diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index aad09665a..c3993a6b3 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -269,8 +269,8 @@ ifeq ($(DISABLE_TEST_FIXTURES_SCRIPT), 0)
 endif
 	for TEST_BINARY in $(TEST_BINARIES); do \
 		PARAMS=""; \
-		if [[ "$${TEST_BINARY}" == "state_sim" ]]; then PARAMS="--validators=3000 --slots=128"; \
-		elif [[ "$${TEST_BINARY}" == "block_sim" ]]; then PARAMS="--validators=3000 --slots=128"; \
+		if [[ "$${TEST_BINARY}" == "state_sim" ]]; then PARAMS="--validators=6000 --slots=128"; \
+		elif [[ "$${TEST_BINARY}" == "block_sim" ]]; then PARAMS="--validators=6000 --slots=128"; \
 		fi; \
 		echo -e "\nRunning $${TEST_BINARY} $${PARAMS}\n"; \
 		build/$${TEST_BINARY} $${PARAMS} || { echo -e "\n$${TEST_BINARY} $${PARAMS} failed; Aborting."; exit 1; }; \
diff --git a/beacon_chain/beacon_node_types.nim b/beacon_chain/beacon_node_types.nim
index 2afe7b465..83711e2de 100644
--- a/beacon_chain/beacon_node_types.nim
+++ b/beacon_chain/beacon_node_types.nim
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ type
     ## added to the aggregate meaning that only non-overlapping aggregates may
     ## be further combined.
     aggregation_bits*: CommitteeValidatorsBits
-    aggregate_signature*: ValidatorSig
+    aggregate_signature*: CookedSig
 
   AttestationEntry* = object
     ## Each entry holds the known signatures for a particular, distinct vote
diff --git a/beacon_chain/consensus_object_pools/attestation_pool.nim b/beacon_chain/consensus_object_pools/attestation_pool.nim
index 2f1bcd97a..689c527da 100644
--- a/beacon_chain/consensus_object_pools/attestation_pool.nim
+++ b/beacon_chain/consensus_object_pools/attestation_pool.nim
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import
   # Standard libraries
   std/[options, tables, sequtils],
   # Status libraries
-  chronicles, stew/[byteutils], json_serialization/std/sets as jsonSets,
+  chronicles, stew/byteutils, json_serialization/std/sets as jsonSets,
   # Internal
   ../spec/[beaconstate, datatypes, crypto, digest],
   ../ssz/merkleization,
@@ -176,9 +176,10 @@ proc addAttestation*(pool: var AttestationPool,
 
   let
     attestationsSeen = addr pool.candidates[candidateIdx.get]
+    # Only attestestions with valid signatures get here
     validation = Validation(
       aggregation_bits: attestation.aggregation_bits,
-      aggregate_signature: attestation.signature)
+      aggregate_signature: load(attestation.signature).get.CookedSig)
 
   var found = false
   for a in attestationsSeen.attestations.mitems():
@@ -281,7 +282,7 @@ iterator attestations*(pool: AttestationPool, slot: Option[Slot],
           yield Attestation(
             aggregation_bits: validation.aggregation_bits,
             data: entry.data,
-            signature: validation.aggregate_signature
+            signature: validation.aggregate_signature.exportRaw
           )
 
 func getAttestationDataKey(ad: AttestationData): AttestationDataKey =
@@ -377,7 +378,7 @@ proc getAttestationsForBlock*(pool: var AttestationPool,
       attestation = Attestation(
         aggregation_bits: a.validations[0].aggregation_bits,
         data: a.data,
-        signature: a.validations[0].aggregate_signature
+        signature: a.validations[0].aggregate_signature.exportRaw
       )
 
       agg {.noInit.}: AggregateSignature
@@ -448,7 +449,7 @@ proc getAggregatedAttestation*(pool: AttestationPool,
       attestation = Attestation(
         aggregation_bits: a.validations[0].aggregation_bits,
         data: a.data,
-        signature: a.validations[0].aggregate_signature
+        signature: a.validations[0].aggregate_signature.exportRaw
       )
 
       agg {.noInit.}: AggregateSignature
diff --git a/beacon_chain/spec/crypto.nim b/beacon_chain/spec/crypto.nim
index 9761122c9..f2cee59cc 100644
--- a/beacon_chain/spec/crypto.nim
+++ b/beacon_chain/spec/crypto.nim
@@ -68,6 +68,11 @@ type
 
