect"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -17,17 +16,20 @@ import (
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/crypto/sr25519"
 )
 
-type byter interface {
-	Bytes() []byte
+type AminoMarshal interface {
+	AminoMarshal() ([]byte, error)
+	AminoUnmarshal([]byte) error
 }
 
 func checkAminoBinary(t *testing.T, src, dst interface{}, size int) {
 	// Marshal to binary bytes.
 	bz, err := cdc.MarshalBinaryBare(src)
 	require.Nil(t, err, "%+v", err)
-	if byterSrc, ok := src.(byter); ok {
+	if byterSrc, ok := src.(AminoMarshal); ok {
 		// Make sure this is compatible with current (Bytes()) encoding.
-		assert.Equal(t, byterSrc.Bytes(), bz, "Amino binary vs Bytes() mismatch")
+		bza, err := byterSrc.AminoMarshal()
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+		assert.Equal(t, bza, bz, "Amino binary vs Bytes() mismatch")
 	}
 	// Make sure we have the expected length.
 	assert.Equal(t, size, len(bz), "Amino binary size mismatch")
@@ -52,21 +54,6 @@ func checkAminoJSON(t *testing.T, src interface{}, dst interface{}, isNil bool)
 	require.Nil(t, err, "%+v", err)
 }
 
-// ExamplePrintRegisteredTypes refers to unknown identifier: PrintRegisteredTypes
-//nolint:govet
-func ExamplePrintRegisteredTypes() {
-	cdc.PrintTypes(os.Stdout)
-	// Output: | Type | Name | Prefix | Length | Notes |
-	//| ---- | ---- | ------ | ----- | ------ |
-	//| PubKey | tendermint/PubKeyEd25519 | 0x1624DE64 | 0x20 |  |
-	//| PubKey | tendermint/PubKeySr25519 | 0x0DFB1005 | 0x20 |  |
-	//| PubKey | tendermint/PubKeySecp256k1 | 0xEB5AE987 | 0x21 |  |
-	//| PubKey | tendermint/PubKeyMultisigThreshold | 0x22C1F7E2 | variable |  |
-	//| PrivKey | tendermint/PrivKeyEd25519 | 0xA3288910 | 0x40 |  |
-	//| PrivKey | tendermint/PrivKeySr25519 | 0x2F82D78B | 0x20 |  |
-	//| PrivKey | tendermint/PrivKeySecp256k1 | 0xE1B0F79B | 0x20 |  |
-}
-
 func TestKeyEncodings(t *testing.T) {
 	cases := []struct {
 		privKey                    crypto.PrivKey
diff --git a/crypto/encoding/codec.go b/crypto/encoding/codec.go
index 961d7770b..97db1b076 100644
--- a/crypto/encoding/codec.go
+++ b/crypto/encoding/codec.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ func PubKeyToProto(k crypto.PubKey) (pc.PublicKey, error) {
 	case ed25519.PubKey:
 		kp = pc.PublicKey{
 			Sum: &pc.PublicKey_Ed25519{
-				Ed25519: k[:],
+				Ed25519: k,
 			},
 		}
 	default:
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@ func PubKeyFromProto(k pc.PublicKey) (crypto.PubKey, error) {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid size for PubKeyEd25519. Got %d, expected %d",
 				len(k.Ed25519), ed25519.PubKeySize)
 		}
-		var pk ed25519.PubKey
-		copy(pk[:], k.Ed25519)
+		pk := make(ed25519.PubKey, ed25519.PubKeySize)
+		copy(pk, k.Ed25519)
 		return pk, nil
 	default:
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("fromproto: key type %v is not supported", k)
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ func PrivKeyToProto(k crypto.PrivKey) (pc.PrivateKey, error) {
 	case ed25519.PrivKey:
 		kp = pc.PrivateKey{
 			Sum: &pc.PrivateKey_Ed25519{
-				Ed25519: k[:],
+				Ed25519: k,
 			},
 		}
 	default:
@@ -66,8 +66,8 @@ func PrivKeyFromProto(k pc.PrivateKey) (crypto.PrivKey, error) {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid size for PubKeyEd25519. Got %d, expected %d",
 				len(k.Ed25519), ed25519.PubKeySize)
 		}
-		var pk ed25519.PrivKey
-		copy(pk[:], k.Ed25519)
+		pk := make(ed25519.PrivKey, ed25519.PrivateKeySize)
+		copy(pk, k.Ed25519)
 		return pk, nil
 	default:
 		return nil, errors.New("fromproto: key type not supported")
diff --git a/crypto/secp256k1/encoding.go b/crypto/secp256k1/encoding.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bc9a40121
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crypto/secp256k1/encoding.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package secp256k1
+
+import (
+	amino "github.com/tendermint/go-amino"
+	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/crypto"
+)
+
+const (
+	PrivKeyAminoName = "tendermint/PrivKeySecp256k1"
+	PubKeyAminoName  = "tendermint/PubKeySecp256k1"
+)
+
+var cdc = amino.NewCodec()
+
+func init() {
+	cdc.RegisterInterface((*crypto.PubKey)(nil), nil)
+	cdc.RegisterConcrete(PubKey{},
+		PubKeyAminoName, nil)
+
+	cdc.RegisterInterface((*crypto.PrivKey)(nil), nil)
+	cdc.RegisterConcrete(PrivKey{},
+		PrivKeyAminoName, nil)
+}
diff --git a/crypto/secp256k1/secp256k1.go b/crypto/secp256k1/secp256k1.go
index 2d0aa2618..2fbf1799b 100644
--- a/crypto/secp256k1/secp256k1.go
+++ b/crypto/secp256k1/secp256k1.go
@@ -11,48 +11,26 @@ import (
 	secp256k1 "github.com/btcsuite/btcd/btcec"
 	"golang.org/x/crypto/ripemd160" // nolint: staticcheck // necessary for Bitcoin address format
 
