diff --git a/native/hexpds_dagcbor_internal/Cargo.toml b/native/hexpds_dagcbor_internal/Cargo.toml
index fa64d99..d590924 100644
--- a/native/hexpds_dagcbor_internal/Cargo.toml
+++ b/native/hexpds_dagcbor_internal/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ path = "src/lib.rs"
 crate-type = ["cdylib"]
 
 [dependencies]
+libipld = "0.16.0"
 rustler = "0.31.0"
 serde_ipld_dagcbor = "0.4.2"
 serde_json = "1.0.113"
diff --git a/native/hexpds_dagcbor_internal/src/lib.rs b/native/hexpds_dagcbor_internal/src/lib.rs
index 6d5d5d2..2d97df3 100644
--- a/native/hexpds_dagcbor_internal/src/lib.rs
+++ b/native/hexpds_dagcbor_internal/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,9 +1,16 @@
 use rustler::Encoder;
 use rustler::Env;
+use rustler::NifResult;
 use rustler::Term;
 use rustler::Binary;
 use serde_json::from_str;
-use serde_ipld_dagcbor::to_vec;
+use serde_json::Value;
+use libipld::Ipld;
+use libipld::Cid;
+use libipld::codec::Codec;
+use libipld::cbor::DagCborCodec;
+use std::collections::BTreeMap;
+use std::str::FromStr;
 
 mod atoms {
     rustler::atoms! {
@@ -12,19 +19,64 @@ mod atoms {
     }
 }
 
+pub fn json_to_ipld(val: Value) -> Ipld {
+    match val {
+        Value::Null => Ipld::Null,
+        Value::Bool(b) => Ipld::Bool(b),
+        Value::String(s) => Ipld::String(s),
+        Value::Number(v) => {
+            if let Some(f) = v.as_f64() {
+                if v.is_i64() {
+                    Ipld::Integer(v.as_i64().unwrap().into())
+                } else if v.is_u64() {
+                    Ipld::Integer(v.as_i64().unwrap_or_else(|| f as i64).into())
+                } else {
+                    Ipld::Float(f)
+                }
+            } else {
+                Ipld::Null
+            }
+        },
+        Value::Array(l) => Ipld::List(l.into_iter().map(json_to_ipld).collect()),
+        Value::Object(m) => {
+            let map: BTreeMap<String, Ipld> = BTreeMap::from_iter(m.into_iter().map(|(k, v)| {
+                if k == "cid" && v.is_string() {
+                    (k, Ipld::Link(Cid::from_str(v.as_str().unwrap()).unwrap()))
+                } else {
+                    (k, json_to_ipld(v))
+                }
+            }));
+            Ipld::Map(map)
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 #[rustler::nif]
-fn encode_dag_cbor(env: Env, json: String) -> Term {
-        let parsed_json: serde_json::Value = match from_str(&json) {
-            Ok(json) => json,
-            Err(e) => return (atoms::error(), format!("Failed to parse JSON: {}", e)).encode(env),
-        };
-
-    let cbor_data = match to_vec(&parsed_json) {
-        Ok(data) => data,
-        Err(e) => return (atoms::error(), format!("Failed to encode to DAG-CBOR: {}", e)).encode(env),
+fn encode_dag_cbor(env: Env, json: String) -> NifResult<Term> {
+    let parsed_json: serde_json::Value = match from_str(&json) {
+        Ok(json) => json,
+        Err(e) => return Ok((atoms::error(), format!("Failed to parse JSON: {}", e)).encode(env)),
     };
 
-    (atoms::ok(), cbor_data).encode(env)
+    let ipld_data = json_to_ipld(parsed_json);
+
+    let encoded_dag_cbor = DagCborCodec.encode(&ipld_data);
+
+    match encoded_dag_cbor {
+        Ok(buffer) => {
+            let mut binary = rustler::types::binary::OwnedBinary::new(buffer.len()).unwrap();
+
+            {
+                let binary_slice = binary.as_mut_slice();
+                binary_slice.copy_from_slice(&buffer);
+            }
+
+            Ok((atoms::ok(), binary.release(env)).encode(env))
+        },
+        Err(e) => {
+            return Ok((atoms::error(), format!("Failed to encode to DAG-CBOR: {}", e)).encode(env));
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 #[rustler::nif]
@@ -42,4 +94,4 @@ fn decode_dag_cbor<'a>(env: Env<'a>, cbor_data: Binary<'a>) -> Term<'a> {
     (atoms::ok(), json).encode(env)
 }
 
-rustler::init!("Elixir.Hexpds.DagCBOR.Internal", [encode_dag_cbor, decode_dag_cbor]);
+rustler::init!("Elixir.Hexpds.DagCBOR.Internal", [encode_dag_cbor, decode_dag_cbor]);
\ No newline at end of file