   SomeSig* = TrustedSig | ValidatorSig
 
+  CookedSig* = distinct blscurve.Signature  ## \
+  ## Allows loading in an atttestation or other message's signature once across
+  ## all its computations, rather than repeatedly re-loading it each time it is
+  ## referenced. This primarily currently serves the attestation pool.
+
 export AggregateSignature
 
 # API
@@ -116,11 +121,19 @@ func init*(agg: var AggregateSignature, sig: ValidatorSig) {.inline.}=
   ## This assumes that the signature is valid
   agg.init(sig.load().get())
 
-func aggregate*(agg: var AggregateSignature, sig: ValidatorSig) {.inline.}=
+func init*(agg: var AggregateSignature, sig: CookedSig) {.inline.}=
+  ## Initializes an aggregate signature context
+  agg.init(blscurve.Signature(sig))
+
+proc aggregate*(agg: var AggregateSignature, sig: ValidatorSig) {.inline.}=
   ## Aggregate two Validator Signatures
   ## Both signatures must be valid
   agg.aggregate(sig.load.get())
 
+proc aggregate*(agg: var AggregateSignature, sig: CookedSig) {.inline.}=
+  ## Aggregate two Validator Signatures
+  agg.aggregate(blscurve.Signature(sig))
+
 func finish*(agg: AggregateSignature): ValidatorSig {.inline.}=
   ## Canonicalize an AggregateSignature into a signature
   var sig: blscurve.Signature
@@ -226,6 +239,9 @@ template toRaw*(x: TrustedSig): auto =
 func toHex*(x: BlsCurveType): string =
   toHex(toRaw(x))
 
+func exportRaw*(x: CookedSig): ValidatorSig =
+  ValidatorSig(blob: blscurve.Signature(x).exportRaw())
+
 func fromRaw*(T: type ValidatorPrivKey, bytes: openArray[byte]): BlsResult[T] =
   var val: SecretKey
   if val.fromBytes(bytes):
diff --git a/research/block_sim.nim b/research/block_sim.nim
index 54bed8176..4af95c68f 100644
--- a/research/block_sim.nim
+++ b/research/block_sim.nim
@@ -50,8 +50,8 @@ proc gauss(r: var Rand; mu = 0.0; sigma = 1.0): float =
   result = mu + sigma * (b / a)
 
 # TODO confutils is an impenetrable black box. how can a help text be added here?
-cli do(slots = SLOTS_PER_EPOCH * 6,
-       validators = SLOTS_PER_EPOCH * 200, # One per shard is minimum
+cli do(slots = SLOTS_PER_EPOCH * 5,
+       validators = SLOTS_PER_EPOCH * 400, # One per shard is minimum
        attesterRatio {.desc: "ratio of validators that attest in each round"} = 0.82,
        blockRatio {.desc: "ratio of slots with blocks"} = 1.0,
        replay = true):
diff --git a/research/state_sim.nim b/research/state_sim.nim
index cbe6a3d92..92a731ae9 100644
--- a/research/state_sim.nim
+++ b/research/state_sim.nim
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@ proc writeJson*(fn, v: auto) =
   defer: close(f)
   Json.saveFile(fn, v, pretty = true)
 
-cli do(slots = SLOTS_PER_EPOCH * 6,
-       validators = SLOTS_PER_EPOCH * 200, # One per shard is minimum
+cli do(slots = SLOTS_PER_EPOCH * 5,
+       validators = SLOTS_PER_EPOCH * 400, # One per shard is minimum
        json_interval = SLOTS_PER_EPOCH,
        write_last_json = false,
        prefix: int = 0,