-	amino "github.com/tendermint/go-amino"
-
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/crypto"
 )
 
-//-------------------------------------
-const (
-	PrivKeyAminoName = "tendermint/PrivKeySecp256k1"
-	PubKeyAminoName  = "tendermint/PubKeySecp256k1"
-)
-
-var cdc = amino.NewCodec()
-
-func init() {
-	cdc.RegisterInterface((*crypto.PubKey)(nil), nil)
-	cdc.RegisterConcrete(PubKey{},
-		PubKeyAminoName, nil)
-
-	cdc.RegisterInterface((*crypto.PrivKey)(nil), nil)
-	cdc.RegisterConcrete(PrivKey{},
-		PrivKeyAminoName, nil)
-}
-
-//-------------------------------------
-
 var _ crypto.PrivKey = PrivKey{}
 
+const PrivKeySize = 32
+
 // PrivKey implements PrivKey.
-type PrivKey [32]byte
+type PrivKey []byte
 
 // Bytes marshalls the private key using amino encoding.
 func (privKey PrivKey) Bytes() []byte {
-	return cdc.MustMarshalBinaryBare(privKey)
+	return []byte(privKey)
 }
 
 // PubKey performs the point-scalar multiplication from the privKey on the
 // generator point to get the pubkey.
 func (privKey PrivKey) PubKey() crypto.PubKey {
-	_, pubkeyObject := secp256k1.PrivKeyFromBytes(secp256k1.S256(), privKey[:])
-	var pubkeyBytes PubKey
-	copy(pubkeyBytes[:], pubkeyObject.SerializeCompressed())
-	return pubkeyBytes
+	_, pubkeyObject := secp256k1.PrivKeyFromBytes(secp256k1.S256(), privKey)
+	return PubKey(pubkeyObject.SerializeCompressed())
 }
 
 // Equals - you probably don't need to use this.
@@ -72,10 +50,10 @@ func GenPrivKey() PrivKey {
 
