diff --git a/src/aleph/handlers/forget.py b/src/aleph/handlers/forget.py
index 12264835f..34be579cd 100644
--- a/src/aleph/handlers/forget.py
+++ b/src/aleph/handlers/forget.py
@@ -1,17 +1,16 @@
 import logging
-from typing import Dict, Optional
+from typing import Dict
 
 from aioipfs.api import RepoAPI
 from aioipfs.exceptions import NotPinnedError
-from aleph_message.models import ForgetMessage, MessageType
+from aleph_message.models import ForgetMessage, ItemType, MessageType, StoreContent
 
 from aleph.model.filepin import PermanentPin
-from aleph_message.models import StoreContent
 from aleph.model.hashes import delete_value
 from aleph.model.messages import Message
 from aleph.services.ipfs.common import get_ipfs_api
 from aleph.storage import get_message_content
-from aleph.types import ItemType
+from aleph.utils import item_type_from_hash
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -47,13 +46,13 @@ async def garbage_collect(storage_hash: str, storage_type: ItemType):
         return
 
     # Unpin the file from IPFS or remove it from local storage
-    storage_detected: ItemType = ItemType.from_hash(storage_hash)
+    storage_detected: ItemType = item_type_from_hash(storage_hash)
 
     if storage_type != storage_detected:
         raise ValueError(f"Inconsistent ItemType {storage_type} != {storage_detected} "
                          f"for hash '{storage_hash}'")
 
-    if storage_type == ItemType.IPFS:
+    if storage_type == ItemType.ipfs:
         api = await get_ipfs_api(timeout=5)
         logger.debug(f"Removing from IPFS: {storage_hash}")
         try:
@@ -67,7 +66,7 @@ async def garbage_collect(storage_hash: str, storage_type: ItemType):
         except NotPinnedError:
             logger.debug("File not pinned")
         logger.debug(f"Removed from IPFS: {storage_hash}")
-    elif storage_type == ItemType.Storage:
+    elif storage_type == ItemType.storage:
         logger.debug(f"Removing from Gridfs: {storage_hash}")
         await delete_value(storage_hash)
         logger.debug(f"Removed from Gridfs: {storage_hash}")
diff --git a/src/aleph/handlers/storage.py b/src/aleph/handlers/storage.py
index b6fe55d2f..89f938aa7 100644
--- a/src/aleph/handlers/storage.py
+++ b/src/aleph/handlers/storage.py
@@ -14,13 +14,14 @@
 
 import aioipfs
 from aioipfs import InvalidCIDError
+from aleph_message.models import ItemType, StoreMessage
+from pydantic import ValidationError
+
 from aleph.config import get_config
 from aleph.exceptions import AlephStorageException, UnknownHashError
 from aleph.services.ipfs.common import get_ipfs_api
 from aleph.storage import get_hash_content
-from aleph.types import ItemType
-from aleph_message.models import StoreMessage
-from pydantic import ValidationError
+from aleph.utils import item_type_from_hash
 
 LOGGER = logging.getLogger("HANDLERS.STORAGE")
 
@@ -52,8 +53,8 @@ async def handle_new_storage(message: Dict, content: Dict):
     do_standard_lookup = True
     size = 0
 
-    if engine == ItemType.IPFS and ipfs_enabled:
-        if ItemType.from_hash(item_hash) != ItemType.IPFS:
+    if engine == ItemType.ipfs and ipfs_enabled:
+        if item_type_from_hash(item_hash) != ItemType.ipfs:
             LOGGER.warning("Invalid IPFS hash: '%s'", item_hash)
             raise UnknownHashError(f"Invalid IPFS hash: '{item_hash}'")
 
diff --git a/src/aleph/jobs/process_pending_messages.py b/src/aleph/jobs/process_pending_messages.py
index 3314b5c5f..8ce5f64f6 100644
--- a/src/aleph/jobs/process_pending_messages.py
+++ b/src/aleph/jobs/process_pending_messages.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 from typing import List, Dict, Tuple
 
 import sentry_sdk
-from aleph_message.models import MessageType
+from aleph_message.models import ItemType, MessageType
 from pymongo import DeleteOne, DeleteMany, ASCENDING
 from setproctitle import setproctitle
 
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 from aleph.model.db_bulk_operation import DbBulkOperation
 from aleph.model.pending import PendingMessage
 from aleph.services.p2p import singleton
-from aleph.types import ItemType
 from .job_utils import prepare_loop, gather_and_perform_db_operations
 
