diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 6e8ae93..2656f38 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # This file is automatically @generated by Cargo.
 # It is not intended for manual editing.
-version = 3
+version = 4
 
 [[package]]
 name = "addr2line"
@@ -190,19 +190,20 @@ checksum = "8c3c1a368f70d6cf7302d78f8f7093da241fb8e8807c05cc9e51a125895a6d5b"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "bincode"
-version = "2.0.0-rc.3"
+version = "2.0.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "f11ea1a0346b94ef188834a65c068a03aec181c94896d481d7a0a40d85b0ce95"
+checksum = "36eaf5d7b090263e8150820482d5d93cd964a81e4019913c972f4edcc6edb740"
 dependencies = [
  "bincode_derive",
  "serde",
+ "unty",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "bincode_derive"
-version = "2.0.0-rc.3"
+version = "2.0.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "7e30759b3b99a1b802a7a3aa21c85c3ded5c28e1c83170d82d70f08bbf7f3e4c"
+checksum = "bf95709a440f45e986983918d0e8a1f30a9b1df04918fc828670606804ac3c09"
 dependencies = [
  "virtue",
 ]
@@ -1952,6 +1953,12 @@ version = "0.9.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "8ecb6da28b8a351d773b68d5825ac39017e680750f980f3a1a85cd8dd28a47c1"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "unty"
+version = "0.0.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "6d49784317cd0d1ee7ec5c716dd598ec5b4483ea832a2dced265471cc0f690ae"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "url"
 version = "2.5.2"
@@ -2023,9 +2030,9 @@ checksum = "49874b5167b65d7193b8aba1567f5c7d93d001cafc34600cee003eda787e483f"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "virtue"
-version = "0.0.13"
+version = "0.0.18"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "9dcc60c0624df774c82a0ef104151231d37da4962957d691c011c852b2473314"
+checksum = "051eb1abcf10076295e815102942cc58f9d5e3b4560e46e53c21e8ff6f3af7b1"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "want"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index bcb31c9..c3c49ed 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ license = "Apache-2.0"
 
 [workspace.dependencies]
 akd = { version = "0.11", default-features = false }
-bincode = "2.0.0-rc.3"
+bincode = "2"
 anyhow = "1.0"
 clap = { version = "4.5", features = ["derive"] }
 clap-verbosity-flag = "2.2.0"
diff --git a/plexi_core/src/lib.rs b/plexi_core/src/lib.rs
index fc9e1f7..e71aea0 100644
--- a/plexi_core/src/lib.rs
+++ b/plexi_core/src/lib.rs
@@ -105,8 +105,8 @@ impl Encode for Ciphersuite {
 }
 
 #[cfg(feature = "bincode")]
-impl Decode for Ciphersuite {
-    fn decode<D: bincode::de::Decoder>(
+impl<Context> Decode<Context> for Ciphersuite {
+    fn decode<D: bincode::de::Decoder<Context = Context>>(
         decoder: &mut D,
     ) -> Result<Self, bincode::error::DecodeError> {
         let value: u32 = bincode::Decode::decode(decoder)?;
@@ -115,8 +115,8 @@ impl Decode for Ciphersuite {
 }
 
 #[cfg(feature = "bincode")]
-impl<'de> BorrowDecode<'de> for Ciphersuite {
-    fn borrow_decode<B: bincode::de::BorrowDecoder<'de>>(
+impl<'de, Context> BorrowDecode<'de, Context> for Ciphersuite {
+    fn borrow_decode<B: bincode::de::BorrowDecoder<'de, Context = Context>>(
         buffer: &mut B,
     ) -> Result<Self, bincode::error::DecodeError> {
         let value = u32::borrow_decode(buffer)?;
@@ -485,8 +485,11 @@ impl SignatureResponse {
     pub fn verify(&self, verifying_key: &[u8]) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         // at the time of writing, all versions use ed25519 keys. This simplifies parsing of the verifying key.
         match self.version {
-            #[cfg(feature = "bincode")]
-            Ciphersuite::BincodeEd25519 => (),
+            Ciphersuite::BincodeEd25519 => {
+                if !cfg!(feature = "bincode") {
+                    return Err(anyhow!("Verification is not supported for bincode."));
+                }
+            }
             Ciphersuite::ProtobufEd25519 => (),
             Ciphersuite::Unknown(_) => {
                 return Err(anyhow!(