diff --git a/lib/base58.js b/lib/base58.js
index e7516a7..1bb24f8 100644
--- a/lib/base58.js
+++ b/lib/base58.js
@@ -1,2 +1,40 @@
 var bs58 = require('bs58');
-module.exports = bs58;
+
+var Base58 = function Base58(buf) {
+  if (!(this instanceof Base58))
+    return new Base58(buf);
+  this.buf = buf;
+};
+
+Base58.encode = function(buf) {
+  if (!Buffer.isBuffer(buf))
+    throw new Error('Input should be a buffer');
+  return bs58.encode(buf);
+};
+
+Base58.decode = function(str) {
+  if (typeof str !== 'string')
+    throw new Error('Input should be a string');
+  return bs58.decode(str);
+};
+
+Base58.prototype.fromBuffer = function(buf) {
+  this.buf = buf;
+  return this;
+};
+
+Base58.prototype.fromString = function(str) {
+  var buf = Base58.decode(str);
+  this.buf = buf;
+  return this;
+};
+
+Base58.prototype.toBuffer = function() {
+  return this.buf;
+};
+
+Base58.prototype.toString = function() {
+  return Base58.encode(this.buf);
+};
+
+module.exports = Base58;
diff --git a/test/test.base58.js b/test/test.base58.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d05b944
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test.base58.js
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+var Base58 = require('../lib/base58');
+var should = require('chai').should();
+
+describe('Base58', function() {
+  var buf = new Buffer([0, 1, 2, 3, 253, 254, 255]);
+  var enc = "1W7N4RuG";
+
+  it('should make an instance with "new"', function() {
+    var b58 = new Base58();
+    should.exist(b58);
+  });
+
+  it('should make an instance without "new"', function() {
+    var b58 = Base58();
+    should.exist(b58);
+  });
+
+  describe('#encode', function() {
+
+    it('should encode the buffer accurately', function() {
+      Base58.encode(buf).should.equal(enc);
+    });
+
+    it('should throw an error when the Input is not a buffer', function() {
+      (function() {
+        Base58.encode("string")
+      }).should.throw('Input should be a buffer');
+    });
+
+  });
+
+  describe('#decode', function() {
+
+    it('should decode this encoded value correctly', function() {
+      Base58.decode(enc).toString('hex').should.equal(buf.toString('hex'));
+    });
+
+    it('should throw an error when Input is not a string', function() {
+      (function() {
+        Base58.decode(5);
+      }).should.throw('Input should be a string');
+    });
+
+  });
+
+  describe('#fromBuffer', function() {
+    
+    it('should not fail', function() {
+      should.exist(Base58().fromBuffer(buf));
+    });
+
+    it('should set buffer', function() {
+      var b58 = Base58().fromBuffer(buf);
+      b58.buf.toString('hex').should.equal(buf.toString('hex'));
+    });
+
+  });
+
+  describe('#fromString', function() {
+
+    it('should convert this known string to a buffer', function() {
+      Base58().fromString(enc).toBuffer().toString('hex').should.equal(buf.toString('hex'));
+    });
+
+  });
+
+  describe('#toBuffer', function() {
+
+    it('should return the buffer', function() {
+      var b58 = Base58(buf);
+      b58.buf.toString('hex').should.equal(buf.toString('hex'));
+    });
+
+  });
+
+  describe('#toString', function() {
+
+    it('should return the buffer', function() {
+      var b58 = Base58(buf);
+      b58.toString().should.equal(enc);
+    });
+
+  });
+
+});