 LOGGER = getLogger("jobs.pending_messages")
@@ -94,7 +93,7 @@ async def process_pending_messages(shared_stats: Dict):
                 )
 
             if (
-                pending["message"]["item_type"] == ItemType.IPFS
+                pending["message"]["item_type"] == ItemType.ipfs
                 or pending["message"]["type"] == MessageType.store
             ):
                 i += 15
diff --git a/src/aleph/network.py b/src/aleph/network.py
index 89729def9..fce2b79a9 100644
--- a/src/aleph/network.py
+++ b/src/aleph/network.py
@@ -1,16 +1,17 @@
 import asyncio
 import json
 import logging
-from typing import Coroutine, Dict, List, Optional
+from typing import Coroutine, Dict, List
 from urllib.parse import unquote
 
+from aleph_message.models import ItemType
 from p2pclient import Client as P2PClient
 
+from aleph.exceptions import InvalidMessageError
 from aleph.register_chain import VERIFIER_REGISTER
 from aleph.services.ipfs.pubsub import incoming_channel as incoming_ipfs_channel
-from aleph.types import ItemType
-from aleph.exceptions import InvalidMessageError
 from aleph.utils import get_sha256
+from aleph.utils import item_type_from_hash
 
 LOGGER = logging.getLogger("NETWORK")
 
@@ -116,11 +117,11 @@ async def check_message(
         else:
             raise InvalidMessageError("Unknown hash type %s" % message["hash_type"])
 
-        message["item_type"] = ItemType.Inline.value
+        message["item_type"] = ItemType.inline.value
 
     else:
         try:
-            message["item_type"] = ItemType.from_hash(message["item_hash"]).value
+            message["item_type"] = item_type_from_hash(message["item_hash"]).value
         except ValueError as error:
             LOGGER.warning(error)
 
diff --git a/src/aleph/storage.py b/src/aleph/storage.py
index 4340c8ba2..fa096c8fc 100644
--- a/src/aleph/storage.py
+++ b/src/aleph/storage.py
@@ -9,18 +9,19 @@
 from hashlib import sha256
 from typing import Any, AnyStr, Dict, IO, Optional
 
+from aleph_message.models import ItemType
+
+from aleph.config import get_config
 from aleph.exceptions import InvalidContent, ContentCurrentlyUnavailable
 from aleph.services.filestore import get_value, set_value
+from aleph.services.ipfs.common import get_cid_version
 from aleph.services.ipfs.storage import add_bytes as add_ipfs_bytes
 from aleph.services.ipfs.storage import add_file as ipfs_add_file
 from aleph.services.ipfs.storage import get_ipfs_content
 from aleph.services.ipfs.storage import pin_add as ipfs_pin_add
 from aleph.services.p2p.http import request_hash as p2p_http_request_hash
 from aleph.services.p2p.singleton import get_streamer
-from aleph.types import ItemType
-from aleph.utils import run_in_executor, get_sha256
-from aleph.services.ipfs.common import get_cid_version
-from aleph.config import get_config
+from aleph.utils import get_sha256, run_in_executor
 
 LOGGER = logging.getLogger("STORAGE")
 
@@ -66,12 +67,12 @@ async def json_async_loads(s: AnyStr):
 
 
 async def get_message_content(message: Dict) -> MessageContent:
-    item_type: str = message.get("item_type", ItemType.IPFS)
+    item_type: str = message.get("item_type", ItemType.ipfs)
     item_hash = message["item_hash"]
 
-    if item_type in (ItemType.IPFS, ItemType.Storage):
+    if item_type in (ItemType.ipfs, ItemType.storage):
         return await get_json(item_hash, engine=ItemType(item_type))
-    elif item_type == ItemType.Inline:
+    elif item_type == ItemType.inline:
         if "item_content" not in message:
             error_msg = f"No item_content in message {message.get('item_hash')}"
             LOGGER.warning(error_msg)
@@ -149,13 +150,13 @@ async def verify_content_hash(
     config = get_config()
     ipfs_enabled = config.ipfs.enabled.value
 
