diff --git a/.github/workflows/pipeline.yml b/.github/workflows/pipeline.yml
index f1d0376830..7e5de28d1c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pipeline.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pipeline.yml
@@ -63,7 +63,6 @@ jobs:
           - "lint"
           - "slither"
           - "gosec"
-          - "nilaway"
           - "markdownlint"
           - "generate-check"
           - "tidy-sync-check"
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 623a4d1f18..93c438993b 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 ###           Stage 0 - Build Arguments             ###
 #######################################################
 
-ARG GO_VERSION=1.23.0
+ARG GO_VERSION=1.23.4
 ARG RUNNER_IMAGE=alpine:3.20
 ARG BUILD_TAGS="netgo,muslc,blst,bls12381,pebbledb"
 ARG NAME=beacond
diff --git a/cli/commands/server/start.go b/cli/commands/server/start.go
index fb08d9e748..19fe168c90 100644
--- a/cli/commands/server/start.go
+++ b/cli/commands/server/start.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ package server
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"errors"
 
 	pruningtypes "cosmossdk.io/store/pruning/types"
 	types "github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/cli/commands/server/types"
@@ -106,6 +107,10 @@ custom: allow pruning options to be manually specified through 'pruning-keep-rec
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
 			logger := clicontext.GetLoggerFromCmd[LoggerT](cmd)
 			cfg := clicontext.GetConfigFromCmd(cmd)
+			if cfg.Consensus.TimeoutCommit == 0 {
+				return errors.New("please edit your config.toml file and set timeout_commit to 1s")
+			}
+
 			v := clicontext.GetViperFromCmd(cmd)
 			_, err := GetPruningOptionsFromFlags(v)
 			if err != nil {
diff --git a/cmd/beacond/defaults.go b/cmd/beacond/defaults.go
index e70745e508..b44249ed37 100644
--- a/cmd/beacond/defaults.go
+++ b/cmd/beacond/defaults.go
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/node-core/components"
 )
 
-//nolint:funlen // happens
+//nolint:funlen
 func DefaultComponents() []any {
 	c := []any{
 		components.ProvideAttributesFactory[
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 73db790ba1..9c33e49797 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.8.1
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5
 	github.com/spf13/viper v1.19.0
-	github.com/supranational/blst v0.3.13
 	github.com/umbracle/fastrlp v0.1.0
 	go.uber.org/automaxprocs v1.6.0
 	go.uber.org/nilaway v0.0.0-20241010202415-ba14292918d8
@@ -418,6 +417,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/stoewer/go-strcase v1.3.0 // indirect
 	github.com/stretchr/objx v0.5.2 // indirect
 	github.com/subosito/gotenv v1.6.0 // indirect
+	github.com/supranational/blst v0.3.13 // indirect
 	github.com/syndtr/goleveldb v1.0.1-0.20220721030215-126854af5e6d // indirect
 	github.com/tdakkota/asciicheck v0.2.0 // indirect
 	github.com/tendermint/go-amino v0.16.0 // indirect
diff --git a/node-core/components/depinject.go b/node-core/components/depinject.go
index 3d94b530af..dffb76b199 100644
--- a/node-core/components/depinject.go
+++ b/node-core/components/depinject.go
@@ -21,17 +21,93 @@
 package components
 
 import (
+	"context"
+
 	"cosmossdk.io/core/store"
-	"cosmossdk.io/store/types"
-	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/runtime"
+	storetypes "cosmossdk.io/store/types"
+	sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types"
 )
 
-var storeKey = types.NewKVStoreKey("beacon")
+//nolint:gochecknoglobals // storeKey is a singleton.
+var storeKey = storetypes.NewKVStoreKey("beacon")
 
-func ProvideKVStoreKey() *types.KVStoreKey {
+func ProvideKVStoreKey() *storetypes.KVStoreKey {
 	return storeKey
 }
 
