diff --git a/lee/state_machine/core/src/encoding.rs b/lee/state_machine/core/src/encoding.rs
index 59df4b06..42663a00 100644
--- a/lee/state_machine/core/src/encoding.rs
+++ b/lee/state_machine/core/src/encoding.rs
@@ -117,6 +117,11 @@ impl Nullifier {
 }
 
 impl Ciphertext {
+    #[must_use]
+    pub fn as_bytes(&self) -> &[u8] {
+        &self.0
+    }
+
     /// Serializes the ciphertext to bytes.
     #[must_use]
     pub fn to_bytes(&self) -> Vec<u8> {