diff --git a/hash.go b/hash.go
index 156cd2bb..88c60138 100644
--- a/hash.go
+++ b/hash.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package header
 import (
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"fmt"
-	"strings"
 )
 
 // Hash represents cryptographic hash and provides basic serialization functions.
@@ -11,17 +10,20 @@ type Hash []byte
 
 // String implements fmt.Stringer interface.
 func (h Hash) String() string {
-	return strings.ToUpper(hex.EncodeToString(h))
+	buf := make([]byte, hex.EncodedLen(len(h)))
+	hex.Encode(buf, h)
+	hexToUpper(buf)
+	return string(buf)
 }
 
 // MarshalJSON serializes Hash into valid JSON.
 func (h Hash) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
-	s := strings.ToUpper(hex.EncodeToString(h))
-	jbz := make([]byte, len(s)+2)
-	jbz[0] = '"'
-	copy(jbz[1:], s)
-	jbz[len(jbz)-1] = '"'
-	return jbz, nil
+	buf := make([]byte, 2+hex.EncodedLen(len(h)))
+	buf[0] = '"'
+	hex.Encode(buf[1:], h)
+	hexToUpper(buf)
+	buf[len(buf)-1] = '"'
+	return buf, nil
 }
 
 // UnmarshalJSON deserializes JSON representation of a Hash into object.
@@ -29,10 +31,23 @@ func (h *Hash) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
 	if len(data) < 2 || data[0] != '"' || data[len(data)-1] != '"' {
 		return fmt.Errorf("invalid hex string: %s", data)
 	}
-	bz2, err := hex.DecodeString(string(data[1 : len(data)-1]))
+
+	buf := make([]byte, hex.DecodedLen(len(data)-2))
+	_, err := hex.Decode(buf, data[1:len(data)-1])
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	*h = bz2
+	*h = buf
 	return nil
 }
+
+// because we encode hex (alphabet: 0-9a-f) we can do this inplace.
+func hexToUpper(b []byte) {
+	for i := 0; i < len(b); i++ {
+		c := b[i]
+		if 'a' <= c && c <= 'z' {
+			c -= 'a' - 'A'
+		}
+		b[i] = c
+	}
+}
diff --git a/hash_test.go b/hash_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..04ce9e86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hash_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+package header
+
+import (
+	"crypto/rand"
+	"crypto/sha256"
+	"encoding/hex"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestHash(t *testing.T) {
+	h := randHash()
+
+	buf, err := h.MarshalJSON()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	var h2 Hash
+	err = h2.UnmarshalJSON(buf)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	require.Equal(t, h.String(), h2.String())
+}
+
+func BenchmarkHashMarshaling(b *testing.B) {
+	h := randHash()
+
+	golden, err := h.MarshalJSON()
+	require.NoError(b, err)
+
+	b.ResetTimer()
+
+	b.Run("String", func(b *testing.B) {
+		wantSize := hex.EncodedLen(len(h))
+
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			ln := len(h.String())
+			require.Equal(b, ln, wantSize)
+		}
+	})
+
+	b.Run("Marshal", func(b *testing.B) {
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			buf, err := h.MarshalJSON()
+			require.NoError(b, err)
+			require.NotZero(b, buf)
+		}
+	})
+
+	b.Run("Unmarshal", func(b *testing.B) {
+		var h2 Hash
+
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			err := h2.UnmarshalJSON(golden)
+			require.NoError(b, err)
+		}
+	})
+}
+
+func Fuzz_hexToUpper(f *testing.F) {
+	f.Add([]byte("48656c6c6f20476f7068657221"))
+
+	f.Fuzz(func(t *testing.T, buf []byte) {
+		hexToUpper(buf)
+	})
+}
+
+func randHash() Hash {
+	var buf [sha256.Size]byte
+	if _, err := rand.Read(buf[:]); err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	return Hash(buf[:])
+}