-func ProvideKVStoreService(storeKey *types.KVStoreKey) store.KVStoreService {
-	return runtime.NewKVStoreService(storeKey)
+func ProvideKVStoreService(
+	storeKey *storetypes.KVStoreKey,
+) store.KVStoreService {
+	// skips modules that have no store
+	return kvStoreService{key: storeKey}
+}
+
+func NewKVStoreService(storeKey *storetypes.KVStoreKey) store.KVStoreService {
+	return &kvStoreService{key: storeKey}
+}
+
+type kvStoreService struct {
+	key *storetypes.KVStoreKey
+}
+
+func (k kvStoreService) OpenKVStore(ctx context.Context) store.KVStore {
+	return NewKVStore(sdk.UnwrapSDKContext(ctx).KVStore(k.key))
+}
+
+// CoreKVStore is a wrapper of Core/Store kvstore interface
+// Remove after https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/issues/14714 is closed.
+type coreKVStore struct {
+	kvStore storetypes.KVStore
+}
+
+// NewKVStore returns a wrapper of Core/Store kvstore interface
+// Remove once store migrates to core/store kvstore interface.
+func NewKVStore(store storetypes.KVStore) store.KVStore {
+	return coreKVStore{kvStore: store}
+}
+
+// Get returns nil iff key doesn't exist. Errors on nil key.
+func (store coreKVStore) Get(key []byte) ([]byte, error) {
+	return store.kvStore.Get(key), nil
+}
+
+// Has checks if a key exists. Errors on nil key.
+func (store coreKVStore) Has(key []byte) (bool, error) {
+	return store.kvStore.Has(key), nil
+}
+
+// Set sets the key. Errors on nil key or value.
+func (store coreKVStore) Set(key, value []byte) error {
+	store.kvStore.Set(key, value)
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Delete deletes the key. Errors on nil key.
+func (store coreKVStore) Delete(key []byte) error {
+	store.kvStore.Delete(key)
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Iterator iterates over a domain of keys in ascending order. End is exclusive.
+// Start must be less than end, or the Iterator is invalid.
+// Iterator must be closed by caller.
+// To iterate over entire domain, use store.Iterator(nil, nil)
+// CONTRACT: No writes may happen within a domain while an iterator exists over
+// it.
+// Exceptionally allowed for cachekv.Store, safe to write in the modules.
+func (store coreKVStore) Iterator(start, end []byte) (store.Iterator, error) {
+	return store.kvStore.Iterator(start, end), nil
+}
+
+// ReverseIterator iterates over a domain of keys in descending order. End is
+// exclusive.
+// Start must be less than end, or the Iterator is invalid.
+// Iterator must be closed by caller.
+// CONTRACT: No writes may happen within a domain while an iterator exists over
+// it.
+// Exceptionally allowed for cachekv.Store, safe to write in the modules.
+func (store coreKVStore) ReverseIterator(
+	start, end []byte,
+) (store.Iterator, error) {
+	return store.kvStore.ReverseIterator(start, end), nil
 }
diff --git a/node-core/components/signer/signer.go b/node-core/components/signer/signer.go
index 2375a5d22b..f85ff4a9a5 100644
--- a/node-core/components/signer/signer.go
+++ b/node-core/components/signer/signer.go
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ func (f BLSSigner) VerifySignature(
 ) error {
 	pk, err := bls12381.NewPublicKeyFromCompressedBytes(pubKey[:])
 	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("verifying signature: %s", err)
+		return fmt.Errorf("verifying signature: %w", err)
 	}
 	if !pk.VerifySignature(msg, signature[:]) {
 		return ErrInvalidSignature
diff --git a/scripts/build/linting.mk b/scripts/build/linting.mk
index 3664b09790..819c8afa53 100644
--- a/scripts/build/linting.mk
+++ b/scripts/build/linting.mk
@@ -15,14 +15,14 @@ lint: ## run all configured linters
 # TODO: Remove GODEBUG override once: https://github.com/golang/go/issues/68877 is resolved.
 golangci:
 	@echo "--> Running linter on all modules"
-	(GODEBUG=gotypesalias=0 go run github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/cmd/golangci-lint run --config $(ROOT_DIR)/.golangci.yaml --timeout=10m --concurrency 8) || exit 1;
+	(GODEBUG=gotypesalias=0 go run github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/cmd/golangci-lint --build-tags bls12381 run --config $(ROOT_DIR)/.golangci.yaml --timeout=10m --concurrency 8) || exit 1;
 	@printf "All modules complete\n"
 
 
 # TODO: Remove GODEBUG override once: https://github.com/golang/go/issues/68877 is resolved.
 golangci-fix:
 	@echo "--> Running linter with fixes on all modules"
-	(GODEBUG=gotypesalias=0 go run github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/cmd/golangci-lint run --config $(ROOT_DIR)/.golangci.yaml --timeout=10m --fix --concurrency 8) || exit 1;
+	(GODEBUG=gotypesalias=0 go run github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/cmd/golangci-lint --build-tags bls12381 run --config $(ROOT_DIR)/.golangci.yaml --timeout=10m --fix --concurrency 8) || exit 1;
 	@printf "All modules complete\n"
 
