diff --git a/lib/bcoin/bloom.js b/lib/bcoin/bloom.js
index e4e8efa0..dba45694 100644
--- a/lib/bcoin/bloom.js
+++ b/lib/bcoin/bloom.js
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
  */
 
 var utils = require('./utils');
+var assert = utils.assert;
 
 /**
  * Bloom Filter
@@ -67,7 +68,8 @@ Bloom.prototype.reset = function reset() {
 Bloom.prototype.add = function add(val, enc) {
   var i, bit, pos, shift;
 
-  val = utils.toBuffer(val, enc);
+  if (typeof val === 'string')
+    val = new Buffer(val, enc);
 
   for (i = 0; i < this.n; i++) {
     bit = this.hash(val, i);
@@ -89,7 +91,8 @@ Bloom.prototype.add = function add(val, enc) {
 Bloom.prototype.test = function test(val, enc) {
   var i, bit, pos, shift;
 
-  val = utils.toBuffer(val, enc);
+  if (typeof val === 'string')
+    val = new Buffer(val, enc);
 
   for (i = 0; i < this.n; i++) {
     bit = this.hash(val, i);
@@ -176,7 +179,7 @@ function murmur(data, seed) {
   var hash = seed;
   var i, w, r, j;
 
-  data = utils.toBuffer(data);
+  assert(Buffer.isBuffer(data));
 
   for (i = 0; i + 4 <= data.length; i += 4) {
     w = data[i]
diff --git a/lib/bcoin/chain.js b/lib/bcoin/chain.js
index 0121e8df..7e4f1c83 100644
--- a/lib/bcoin/chain.js
+++ b/lib/bcoin/chain.js
@@ -1668,7 +1668,7 @@ Chain.prototype.purgePending = function purgePending() {
 
 /**
  * Test the chain to see if it has a block, orphan, or pending block.
- * @param {Block|MerkleBlock|Buffer|Hash} hash
+ * @param {Hash} hash
  * @param {Function} callback - Returns [Error, Boolean].
  */
 
@@ -1747,9 +1747,6 @@ Chain.prototype.byTime = function byTime(ts, callback, force) {
  */
 
 Chain.prototype.hasBlock = function hasBlock(hash, callback) {
-  if (typeof hash === 'number')
-    return this.db.has(hash, callback);
-
   return this.db.has(hash, callback);
 };
 
@@ -1780,8 +1777,6 @@ Chain.prototype.hasPending = function hasPending(hash) {
  */
 
 Chain.prototype.getEntry = function getEntry(hash, callback) {
-  if (typeof hash === 'number')
-    return this.db.get(hash, callback);
   return this.db.get(hash, callback);
 };
 
diff --git a/lib/bcoin/merkleblock.js b/lib/bcoin/merkleblock.js
index dc0546cd..5d59a9ab 100644
--- a/lib/bcoin/merkleblock.js
+++ b/lib/bcoin/merkleblock.js
@@ -42,7 +42,9 @@ function MerkleBlock(data) {
   bcoin.abstractblock.call(this, data);
 
   this.hashes = (data.hashes || []).map(function(hash) {
-    return utils.toBuffer(hash, 'hex');
+    if (typeof hash === 'string')
+      hash = new Buffer(hash, 'hex');
+    return hash;
   });
 
   this.flags = data.flags || [];
diff --git a/lib/bcoin/utils.js b/lib/bcoin/utils.js
index 150bb6ac..8afee663 100644
--- a/lib/bcoin/utils.js
+++ b/lib/bcoin/utils.js
@@ -68,37 +68,10 @@ utils.slice = function slice(buf, start, end) {
   return clone;
 };
 
-/**
- * Convert objects to a Buffer.
- * @param {Buffer|Array|String} msg
- * @param {String} enc - Any buffer-supported
- * encoding as well as `base58`.
- * @returns {Buffer}
+/*
+ * Base58
  */
 
-utils.toBuffer = function toBuffer(msg, enc) {
-  if (Buffer.isBuffer(msg))
-    return msg;
-
-  if (Array.isArray(msg))
-    return new Buffer(msg);
-
-  if (!msg)
-    return new Buffer([]);
-
-  if (typeof msg === 'string') {
-    if (!enc)
-      return new Buffer(msg, 'ascii');
-
-    if (enc === 'base58')
-      return utils.fromBase58(msg);
-
-    return new Buffer(msg, enc);
-  }
-
-  assert(false);
-};
-
 var base58 = '123456789ABCDEFGHJKLMNPQRSTUVWXYZ'
   + 'abcdefghijkmnopqrstuvwxyz';
 
diff --git a/scripts/gen.js b/scripts/gen.js
index 99b453ce..cd56966c 100644
--- a/scripts/gen.js
+++ b/scripts/gen.js
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ function createGenesisBlock(options) {
   block = {
     version: options.version,
     prevBlock: constants.NULL_HASH,
-    merkleRoot: utils.toHex(utils.dsha256(txRaw)),
+    merkleRoot: utils.dsha256(txRaw).toString('hex'),
     ts: options.ts,
     bits: options.bits,
     nonce: options.nonce,
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ function createGenesisBlock(options) {
   block = parser.parseBlock(blockRaw);
 
   block._hash = utils.dsha256(blockRaw.slice(0, 80));
-  block.hash = utils.toHex(block._hash);
+  block.hash = block._hash.toString('hex');
   block._raw = blockRaw;
   block._size = blockRaw.length;
   block._witnessSize = 0;
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ function createGenesisBlock(options) {
   tx.height = 0;
   tx.ts = block.ts;
   tx._hash = block.merkleRoot;
-  tx.hash = utils.toHex(tx._hash);
+  tx.hash = tx._hash.toString('hex');
 
   return block;
 }
diff --git a/test/bloom-test.js b/test/bloom-test.js
index 059e5d15..1b7b62b1 100644
--- a/test/bloom-test.js
+++ b/test/bloom-test.js
@@ -5,25 +5,25 @@ describe('Bloom', function() {
   it('should do proper murmur3', function() {
     var h = bcoin.bloom.hash;
 
-    assert.equal(h('', 0), 0);
-    assert.equal(h('', 0xfba4c795), 0x6a396f08);
-    assert.equal(h('00', 0xfba4c795), 0x2a101837);
-    assert.equal(h('hello world', 0), 0x5e928f0f);
+    assert.equal(h(new Buffer('', 'ascii'), 0), 0);
+    assert.equal(h(new Buffer('', 'ascii'), 0xfba4c795), 0x6a396f08);
+    assert.equal(h(new Buffer('00', 'ascii'), 0xfba4c795), 0x2a101837);
+    assert.equal(h(new Buffer('hello world', 'ascii'), 0), 0x5e928f0f);
   });
 
   it('should test and add stuff', function() {
     var b = bcoin.bloom(512, 10, 156);
 
-    b.add('hello');
-    assert(b.test('hello'));
-    assert(!b.test('hello!'));
-    assert(!b.test('ping'));
+    b.add('hello', 'ascii');
+    assert(b.test('hello', 'ascii'));
+    assert(!b.test('hello!', 'ascii'));
+    assert(!b.test('ping', 'ascii'));
 
-    b.add('hello!');
-    assert(b.test('hello!'));
-    assert(!b.test('ping'));
+    b.add('hello!', 'ascii');
+    assert(b.test('hello!', 'ascii'));
+    assert(!b.test('ping', 'ascii'));
 
-    b.add('ping');
-    assert(b.test('ping'));
+    b.add('ping', 'ascii');
+    assert(b.test('ping', 'ascii'));
   });
 });