diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index fd22013..247d669 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -5667,6 +5667,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "commonware-runtime",
  "commonware-storage",
  "commonware-utils",
+ "ethereum_ssz",
  "futures",
  "governor",
  "hex",
diff --git a/finalizer/Cargo.toml b/finalizer/Cargo.toml
index 5a68511..64d339c 100644
--- a/finalizer/Cargo.toml
+++ b/finalizer/Cargo.toml
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ alloy-eips.workspace = true
 alloy-primitives.workspace = true
 alloy-rpc-types-engine.workspace = true
 bytes.workspace = true
+ethereum_ssz.workspace = true
 futures.workspace = true
 governor.workspace = true
 rand.workspace = true
diff --git a/finalizer/src/archive.rs b/finalizer/src/archive.rs
index ba14961..8ee1dc4 100644
--- a/finalizer/src/archive.rs
+++ b/finalizer/src/archive.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ use std::{
     os::unix::net::UnixStream,
 };
 
-use commonware_codec::Encode as _;
+use ssz::Encode;
 use summit_types::checkpoint::Checkpoint;
 use tracing::info;
 
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ pub(crate) fn backup_with_enclave(epoch: u64, checkpoint: Checkpoint) -> std::io
     // wait for ack
     wait_for_ack(&mut stream)?;
     // send checkpoint length
-    let checkpoint_bytes = checkpoint.encode();
+    let checkpoint_bytes = checkpoint.as_ssz_bytes();
 
     let len = checkpoint_bytes.len() as u32;
     stream.write_all(&len.to_le_bytes())?;