diff --git a/common/client-libs/validator-client/src/nyxd/cosmwasm_client/client_traits/query_client.rs b/common/client-libs/validator-client/src/nyxd/cosmwasm_client/client_traits/query_client.rs
index 0a135376431..80af295644a 100644
--- a/common/client-libs/validator-client/src/nyxd/cosmwasm_client/client_traits/query_client.rs
+++ b/common/client-libs/validator-client/src/nyxd/cosmwasm_client/client_traits/query_client.rs
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ use cosmrs::proto::cosmwasm::wasm::v1::{
     QueryRawContractStateResponse, QuerySmartContractStateRequest, QuerySmartContractStateResponse,
 };
 use cosmrs::tendermint::{block, chain, Hash};
-use cosmrs::{AccountId, Coin as CosmosCoin, Tx};
+use cosmrs::{AccountId, Coin as CosmosCoin};
 use prost::Message;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 
@@ -556,23 +556,12 @@ pub trait CosmWasmClient: TendermintRpcClient {
         Ok(serde_json::from_slice(&res.data)?)
     }
 
-    // deprecation warning is due to the fact the protobuf files built were based on cosmos-sdk 0.44,
-    // where they prefer using tx_bytes directly. However, in 0.42, which we are using at the time
-    // of writing this, the option does not work
-    // TODO: we should really stop using the `tx` argument here and use `tx_bytes` exlusively,
-    // however, at the time of writing this update, while our QA and mainnet networks do support it,
-    // sandbox is still running old version of wasmd that lacks support for `tx_bytes`
-    #[allow(deprecated)]
-    async fn query_simulate(
-        &self,
-        tx: Option<Tx>,
-        tx_bytes: Vec<u8>,
-    ) -> Result<SimulateResponse, NyxdError> {
+    async fn query_simulate(&self, tx_bytes: Vec<u8>) -> Result<SimulateResponse, NyxdError> {
         let path = Some("/cosmos.tx.v1beta1.Service/Simulate".to_owned());
 
         let req = SimulateRequest {
-            tx: tx.map(Into::into),
             tx_bytes,
+            ..Default::default()
         };
 
         let res = self
diff --git a/common/client-libs/validator-client/src/nyxd/cosmwasm_client/client_traits/signing_client.rs b/common/client-libs/validator-client/src/nyxd/cosmwasm_client/client_traits/signing_client.rs
index cec29e9c50e..e59046af7b6 100644
--- a/common/client-libs/validator-client/src/nyxd/cosmwasm_client/client_traits/signing_client.rs
+++ b/common/client-libs/validator-client/src/nyxd/cosmwasm_client/client_traits/signing_client.rs
@@ -81,17 +81,14 @@ where
             auth_info: single_unspecified_signer_auth(public_key, sequence_response.sequence),
             signatures: vec![Vec::new()],
         };
-        self.query_simulate(Some(partial_tx), Vec::new()).await
-
-        // for completion sake, once we're able to transition into using `tx_bytes`,
-        // we might want to use something like this instead:
-        // let tx_raw: tx::Raw = cosmrs::proto::cosmos::tx::v1beta1::TxRaw {
-        //     body_bytes: partial_tx.body.into_bytes().unwrap(),
-        //     auth_info_bytes: partial_tx.auth_info.into_bytes().unwrap(),
-        //     signatures: partial_tx.signatures,
-        // }
-        // .into();
-        // self.query_simulate(None, tx_raw.to_bytes().unwrap()).await
+
+        let tx_raw: tx::Raw = cosmrs::proto::cosmos::tx::v1beta1::TxRaw {
+            body_bytes: partial_tx.body.into_bytes()?,
+            auth_info_bytes: partial_tx.auth_info.into_bytes()?,
+            signatures: partial_tx.signatures,
+        }
+        .into();
+        self.query_simulate(tx_raw.to_bytes()?).await
     }
 
     async fn upload(