 // genPrivKey generates a new secp256k1 private key using the provided reader.
 func genPrivKey(rand io.Reader) PrivKey {
-	var privKeyBytes [32]byte
+	var privKeyBytes [PrivKeySize]byte
 	d := new(big.Int)
 	for {
-		privKeyBytes = [32]byte{}
+		privKeyBytes = [PrivKeySize]byte{}
 		_, err := io.ReadFull(rand, privKeyBytes[:])
 		if err != nil {
 			panic(err)
@@ -89,7 +67,7 @@ func genPrivKey(rand io.Reader) PrivKey {
 		}
 	}
 
-	return PrivKey(privKeyBytes)
+	return PrivKey(privKeyBytes[:])
 }
 
 var one = new(big.Int).SetInt64(1)
@@ -116,7 +94,7 @@ func GenPrivKeySecp256k1(secret []byte) PrivKey {
 	fe.Add(fe, one)
 
 	feB := fe.Bytes()
-	var privKey32 [32]byte
+	privKey32 := make([]byte, PrivKeySize)
 	// copy feB over to fixed 32 byte privKey32 and pad (if necessary)
 	copy(privKey32[32-len(feB):32], feB)
 
@@ -136,12 +114,16 @@ const PubKeySize = 33
 // if the y-coordinate is the lexicographically largest of the two associated with
 // the x-coordinate. Otherwise the first byte is a 0x03.
 // This prefix is followed with the x-coordinate.
-type PubKey [PubKeySize]byte
+type PubKey []byte
 
 // Address returns a Bitcoin style addresses: RIPEMD160(SHA256(pubkey))
 func (pubKey PubKey) Address() crypto.Address {
+	if len(pubKey) != PubKeySize {
+		panic("length of pubkey is incorrect")
+	}
+
 	hasherSHA256 := sha256.New()
-	hasherSHA256.Write(pubKey[:]) // does not error
+	hasherSHA256.Write(pubKey) // does not error
 	sha := hasherSHA256.Sum(nil)
 
 	hasherRIPEMD160 := ripemd160.New()
@@ -149,17 +131,13 @@ func (pubKey PubKey) Address() crypto.Address {
 	return crypto.Address(hasherRIPEMD160.Sum(nil))
 }
 
-// Bytes returns the pubkey marshalled with amino encoding.
+// Bytes returns the pubkey byte format.
 func (pubKey PubKey) Bytes() []byte {
-	bz, err := cdc.MarshalBinaryBare(pubKey)
-	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
-	}
-	return bz
+	return []byte(pubKey)
 }
 
 func (pubKey PubKey) String() string {
-	return fmt.Sprintf("PubKey{%X}", pubKey[:])
+	return fmt.Sprintf("PubKeySecp256k1{%X}", []byte(pubKey))
 }
 
 func (pubKey PubKey) Equals(other crypto.PubKey) bool {
diff --git a/crypto/secp256k1/secp256k1_test.go b/crypto/secp256k1/secp256k1_test.go
index 1d4dcc6bd..de2454310 100644
--- a/crypto/secp256k1/secp256k1_test.go
+++ b/crypto/secp256k1/secp256k1_test.go
@@ -36,15 +36,13 @@ func TestPubKeySecp256k1Address(t *testing.T) {
 		addrBbz, _, _ := base58.CheckDecode(d.addr)
 		addrB := crypto.Address(addrBbz)
 
-		var priv secp256k1.PrivKey
-		copy(priv[:], privB)
+		var priv secp256k1.PrivKey = privB
 
 		pubKey := priv.PubKey()
 		pubT, _ := pubKey.(secp256k1.PubKey)
-		pub := pubT[:]
-		addr := pubKey.Address()
 
-		assert.Equal(t, pub, pubB, "Expected pub keys to match")
+		addr := pubKey.Address()
+		assert.Equal(t, pubT, secp256k1.PubKey(pubB), "Expected pub keys to match")
 		assert.Equal(t, addr, addrB, "Expected addresses to match")
 	}
 }
diff --git a/crypto/sr25519/codec.go b/crypto/sr25519/encoding.go
similarity index 94%
rename from crypto/sr25519/codec.go
rename to crypto/sr25519/encoding.go
index 7ea8b36c6..26a67c3ea 100644
--- a/crypto/sr25519/codec.go
+++ b/crypto/sr25519/encoding.go
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 package sr25519
 
 import (
-	amino "github.com/tendermint/go-amino"
-
+	"github.com/tendermint/go-amino"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/crypto"
 )
 
diff --git a/crypto/sr25519/privkey.go b/crypto/sr25519/privkey.go
index 51595c7b4..47d970796 100644
--- a/crypto/sr25519/privkey.go
+++ b/crypto/sr25519/privkey.go
@@ -13,17 +13,19 @@ import (
 // PrivKeySize is the number of bytes in an Sr25519 private key.
 const PrivKeySize = 32
 
