diff --git a/PENDING.md b/PENDING.md
index 3a92041c333a..eda622202c1c 100644
--- a/PENDING.md
+++ b/PENDING.md
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ BREAKING CHANGES
     * [x/stake] \#2412 Added an unbonding validator queue to EndBlock to automatically update validator.Status when finished Unbonding
     * [x/stake] \#2500 Block conflicting redelegations until we add an index
     * [x/params] Global Paramstore refactored
+    * [types] \#2506 sdk.Dec MarshalJSON now marshals as a normal Decimal, with 10 digits of decimal precision
     * [x/stake] \#2508 Utilize Tendermint power for validator power key
     * [x/stake] \#2531 Remove all inflation logic
     * [x/mint] \#2531 Add minting module and inflation logic
diff --git a/types/decimal.go b/types/decimal.go
index e9623995f008..c981f6dca63b 100644
--- a/types/decimal.go
+++ b/types/decimal.go
@@ -248,29 +248,33 @@ func (d Dec) QuoInt(i Int) Dec {
 }
 
 func (d Dec) String() string {
-	str := d.ToLeftPaddedWithDecimals(Precision)
-	placement := len(str) - Precision
-	if placement < 0 {
-		panic("too few decimal digits")
+	bz, err := d.Int.MarshalText()
+	if err != nil {
+		return ""
+	}
+	var bzWDec []byte
+	inputSize := len(bz)
+	// TODO: Remove trailing zeros
+	// case 1, purely decimal
+	if inputSize <= 10 {
+		bzWDec = make([]byte, 12)
+		// 0. prefix
+		bzWDec[0] = byte('0')
+		bzWDec[1] = byte('.')
+		// set relevant digits to 0
+		for i := 0; i < 10-inputSize; i++ {
+			bzWDec[i+2] = byte('0')
+		}
+		// set last few digits
+		copy(bzWDec[2+(10-inputSize):], bz)
+	} else {
+		// inputSize + 1 to account for the decimal point that is being added
+		bzWDec = make([]byte, inputSize+1)
+		copy(bzWDec, bz[:inputSize-10])
+		bzWDec[inputSize-10] = byte('.')
+		copy(bzWDec[inputSize-9:], bz[inputSize-10:])
 	}
-	return str[:placement] + "." + str[placement:]
-}
-
-// TODO panic if negative or if totalDigits < len(initStr)???
-// evaluate as an integer and return left padded string
-func (d Dec) ToLeftPaddedWithDecimals(totalDigits int8) string {
-	intStr := d.Int.String()
-	fcode := `%0` + strconv.Itoa(int(totalDigits)) + `s`
-	return fmt.Sprintf(fcode, intStr)
-}
-
-// TODO panic if negative or if totalDigits < len(initStr)???
-// evaluate as an integer and return left padded string
-func (d Dec) ToLeftPadded(totalDigits int8) string {
-	chopped := chopPrecisionAndRoundNonMutative(d.Int)
-	intStr := chopped.String()
-	fcode := `%0` + strconv.Itoa(int(totalDigits)) + `s`
-	return fmt.Sprintf(fcode, intStr)
+	return string(bzWDec)
 }
 
 //     ____
@@ -407,17 +411,13 @@ func (d *Dec) UnmarshalAmino(text string) (err error) {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// MarshalJSON defines custom encoding scheme
+// MarshalJSON marshals the decimal
 func (d Dec) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 	if d.Int == nil {
 		return nilJSON, nil
 	}
 
-	bz, err := d.Int.MarshalText()
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	return json.Marshal(string(bz))
+	return json.Marshal(d.String())
 }
 
 // UnmarshalJSON defines custom decoding scheme
@@ -431,7 +431,13 @@ func (d *Dec) UnmarshalJSON(bz []byte) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	return d.Int.UnmarshalText([]byte(text))
+	// TODO: Reuse dec allocation
+	newDec, err := NewDecFromStr(text)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	d.Int = newDec.Int
+	return nil
 }
 
 //___________________________________________________________________________________
diff --git a/types/decimal_test.go b/types/decimal_test.go
index a6ec0740e819..07329c7dc7da 100644
--- a/types/decimal_test.go
+++ b/types/decimal_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import (
 	"math/big"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/codec"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
@@ -228,26 +230,46 @@ func TestTruncate(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestToLeftPadded(t *testing.T) {
+var cdc = codec.New()
+
+func TestDecMarshalJSON(t *testing.T) {
+	decimal := func(i int64) Dec {
+		d := NewDec(0)
+		d.Int = new(big.Int).SetInt64(i)
+		return d
+	}
 	tests := []struct {
-		dec    Dec
-		digits int8
-		exp    string
+		name    string
+		d       Dec
+		want    string
+		wantErr bool // if wantErr = false, will also attempt unmarshaling
 	}{
-		{mustNewDecFromStr(t, "33.3"), 8, "00000033"},
-		{mustNewDecFromStr(t, "50"), 8, "00000050"},
-		{mustNewDecFromStr(t, "333"), 8, "00000333"},
-		{mustNewDecFromStr(t, "333"), 12, "000000000333"},
-		{mustNewDecFromStr(t, "0.3333"), 8, "00000000"},
+		{"zero", decimal(0), "\"0.0000000000\"", false},
+		{"one", decimal(1), "\"0.0000000001\"", false},
+		{"ten", decimal(10), "\"0.0000000010\"", false},
+		{"12340", decimal(12340), "\"0.0000012340\"", false},
+		{"zeroInt", NewDec(0), "\"0.0000000000\"", false},
+		{"oneInt", NewDec(1), "\"1.0000000000\"", false},
+		{"tenInt", NewDec(10), "\"10.0000000000\"", false},
+		{"12340Int", NewDec(12340), "\"12340.0000000000\"", false},
 	}
-	for tcIndex, tc := range tests {
-		res := tc.dec.ToLeftPadded(tc.digits)
-		require.Equal(t, tc.exp, res, "incorrect left padding, tc %d", tcIndex)
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got, err := tt.d.MarshalJSON()
+			if (err != nil) != tt.wantErr {
+				t.Errorf("Dec.MarshalJSON() error = %v, wantErr %v", err, tt.wantErr)
+				return
+			}
+			if !tt.wantErr {
+				assert.Equal(t, tt.want, string(got), "incorrect marshalled value")
+				unmarshalledDec := NewDec(0)
+				unmarshalledDec.UnmarshalJSON(got)
+				assert.Equal(t, tt.d, unmarshalledDec, "incorrect unmarshalled value")
+			}
+		})
 	}
 }
 
-var cdc = codec.New()
-
 func TestZeroDeserializationJSON(t *testing.T) {
 	d := Dec{new(big.Int)}
 	err := cdc.UnmarshalJSON([]byte(`"0"`), &d)