diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index f768281ce2..c92644a850 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.20)
 
 # Set current version of the project
 set(TARAXA_MAJOR_VERSION 1)
-set(TARAXA_MINOR_VERSION 10)
+set(TARAXA_MINOR_VERSION 11)
 set(TARAXA_PATCH_VERSION 0)
 set(TARAXA_VERSION ${TARAXA_MAJOR_VERSION}.${TARAXA_MINOR_VERSION}.${TARAXA_PATCH_VERSION})
 
diff --git a/libraries/types/pbft_block/include/pbft/pbft_block_extra_data.hpp b/libraries/types/pbft_block/include/pbft/pbft_block_extra_data.hpp
index ba1bd9e4d7..765069b45d 100644
--- a/libraries/types/pbft_block/include/pbft/pbft_block_extra_data.hpp
+++ b/libraries/types/pbft_block/include/pbft/pbft_block_extra_data.hpp
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ class PbftBlockExtraData {
   PbftBlockExtraData(const uint16_t major_version, const uint16_t minor_version, const uint16_t patch_version,
                      const uint16_t net_version, const std::string node_implementation,
                      const std::optional<blk_hash_t>& pillar_block_hash);
-  PbftBlockExtraData(const bytes& data);
+
+  static std::optional<PbftBlockExtraData> fromBytes(const bytes& data);
 
   /**
    * @brief Get rlp
diff --git a/libraries/types/pbft_block/src/pbft_block.cpp b/libraries/types/pbft_block/src/pbft_block.cpp
index 54dadeca97..e0deec66e0 100644
--- a/libraries/types/pbft_block/src/pbft_block.cpp
+++ b/libraries/types/pbft_block/src/pbft_block.cpp
@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@
 
 #include <iostream>
 
-#include "common/jsoncpp.hpp"
-
 namespace taraxa {
 
 PbftBlock::PbftBlock(bytes const& b) : PbftBlock(dev::RLP(b)) {}
@@ -15,7 +13,7 @@ PbftBlock::PbftBlock(dev::RLP const& rlp) {
     dev::bytes extra_data_bytes;
     util::rlp_tuple(util::RLPDecoderRef(rlp, true), prev_block_hash_, dag_block_hash_as_pivot_, order_hash_,
                     prev_state_root_hash_, period_, timestamp_, reward_votes_, extra_data_bytes, signature_);
-    extra_data_ = PbftBlockExtraData(extra_data_bytes);
+    extra_data_ = PbftBlockExtraData::fromBytes(extra_data_bytes);
   } else {
     util::rlp_tuple(util::RLPDecoderRef(rlp, true), prev_block_hash_, dag_block_hash_as_pivot_, order_hash_,
                     prev_state_root_hash_, period_, timestamp_, reward_votes_, signature_);
diff --git a/libraries/types/pbft_block/src/pbft_block_extra_data.cpp b/libraries/types/pbft_block/src/pbft_block_extra_data.cpp
index 215dab37cb..6a14c99c61 100644
--- a/libraries/types/pbft_block/src/pbft_block_extra_data.cpp
+++ b/libraries/types/pbft_block/src/pbft_block_extra_data.cpp
@@ -1,9 +1,5 @@
 #include "pbft/pbft_block_extra_data.hpp"
 
-#include <iostream>
-
-#include "common/jsoncpp.hpp"
-
 namespace taraxa {
 
 PbftBlockExtraData::PbftBlockExtraData(const uint16_t major_version, const uint16_t minor_version,
@@ -17,14 +13,22 @@ PbftBlockExtraData::PbftBlockExtraData(const uint16_t major_version, const uint1
       node_implementation_(node_implementation),
       pillar_block_hash_(pillar_block_hash) {}
 
-PbftBlockExtraData::PbftBlockExtraData(const bytes& data) {
+std::optional<PbftBlockExtraData> PbftBlockExtraData::fromBytes(const bytes& data) {
   if (data.size() > kExtraDataMaxSize) {
     throw std::runtime_error("Pbft block invalid, extra data size over the limit");
   }
 
   dev::RLP rlp(data);
-  util::rlp_tuple(util::RLPDecoderRef(rlp, true), major_version_, minor_version_, patch_version_, net_version_,
-                  node_implementation_, pillar_block_hash_);
+  PbftBlockExtraData extra_data;
+  try {
+    util::rlp_tuple(util::RLPDecoderRef(rlp, true), extra_data.major_version_, extra_data.minor_version_,
+                    extra_data.patch_version_, extra_data.net_version_, extra_data.node_implementation_,
+                    extra_data.pillar_block_hash_);
+  } catch (const dev::RLPException& e) {
+    return std::nullopt;
+  }
+
+  return extra_data;
 }
 
 bytes PbftBlockExtraData::rlp() const {