-    if engine == ItemType.IPFS and ipfs_enabled:
+    if engine == ItemType.ipfs and ipfs_enabled:
         try:
             cid_version = get_cid_version(expected_hash)
         except ValueError as e:
             raise InvalidContent(e) from e
         compute_hash_task = compute_content_hash_ipfs(content, cid_version)
-    elif engine == ItemType.Storage:
+    elif engine == ItemType.storage:
         compute_hash_task = compute_content_hash_sha256(content)
     else:
         raise ValueError(f"Invalid storage engine: '{engine}'.")
@@ -175,7 +176,7 @@ async def verify_content_hash(
 
 async def get_hash_content(
     content_hash: str,
-    engine: ItemType = ItemType.IPFS,
+    engine: ItemType = ItemType.ipfs,
     timeout: int = 2,
     tries: int = 1,
     use_network: bool = True,
@@ -198,7 +199,7 @@ async def get_hash_content(
         source = ContentSource.P2P
 
     if content is None:
-        if ipfs_enabled and engine == ItemType.IPFS and use_ipfs:
+        if ipfs_enabled and engine == ItemType.ipfs and use_ipfs:
             content = await get_ipfs_content(content_hash, timeout=timeout, tries=tries)
             source = ContentSource.IPFS
 
@@ -218,7 +219,7 @@ async def get_hash_content(
 
 
 async def get_json(
-    content_hash: str, engine=ItemType.IPFS, timeout: int = 2, tries: int = 1
+    content_hash: str, engine=ItemType.ipfs, timeout: int = 2, tries: int = 1
 ) -> MessageContent:
     content = await get_hash_content(
         content_hash, engine=engine, timeout=timeout, tries=tries
@@ -242,13 +243,13 @@ async def pin_hash(chash: str, timeout: int = 2, tries: int = 1):
     return await ipfs_pin_add(chash, timeout=timeout, tries=tries)
 
 
-async def add_json(value: Any, engine: ItemType = ItemType.IPFS) -> str:
+async def add_json(value: Any, engine: ItemType = ItemType.ipfs) -> str:
     # TODO: determine which storage engine to use
     content = await run_in_executor(None, json.dumps, value)
     content = content.encode("utf-8")
-    if engine == ItemType.IPFS:
+    if engine == ItemType.ipfs:
         chash = await add_ipfs_bytes(content)
-    elif engine == ItemType.Storage:
+    elif engine == ItemType.storage:
         if isinstance(content, str):
             content = content.encode("utf-8")
         chash = sha256(content).hexdigest()
@@ -259,15 +260,15 @@ async def add_json(value: Any, engine: ItemType = ItemType.IPFS) -> str:
     return chash
 
 
-async def add_file(fileobject: IO, engine: ItemType = ItemType.IPFS) -> str:
+async def add_file(fileobject: IO, engine: ItemType = ItemType.ipfs) -> str:
 
-    if engine == ItemType.IPFS:
+    if engine == ItemType.ipfs:
         output = await ipfs_add_file(fileobject)
         file_hash = output["Hash"]
         fileobject.seek(0)
         file_content = fileobject.read()
 
-    elif engine == ItemType.Storage:
+    elif engine == ItemType.storage:
         file_content = fileobject.read()
         file_hash = sha256(file_content).hexdigest()
 
diff --git a/src/aleph/types.py b/src/aleph/types.py
index 898bc193f..faad5d58e 100644
--- a/src/aleph/types.py
+++ b/src/aleph/types.py
@@ -1,27 +1,6 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
-from enum import Enum
-
-from aleph.exceptions import UnknownHashError
-
 
-class ItemType(str, Enum):
-    """Item storage options"""
-    Inline = "inline"
-    IPFS = "ipfs"
-    Storage = "storage"
-
-    @classmethod
-    def from_hash(cls, hash: str) -> ItemType:
-        assert isinstance(hash, str)
-        # https://docs.ipfs.io/concepts/content-addressing/#identifier-formats
-        if hash.startswith("Qm") and 44 <= len(hash) <= 46: # CIDv0
-            return cls.IPFS
-        elif hash.startswith("bafy") and len(hash) == 59:  # CIDv1
-            return cls.IPFS
-        elif len(hash) == 64:
-            return cls.Storage
-        else:
-            raise UnknownHashError(f"Unknown hash {len(hash)} {hash}")
+from enum import Enum
 
 
 class Protocol(str, Enum):
diff --git a/src/aleph/utils.py b/src/aleph/utils.py
index 3afe1acfb..e5eb4c956 100644
--- a/src/aleph/utils.py
+++ b/src/aleph/utils.py
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 from hashlib import sha256
 from typing import Union
 
