diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index e423e24..b5a9781 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 module github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr
 
-go 1.18
+go 1.20
 
 require (
 	github.com/btcsuite/btcd/btcec/v2 v2.2.0
diff --git a/nson/nson.go b/nson/nson.go
index 87be2cc..03e9fa5 100644
--- a/nson/nson.go
+++ b/nson/nson.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"unsafe"
 
 	"github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr"
 )
@@ -44,6 +45,10 @@ const (
 
 var NotNSON = fmt.Errorf("not nson")
 
+func UnmarshalBytes(data []byte, evt *nostr.Event) (err error) {
+	return Unmarshal(unsafe.String(unsafe.SliceData(data), len(data)), evt)
+}
+
 // Unmarshal turns a NSON string into a nostr.Event struct
 func Unmarshal(data string, evt *nostr.Event) (err error) {
 	defer func() {
@@ -105,6 +110,11 @@ func Unmarshal(data string, evt *nostr.Event) (err error) {
 	return err
 }
 
+func MarshalBytes(evt *nostr.Event) ([]byte, error) {
+	v, err := Marshal(evt)
+	return unsafe.Slice(unsafe.StringData(v), len(v)), err
+}
+
 func Marshal(evt *nostr.Event) (string, error) {
 	// start building the nson descriptors (without the first byte that represents the nson size)
 	nsonBuf := make([]byte, 256)
diff --git a/nson/nson_test.go b/nson/nson_test.go
index 1b1d5ea..24cfc45 100644
--- a/nson/nson_test.go
+++ b/nson/nson_test.go
@@ -169,15 +169,25 @@ func BenchmarkNSONEncoding(b *testing.B) {
 			}
 		}
 	})
+
+	b.Run("nson.Marshal to bytes", func(b *testing.B) {
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			for _, evt := range events {
+				MarshalBytes(evt)
+			}
+		}
+	})
 }
 
 func BenchmarkNSONDecoding(b *testing.B) {
 	events := make([]string, len(normalEvents))
+	eventsB := make([][]byte, len(normalEvents))
 	for i, jevt := range normalEvents {
 		evt := &nostr.Event{}
 		json.Unmarshal([]byte(jevt), evt)
 		nevt, _ := Marshal(evt)
 		events[i] = nevt
+		eventsB[i] = []byte(nevt)
 	}
 
 	b.Run("json.Unmarshal", func(b *testing.B) {
@@ -204,6 +214,18 @@ func BenchmarkNSONDecoding(b *testing.B) {
 		}
 	})
 
+	b.Run("nson.Unmarshal from bytes", func(b *testing.B) {
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			for _, nevt := range eventsB {
+				evt := &nostr.Event{}
+				err := UnmarshalBytes(nevt, evt)
+				if err != nil {
+					b.Fatalf("failed to unmarshal: %s", err)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	})
+
 	b.Run("json.Unmarshal + sig verification", func(b *testing.B) {
 		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
 			for _, nevt := range events {