diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 4f7b582f..abf9c8e3 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -4839,6 +4839,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "prism-keys",
  "prism-lightclient",
  "prism-prover",
+ "prism-serde",
  "prism-storage",
  "serde",
  "sp1-sdk",
diff --git a/crates/cli/Cargo.toml b/crates/cli/Cargo.toml
index 80cce67b..2911609a 100644
--- a/crates/cli/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/cli/Cargo.toml
@@ -33,3 +33,4 @@ prism-prover = { workspace = true }
 prism-lightclient = { workspace = true }
 prism-da = { workspace = true }
 prism-keys = { workspace = true }
+prism-serde = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/crates/cli/src/main.rs b/crates/cli/src/main.rs
index c820b7f3..ec2e19d9 100644
--- a/crates/cli/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/cli/src/main.rs
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ use std::io::{Error, ErrorKind};
 use node_types::NodeType;
 use prism_lightclient::LightClient;
 use prism_prover::Prover;
+use prism_serde::base64::{FromBase64, ToBase64};
 use prism_storage::RedisConnection;
 use std::{str::FromStr, sync::Arc};
 
@@ -36,18 +37,18 @@ async fn main() -> std::io::Result<()> {
                 Error::new(ErrorKind::NotFound, "celestia configuration not found")
             })?;
 
-            let verifying_key_algorithm =
+            let _verifying_key_algorithm =
                 CryptoAlgorithm::from_str(&config.verifying_key_algorithm).map_err(|_| {
                     Error::new(
                         ErrorKind::InvalidInput,
                         "invalid verifying key algorithm format",
                     )
                 })?;
-            let prover_vk = VerifyingKey::from_algorithm_and_bytes(
-                verifying_key_algorithm,
-                config.verifying_key.unwrap().as_bytes(),
-            )
-            .map_err(|e| Error::new(ErrorKind::InvalidInput, e.to_string()))?;
+            let verifying_key_base64 = config
+                .verifying_key
+                .ok_or_else(|| Error::new(ErrorKind::InvalidInput, "verifying key not found"))?;
+            let prover_vk = VerifyingKey::from_base64(verifying_key_base64)
+                .map_err(|e: anyhow::Error| Error::new(ErrorKind::InvalidInput, e.to_string()))?;
 
             let client = ProverClient::mock();
             let (_, vk) = client.setup(PRISM_ELF);
@@ -97,6 +98,8 @@ async fn main() -> std::io::Result<()> {
             })?;
             let verifying_key = signing_key.verifying_key();
 
+            info!("verifying key: {}", verifying_key.to_base64());
+
             let prover_cfg = prism_prover::Config {
                 prover: true,
                 batcher: true,
@@ -152,13 +155,11 @@ async fn main() -> std::io::Result<()> {
                 )
             })?;
 
-            let prover_vk = config
+            let verifying_key_base64 = config
                 .verifying_key
-                .ok_or_else(|| Error::new(ErrorKind::NotFound, "prover verifying key not found"))
-                .and_then(|vk| {
-                    VerifyingKey::from_algorithm_and_bytes(verifying_key_algorithm, vk.as_bytes())
-                        .map_err(|e| Error::new(ErrorKind::InvalidInput, e.to_string()))
-                })?;
+                .ok_or_else(|| Error::new(ErrorKind::InvalidInput, "verifying key not found"))?;
+            let prover_vk = VerifyingKey::from_base64(verifying_key_base64)
+                .map_err(|e: anyhow::Error| Error::new(ErrorKind::InvalidInput, e.to_string()))?;
 
             let prover_cfg = prism_prover::Config {
                 prover: false,
diff --git a/crates/keys/src/verifying_keys.rs b/crates/keys/src/verifying_keys.rs
index f4a18a2a..ad85e8c3 100644
--- a/crates/keys/src/verifying_keys.rs
+++ b/crates/keys/src/verifying_keys.rs
@@ -250,6 +250,12 @@ impl TryFrom<String> for VerifyingKey {
     }
 }
 
+impl ToBase64 for VerifyingKey {
+    fn to_base64(&self) -> String {
+        self.to_bytes().to_base64()
+    }
+}
+
 impl std::fmt::Display for VerifyingKey {
     fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter) -> std::fmt::Result {
         let encoded = self.to_bytes().to_base64();
diff --git a/elf/riscv32im-succinct-zkvm-elf b/elf/riscv32im-succinct-zkvm-elf
index 2810f00d..c0b7d056 100755
Binary files a/elf/riscv32im-succinct-zkvm-elf and b/elf/riscv32im-succinct-zkvm-elf differ