-// PrivKey implements crypto.PrivKey.
-type PrivKey [PrivKeySize]byte
+// PrivKeySr25519 implements crypto.PrivKey.
+type PrivKey []byte
 
 // Bytes marshals the privkey using amino encoding.
 func (privKey PrivKey) Bytes() []byte {
-	return cdc.MustMarshalBinaryBare(privKey)
+	return []byte(privKey)
 }
 
 // Sign produces a signature on the provided message.
 func (privKey PrivKey) Sign(msg []byte) ([]byte, error) {
-	miniSecretKey, err := schnorrkel.NewMiniSecretKeyFromRaw(privKey)
+	var p [PrivKeySize]byte
+	copy(p[:], privKey)
+	miniSecretKey, err := schnorrkel.NewMiniSecretKeyFromRaw(p)
 	if err != nil {
 		return []byte{}, err
 	}
@@ -42,7 +44,9 @@ func (privKey PrivKey) Sign(msg []byte) ([]byte, error) {
 
 // PubKey gets the corresponding public key from the private key.
 func (privKey PrivKey) PubKey() crypto.PubKey {
-	miniSecretKey, err := schnorrkel.NewMiniSecretKeyFromRaw(privKey)
+	var p [PrivKeySize]byte
+	copy(p[:], privKey)
+	miniSecretKey, err := schnorrkel.NewMiniSecretKeyFromRaw(p)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(fmt.Sprintf("Invalid private key: %v", err))
 	}
@@ -52,8 +56,8 @@ func (privKey PrivKey) PubKey() crypto.PubKey {
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(fmt.Sprintf("Could not generate public key: %v", err))
 	}
-
-	return PubKey(pubkey.Encode())
+	key := pubkey.Encode()
+	return PubKey(key[:])
 }
 
 // Equals - you probably don't need to use this.
@@ -84,7 +88,8 @@ func genPrivKey(rand io.Reader) PrivKey {
 
 	copy(seed[:], out)
 
-	return schnorrkel.NewMiniSecretKey(seed).ExpandEd25519().Encode()
+	key := schnorrkel.NewMiniSecretKey(seed).ExpandEd25519().Encode()
+	return key[:]
 }
 
 // GenPrivKeyFromSecret hashes the secret with SHA2, and uses
@@ -96,5 +101,6 @@ func GenPrivKeyFromSecret(secret []byte) PrivKey {
 	var bz [PrivKeySize]byte
 	copy(bz[:], seed)
 	privKey, _ := schnorrkel.NewMiniSecretKeyFromRaw(bz)
-	return privKey.ExpandEd25519().Encode()
+	key := privKey.ExpandEd25519().Encode()
+	return key[:]
 }
diff --git a/crypto/sr25519/pubkey.go b/crypto/sr25519/pubkey.go
index 3c6d92441..0b578057a 100644
--- a/crypto/sr25519/pubkey.go
+++ b/crypto/sr25519/pubkey.go
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ var _ crypto.PubKey = PubKey{}
 // PubKeySize is the number of bytes in an Sr25519 public key.
 const PubKeySize = 32
 
-// PubKey implements crypto.PubKey for the Sr25519 signature scheme.
-type PubKey [PubKeySize]byte
+// PubKeySr25519 implements crypto.PubKey for the Sr25519 signature scheme.
+type PubKey []byte
 
 // Address is the SHA256-20 of the raw pubkey bytes.
 func (pubKey PubKey) Address() crypto.Address {
@@ -25,11 +25,7 @@ func (pubKey PubKey) Address() crypto.Address {
 
