diff --git a/consensus/consensus-types/src/proof_of_store.rs b/consensus/consensus-types/src/proof_of_store.rs
index 3f06a6cf0f2749..09d43afae4bb2a 100644
--- a/consensus/consensus-types/src/proof_of_store.rs
+++ b/consensus/consensus-types/src/proof_of_store.rs
@@ -363,7 +363,10 @@ impl ProofOfStore {
         }
         let result = validator
             .verify_multi_signatures(&self.info, &self.multi_signature)
-            .context("Failed to verify ProofOfStore");
+            .context(format!(
+                "Failed to verify ProofOfStore for batch: {:?}",
+                self.info
+            ));
         if result.is_ok() {
             cache.insert(self.info.clone(), self.multi_signature.clone());
         }
diff --git a/consensus/src/consensus_observer/network/observer_message.rs b/consensus/src/consensus_observer/network/observer_message.rs
index 7b5dc2c7c60c29..ba77d41d69b27c 100644
--- a/consensus/src/consensus_observer/network/observer_message.rs
+++ b/consensus/src/consensus_observer/network/observer_message.rs
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@ use aptos_types::{
     ledger_info::LedgerInfoWithSignatures,
     transaction::SignedTransaction,
 };
+use rayon::{
+    iter::{IntoParallelRefIterator, ParallelIterator},
+    prelude::*,
+};
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use std::{
     fmt::{Display, Formatter},
@@ -36,17 +40,16 @@ impl ConsensusObserverMessage {
         blocks: Vec<Arc<PipelinedBlock>>,
         ordered_proof: LedgerInfoWithSignatures,
     ) -> ConsensusObserverDirectSend {
-        ConsensusObserverDirectSend::OrderedBlock(OrderedBlock {
-            blocks,
-            ordered_proof,
-        })
+        let ordered_block = OrderedBlock::new(blocks, ordered_proof);
+        ConsensusObserverDirectSend::OrderedBlock(ordered_block)
     }
 
     /// Creates and returns a new commit decision message using the given commit decision
     pub fn new_commit_decision_message(
         commit_proof: LedgerInfoWithSignatures,
     ) -> ConsensusObserverDirectSend {
-        ConsensusObserverDirectSend::CommitDecision(CommitDecision { commit_proof })
+        let commit_decision = CommitDecision::new(commit_proof);
+        ConsensusObserverDirectSend::CommitDecision(commit_decision)
     }
 
     /// Creates and returns a new block payload message using the given block, transactions and limit
@@ -54,10 +57,8 @@ impl ConsensusObserverMessage {
         block: BlockInfo,
         transaction_payload: BlockTransactionPayload,
     ) -> ConsensusObserverDirectSend {
-        ConsensusObserverDirectSend::BlockPayload(BlockPayload {
-            block,
-            transaction_payload,
-        })
+        let block_payload = BlockPayload::new(block, transaction_payload);
+        ConsensusObserverDirectSend::BlockPayload(block_payload)
     }
 }
 
@@ -721,19 +722,18 @@ impl BlockPayload {
         // Create a dummy proof cache to verify the proofs
         let proof_cache = ProofCache::new(1);
 
-        // TODO: parallelize the verification of the proof signatures!
-
-        // Verify each of the proof signatures
+        // Verify each of the proof signatures (in parallel)
+        let payload_proofs = self.transaction_payload.payload_proofs();
         let validator_verifier = &epoch_state.verifier;
-        for proof_of_store in &self.transaction_payload.payload_proofs() {
-            if let Err(error) = proof_of_store.verify(validator_verifier, &proof_cache) {
-                return Err(Error::InvalidMessageError(format!(
-                    "Failed to verify the proof of store for batch: {:?}, Error: {:?}",
-                    proof_of_store.info(),
+        payload_proofs
+            .par_iter()
+            .try_for_each(|proof| proof.verify(validator_verifier, &proof_cache))
+            .map_err(|error| {
+                Error::InvalidMessageError(format!(
+                    "Failed to verify the payload proof signatures! Error: {:?}",
                     error
-                )));
-            }
-        }
+                ))
+            })?;
 
         Ok(()) // All proofs are correctly signed
     }
diff --git a/consensus/src/consensus_observer/observer/payload_store.rs b/consensus/src/consensus_observer/observer/payload_store.rs
index fc93dd0d7cdae7..5622b5743925a8 100644
--- a/consensus/src/consensus_observer/observer/payload_store.rs
+++ b/consensus/src/consensus_observer/observer/payload_store.rs
@@ -213,8 +213,7 @@ impl BlockPayloadStore {
     }
 
     /// Verifies the block payload signatures against the given epoch state.
-    /// If verification is successful, blocks are marked as verified. Each
-    /// new verified block is
+    /// If verification is successful, blocks are marked as verified.
     pub fn verify_payload_signatures(&mut self, epoch_state: &EpochState) -> Vec<Round> {
         // Get the current epoch
         let current_epoch = epoch_state.epoch;