 #################
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ license-fix:
 
 nilaway:
 	@echo "--> Running nilaway"
-	(go run go.uber.org/nilaway/cmd/nilaway -exclude-errors-in-files "geth-primitives/deposit/" -v ./...) || exit 1;
+	(go run go.uber.org/nilaway/cmd/nilaway --tags bls12381 -exclude-errors-in-files "geth-primitives/deposit/" -v ./...) || exit 1;
 	@printf "Nilaway check complete\n"
 
 #################
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ nilaway:
 
 gosec:
 	@echo "--> Running gosec"
-	@go run github.com/cosmos/gosec/v2/cmd/gosec -exclude G702 ./...
+	@go run github.com/cosmos/gosec/v2/cmd/gosec -tags bls12381 -exclude-dir node-core/components/signer  -exclude G702 ./...
 
 #################
 #    slither    #
diff --git a/scripts/build/testing.mk b/scripts/build/testing.mk
index 2606ab8bc3..c035ded162 100644
--- a/scripts/build/testing.mk
+++ b/scripts/build/testing.mk
@@ -251,32 +251,33 @@ SHORT_FUZZ_TIME=10s
 MEDIUM_FUZZ_TIME=30s
 LONG_FUZZ_TIME=3m
 
+
 test:
 	@$(MAKE) test-unit test-forge-fuzz
 
 test-unit: ## run golang unit tests
 	@echo "Running unit tests..."
 	@go list -f '{{.Dir}}/...' -m | xargs \
-		go test -race
+		go test --tags bls12381 -race
 
 test-unit-cover: ## run golang unit tests with coverage
 	@echo "Running unit tests with coverage..."
 	@go list -f '{{.Dir}}/...' -m | xargs \
-		go test -race -coverprofile=test-unit-cover.txt
+		go test --tags bls12381 -race -coverprofile=test-unit-cover.txt
 
 test-unit-bench: ## run golang unit benchmarks
 	@echo "Running unit tests with benchmarks..."
 	@go list -f '{{.Dir}}/...' -m | xargs \
-		go test -bench=. -run=^$ -benchmem
+		go test --tags bls12381 -bench=. -run=^$ -benchmem
 
 # On MacOS, if there is a linking issue on the fuzz tests,
 # use the old linker with flags -ldflags=-extldflags=-Wl,-ld_classic
 test-unit-fuzz: ## run fuzz tests
 	@echo "Running fuzz tests with coverage..."
-	go test -run ^FuzzPayloadIDCacheBasic -fuzztime=${SHORT_FUZZ_TIME} github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/payload/cache
-	go test -run ^FuzzPayloadIDInvalidInput -fuzztime=${SHORT_FUZZ_TIME} github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/payload/cache
-	go test -run ^FuzzPayloadIDCacheConcurrency -fuzztime=${SHORT_FUZZ_TIME} github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/payload/cache
-	go test -run ^FuzzHashTreeRoot -fuzztime=${MEDIUM_FUZZ_TIME} github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/primitives/merkle
+	go test --tags bls12381 -run ^FuzzPayloadIDCacheBasic -fuzztime=${SHORT_FUZZ_TIME} github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/payload/cache
+	go test --tags bls12381 -run ^FuzzPayloadIDInvalidInput -fuzztime=${SHORT_FUZZ_TIME} github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/payload/cache
+	go test --tags bls12381 -run ^FuzzPayloadIDCacheConcurrency -fuzztime=${SHORT_FUZZ_TIME} github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/payload/cache
+	go test --tags bls12381 -run ^FuzzHashTreeRoot -fuzztime=${MEDIUM_FUZZ_TIME} github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/primitives/merkle
 
 test-e2e: ## run e2e tests
 	@$(MAKE) build-docker VERSION=kurtosis-local test-e2e-no-build
diff --git a/state-transition/core/core_test.go b/state-transition/core/core_test.go
index f11c3ff04c..b162287eae 100644
--- a/state-transition/core/core_test.go
+++ b/state-transition/core/core_test.go
@@ -21,9 +21,11 @@
 package core_test
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"testing"
 
+	corestore "cosmossdk.io/core/store"
 	"cosmossdk.io/log"
 	"cosmossdk.io/store"
 	"cosmossdk.io/store/metrics"
@@ -46,7 +48,6 @@ import (
 	depositstore "github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/storage/deposit"
 	"github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/storage/encoding"
 	dbm "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-db"
-	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/runtime"
 	sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/mock"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
@@ -70,6 +71,17 @@ type (
 	]
 )
 