+from aleph_message.models import ItemType
+
+from aleph.exceptions import UnknownHashError
 from aleph.settings import settings
 
 
@@ -13,6 +16,18 @@ async def run_in_executor(executor, func, *args):
         return func(*args)
 
 
+def item_type_from_hash(item_hash: str) -> ItemType:
+    # https://docs.ipfs.io/concepts/content-addressing/#identifier-formats
+    if item_hash.startswith("Qm") and 44 <= len(item_hash) <= 46:  # CIDv0
+        return ItemType.ipfs
+    elif item_hash.startswith("bafy") and len(item_hash) == 59:  # CIDv1
+        return ItemType.ipfs
+    elif len(item_hash) == 64:
+        return ItemType.storage
+    else:
+        raise UnknownHashError(f"Unknown hash {len(item_hash)} {item_hash}")
+
+
 def get_sha256(content: Union[str, bytes]) -> str:
     if isinstance(content, str):
         content = content.encode("utf-8")
diff --git a/src/aleph/web/controllers/storage.py b/src/aleph/web/controllers/storage.py
index 59536fb65..4d1b23e18 100644
--- a/src/aleph/web/controllers/storage.py
+++ b/src/aleph/web/controllers/storage.py
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
 from aleph.exceptions import AlephStorageException, UnknownHashError
 from aleph.handlers.forget import count_file_references
 from aleph.storage import add_json, get_hash_content, add_file
-from aleph.types import ItemType
-from aleph.utils import run_in_executor
+from aleph_message.models import ItemType
+from aleph.utils import run_in_executor, item_type_from_hash
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ async def add_ipfs_json_controller(request):
     """Forward the json content to IPFS server and return an hash"""
     data = await request.json()
 
-    output = {"status": "success", "hash": await add_json(data, engine=ItemType.IPFS)}
+    output = {"status": "success", "hash": await add_json(data, engine=ItemType.ipfs)}
     return web.json_response(output)
 
 
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ async def add_storage_json_controller(request):
     """Forward the json content to IPFS server and return an hash"""
     data = await request.json()
 
-    output = {"status": "success", "hash": await add_json(data, engine=ItemType.Storage)}
+    output = {"status": "success", "hash": await add_json(data, engine=ItemType.storage)}
     return web.json_response(output)
 
 
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ async def storage_add_file(request):
     # No need to pin it here anymore.
     # TODO: find a way to specify linked ipfs hashes in posts/aggr.
     post = await request.post()
-    file_hash = await add_file(post["file"].file, engine=ItemType.Storage)
+    file_hash = await add_file(post["file"].file, engine=ItemType.storage)
 
     output = {"status": "success", "hash": file_hash}
     return web.json_response(output)
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ async def get_hash(request):
     if item_hash is None:
         return web.HTTPBadRequest(text="No hash provided")
     try:
-        engine = ItemType.from_hash(item_hash)
+        engine = item_type_from_hash(item_hash)
     except UnknownHashError as e:
         logger.warning(e.args[0])
         return web.HTTPBadRequest(text="Invalid hash provided")
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ async def get_raw_hash(request):
         raise web.HTTPBadRequest(text="No hash provided")
 
     try:
-        engine = ItemType.from_hash(item_hash)
+        engine = item_type_from_hash(item_hash)
     except UnknownHashError:
         raise web.HTTPBadRequest(text="Invalid hash")
 
diff --git a/tests/storage/test_get_content.py b/tests/storage/test_get_content.py
index 1a78a9661..18678cec4 100644
--- a/tests/storage/test_get_content.py
+++ b/tests/storage/test_get_content.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 from aleph.exceptions import InvalidContent, ContentCurrentlyUnavailable
 from aleph.storage import ContentSource, get_hash_content, get_json, get_message_content
-from aleph.types import ItemType
+from aleph_message.models import ItemType
 
 
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ async def test_get_inline_content(mock_config):
     ]
     json_bytes = json.dumps(json_content).encode("utf-8")
     message = {
-        "item_type": ItemType.Inline.value,
+        "item_type": ItemType.inline.value,
         "item_hash": content_hash,
         "item_content": json_bytes,
     }
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ async def test_get_stored_message_content(mocker, mock_config):
     mocker.patch("aleph.storage.get_value", return_value=json_bytes)
 
     message = {
-        "item_type": ItemType.IPFS.value,
+        "item_type": ItemType.ipfs.value,
         "item_hash": content_hash,
     }