 // Bytes marshals the PubKey using amino encoding.
 func (pubKey PubKey) Bytes() []byte {
-	bz, err := cdc.MarshalBinaryBare(pubKey)
-	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
-	}
-	return bz
+	return []byte(pubKey)
 }
 
 func (pubKey PubKey) VerifyBytes(msg []byte, sig []byte) bool {
@@ -41,7 +37,9 @@ func (pubKey PubKey) VerifyBytes(msg []byte, sig []byte) bool {
 	copy(sig64[:], sig)
 
 	publicKey := &(schnorrkel.PublicKey{})
-	err := publicKey.Decode(pubKey)
+	var p [PubKeySize]byte
+	copy(p[:], pubKey)
+	err := publicKey.Decode(p)
 	if err != nil {
 		return false
 	}
@@ -58,7 +56,7 @@ func (pubKey PubKey) VerifyBytes(msg []byte, sig []byte) bool {
 }
 
 func (pubKey PubKey) String() string {
-	return fmt.Sprintf("PubKey{%X}", pubKey[:])
+	return fmt.Sprintf("PubKeySr25519{%X}", []byte(pubKey))
 }
 
 // Equals - checks that two public keys are the same time
diff --git a/privval/file_test.go b/privval/file_test.go
index 64de3ce95..3b83a0d9a 100644
--- a/privval/file_test.go
+++ b/privval/file_test.go
@@ -119,10 +119,8 @@ func TestUnmarshalValidatorKey(t *testing.T) {
 	privKey := ed25519.GenPrivKey()
 	pubKey := privKey.PubKey()
 	addr := pubKey.Address()
-	pubArray := [32]byte(pubKey.(ed25519.PubKey))
-	pubBytes := pubArray[:]
-	privArray := [64]byte(privKey)
-	privBytes := privArray[:]
+	pubBytes := []byte(pubKey.(ed25519.PubKey))
+	privBytes := []byte(privKey)
 	pubB64 := base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(pubBytes)
 	privB64 := base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(privBytes)
 
diff --git a/rpc/client/evidence_test.go b/rpc/client/evidence_test.go
index 32909bba2..51d455370 100644
--- a/rpc/client/evidence_test.go
+++ b/rpc/client/evidence_test.go
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ func TestBroadcastEvidence_DuplicateVoteEvidence(t *testing.T) {
 		client.WaitForHeight(c, status.SyncInfo.LatestBlockHeight+2, nil)
 
 		ed25519pub := pv.Key.PubKey.(ed25519.PubKey)
-		rawpub := ed25519pub[:]
+		rawpub := ed25519pub.Bytes()
 		result2, err := c.ABCIQuery("/val", rawpub)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 		qres := result2.Response
diff --git a/tools/tm-signer-harness/internal/test_harness.go b/tools/tm-signer-harness/internal/test_harness.go
index bb854ebc0..2a13da570 100644
--- a/tools/tm-signer-harness/internal/test_harness.go
+++ b/tools/tm-signer-harness/internal/test_harness.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package internal
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
 	"net"
 	"os"
@@ -200,7 +201,7 @@ func (th *TestHarness) TestPublicKey() error {
 		return err
 	}
 	th.logger.Info("Remote", "pubKey", sck)
-	if fpvk != sck {
+	if !bytes.Equal(fpvk.Bytes(), sck.Bytes()) {
 		th.logger.Error("FAILED: Local and remote public keys do not match")
 		return newTestHarnessError(ErrTestPublicKeyFailed, nil, "")
 	}
diff --git a/tools/tm-signer-harness/main.go b/tools/tm-signer-harness/main.go
index 64bb96400..d296d469c 100644
--- a/tools/tm-signer-harness/main.go
+++ b/tools/tm-signer-harness/main.go
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ func extractKey(tmhome, outputPath string) {
 	keyFile := filepath.Join(internal.ExpandPath(tmhome), "config", "priv_validator_key.json")
 	stateFile := filepath.Join(internal.ExpandPath(tmhome), "data", "priv_validator_state.json")
 	fpv := privval.LoadFilePV(keyFile, stateFile)
-	pkb := [64]byte(fpv.Key.PrivKey.(ed25519.PrivKey))
+	pkb := []byte(fpv.Key.PrivKey.(ed25519.PrivKey))
 	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(internal.ExpandPath(outputPath), pkb[:32], 0600); err != nil {
 		logger.Info("Failed to write private key", "output", outputPath, "err", err)
 		os.Exit(1)
diff --git a/types/block.go b/types/block.go
index 043357742..a6ea718c4 100644
--- a/types/block.go
+++ b/types/block.go
@@ -1090,7 +1090,7 @@ func (data *EvidenceData) StringIndented(indent string) string {
 