+type testKVStoreService struct {
+	ctx sdk.Context
+}
+
+func (kvs *testKVStoreService) OpenKVStore(context.Context) corestore.KVStore {
+	//nolint:contextcheck // fine with tests
+	return components.NewKVStore(
+		sdk.UnwrapSDKContext(kvs.ctx).KVStore(testStoreKey),
+	)
+}
+
 var (
 	testStoreKey = storetypes.NewKVStoreKey("state-transition-tests")
 	testCodec    = &encoding.SSZInterfaceCodec[*types.ExecutionPayloadHeader]{}
@@ -96,12 +108,12 @@ func initTestStores() (*beacondb.KVStore, *depositstore.KVStore, error) {
 		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to load latest version: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	sdkCtx := sdk.NewContext(cms, true, nopLog)
-	testStoreService := runtime.NewKVStoreService(testStoreKey)
+	ctx := sdk.NewContext(cms, true, nopLog)
+	testStoreService := &testKVStoreService{ctx: ctx}
 	return beacondb.New(
 			testStoreService,
 			testCodec,
-		).WithContext(sdkCtx),
+		),
 		depositstore.NewStore(testStoreService, nopLog),
 		nil
 }
diff --git a/storage/beacondb/registry_test.go b/storage/beacondb/registry_test.go
index 0856c50a70..e73632168a 100644
--- a/storage/beacondb/registry_test.go
+++ b/storage/beacondb/registry_test.go
@@ -21,25 +21,38 @@
 package beacondb_test
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"testing"
 
+	corestore "cosmossdk.io/core/store"
 	"cosmossdk.io/log"
 	"cosmossdk.io/store"
 	"cosmossdk.io/store/metrics"
 	storetypes "cosmossdk.io/store/types"
 	"github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/consensus-types/types"
+	"github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/node-core/components"
 	"github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/primitives/bytes"
 	"github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/primitives/math"
 	"github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/storage/beacondb"
 	"github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/storage/db"
 	"github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/storage/encoding"
 	dbm "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-db"
-	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/runtime"
 	sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
+type testKVStoreService struct {
+	ctx sdk.Context
+}
+
+func (kvs *testKVStoreService) OpenKVStore(context.Context) corestore.KVStore {
+	//nolint:contextcheck // fine with tests
+	return components.NewKVStore(
+		sdk.UnwrapSDKContext(kvs.ctx).KVStore(testStoreKey),
+	)
+}
+
 var (
 	testStoreKey = storetypes.NewKVStoreKey("storage-tests")
 	testCodec    = &encoding.SSZInterfaceCodec[*types.ExecutionPayloadHeader]{}
@@ -205,9 +218,12 @@ func initTestStore() (*beacondb.KVStore, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to load latest version: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	sdkCtx := sdk.NewContext(cms, true, nopLog)
+	ctx := sdk.NewContext(cms, true, nopLog)
+	testStoreService := &testKVStoreService{
+		ctx: ctx,
+	}
 	return beacondb.New(
-		runtime.NewKVStoreService(testStoreKey),
+		testStoreService,
 		testCodec,
-	).WithContext(sdkCtx), nil
+	), nil
 }
diff --git a/testing/e2e/e2e_staking_test.go b/testing/e2e/e2e_staking_test.go
index 0b27384572..f7d15813e5 100644
--- a/testing/e2e/e2e_staking_test.go
+++ b/testing/e2e/e2e_staking_test.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/geth-primitives/deposit"
 	"github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/primitives/common"
 	"github.com/berachain/beacon-kit/testing/e2e/config"
+	"github.com/cometbft/cometbft/crypto/bls12381"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/accounts/abi/bind"
 	gethcommon "github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
 	coretypes "github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/core/types"
@@ -98,14 +99,22 @@ func (s *BeaconKitE2ESuite) TestDepositRobustness() {
 		// Create a deposit transaction. Use the default validators' pubkeys
 		// if exists, otherwise pubkey is a random 48 byte slice.
 		var pubkey []byte
+		var pk *bls12381.PubKey
+
 		switch i {
 		case 0:
 			pubkey, err = client.GetPubKey(s.Ctx())
 			s.Require().NoError(err)
+			pk, err = bls12381.NewPublicKeyFromBytes(pubkey)
+			s.Require().NoError(err)
+			pubkey = pk.Compress()
 			s.Require().Len(pubkey, 48)
 		case 1:
 			pubkey, err = client2.GetPubKey(s.Ctx())
 			s.Require().NoError(err)
+			pk, err = bls12381.NewPublicKeyFromBytes(pubkey)
+			s.Require().NoError(err)
+			pubkey = pk.Compress()
 			s.Require().Len(pubkey, 48)
 		default:
 			pubkey = make([]byte, 48)