 //--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-// BlockID defines the unique ID of a block as its Hash and its PartSetHeader
+// BlockID
 type BlockID struct {
 	Hash        tmbytes.HexBytes `json:"hash"`
 	PartsHeader PartSetHeader    `json:"parts"`
diff --git a/types/proto3_test.go b/types/proto3_test.go
index f5db1a83f..f969be128 100644
--- a/types/proto3_test.go
+++ b/types/proto3_test.go
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/golang/protobuf/proto" // nolint: staticcheck // still used by gogoproto
+	"github.com/golang/protobuf/proto"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/types/proto3"
diff --git a/types/protobuf.go b/types/protobuf.go
index 1f700efe2..895a8bc45 100644
--- a/types/protobuf.go
+++ b/types/protobuf.go
@@ -209,24 +209,24 @@ func (pb2tm) PubKey(pubKey abci.PubKey) (crypto.PubKey, error) {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid size for PubKeyEd25519. Got %d, expected %d",
 				len(pubKey.Data), ed25519.PubKeySize)
 		}
-		var pk ed25519.PubKey
-		copy(pk[:], pubKey.Data)
+		var pk = make(ed25519.PubKey, ed25519.PubKeySize)
+		copy(pk, pubKey.Data)
 		return pk, nil
 	case ABCIPubKeyTypeSr25519:
 		if len(pubKey.Data) != sr25519.PubKeySize {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid size for PubKeySr25519. Got %d, expected %d",
 				len(pubKey.Data), sr25519.PubKeySize)
 		}
-		var pk sr25519.PubKey
-		copy(pk[:], pubKey.Data)
+		var pk = make(sr25519.PubKey, sr25519.PubKeySize)
+		copy(pk, pubKey.Data)
 		return pk, nil
 	case ABCIPubKeyTypeSecp256k1:
 		if len(pubKey.Data) != secp256k1.PubKeySize {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid size for PubKeySecp256k1. Got %d, expected %d",
 				len(pubKey.Data), secp256k1.PubKeySize)
 		}
-		var pk secp256k1.PubKey
-		copy(pk[:], pubKey.Data)
+		var pk = make(secp256k1.PubKey, secp256k1.PubKeySize)
+		copy(pk, pubKey.Data)
 		return pk, nil
 	default:
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unknown pubkey type %v", pubKey.Type)
diff --git a/types/protobuf_test.go b/types/protobuf_test.go
index 46037f540..67bd255a2 100644
--- a/types/protobuf_test.go
+++ b/types/protobuf_test.go
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/golang/protobuf/proto" // nolint: staticcheck // still used by gogoproto
+	"github.com/golang/protobuf/proto"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 
diff --git a/types/validator_set_test.go b/types/validator_set_test.go
index 38f80512e..872355f46 100644
--- a/types/validator_set_test.go
+++ b/types/validator_set_test.go
@@ -360,9 +360,9 @@ func newValidator(address []byte, power int64) *Validator {
 }
 
 func randPubKey() crypto.PubKey {
-	var pubKey [32]byte
-	copy(pubKey[:], tmrand.Bytes(32))
-	return ed25519.PubKey(pubKey)
+	pubKey := make(ed25519.PubKey, ed25519.PubKeySize)
+	copy(pubKey, tmrand.Bytes(32))
+	return ed25519.PubKey(tmrand.Bytes(32))
 }
 
 func randValidator(totalVotingPower int64) *Validator {