diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9f071d0..26b1f0d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+# 0.4.0
+* Improve speed with list prefixing and tail-call optimizations.
 # 0.3.1
 * Upgrade elixir version. (https://github.com/exthereum/ex_rlp/pull/14)
 # 0.3.0
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 96c0af9..161260e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ Add `:ex_rlp` as a dependency to your project's `mix.exs`:
 ```elixir
 defp deps do
   [
-    {:ex_rlp, "~> 0.3.1"}
+    {:ex_rlp, "~> 0.4.0"}
   ]
 end
 ```
diff --git a/lib/ex_rlp.ex b/lib/ex_rlp.ex
index 5e78a97..9e4d4d5 100644
--- a/lib/ex_rlp.ex
+++ b/lib/ex_rlp.ex
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ defmodule ExRLP do
   @type t :: any()
 
   @doc """
-  Given an RLP structure, returns the encoding as a string.
+  Given an RLP structure (i.e. anything), returns the encoding as a binary.
 
   ## Examples
 
@@ -52,11 +52,12 @@ defmodule ExRLP do
   @spec encode(t) :: binary()
   @spec encode(t, keyword()) :: binary()
   def encode(item, options \\ [encoding: :binary]) do
-    item |> Encode.encode(options)
+    Encode.encode(item, options)
   end
 
   @doc """
-  Given an RLP-encoded string, returns a decoded RPL structure (which is an array of RLP structures or binaries).
+  Given an RLP-encoded string, returns a decoded RLP structure (which is an
+  array of RLP structures or binaries).
 
   ## Examples
 
@@ -102,6 +103,6 @@ defmodule ExRLP do
   @spec decode(binary()) :: t
   @spec decode(binary(), keyword()) :: t
   def decode(item, options \\ [encoding: :binary]) do
-    item |> Decode.decode(options)
+    Decode.decode(item, options)
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/ex_rlp/decode.ex b/lib/ex_rlp/decode.ex
index dc225b0..db70d87 100644
--- a/lib/ex_rlp/decode.ex
+++ b/lib/ex_rlp/decode.ex
@@ -3,94 +3,70 @@ defmodule ExRLP.Decode do
 
   @spec decode(binary(), keyword()) :: ExRLP.t()
   def decode(item, options \\ []) when is_binary(item) do
-    item
-    |> maybe_decode_hex(Keyword.get(options, :encoding, :binary))
-    |> decode_item
+    case item
+         |> unencode(Keyword.get(options, :encoding, :binary))
+         |> decode_item do
+      [res] -> res
+      [] -> nil
+      els -> els
+    end
   end
 
-  @spec maybe_decode_hex(binary(), atom()) :: binary()
-  defp maybe_decode_hex(value, :binary), do: value
-  defp maybe_decode_hex(value, :hex), do: decode_hex(value)
+  @spec unencode(binary() | String.t(), atom()) :: binary()
+  defp unencode(value, :binary), do: value
+  defp unencode(value, :hex), do: Base.decode16!(value, case: :lower)
 
   @spec decode_item(binary(), ExRLP.t()) :: ExRLP.t()
-  defp decode_item(rlp_binary, result \\ nil)
+  defp decode_item(rlp_binary, result \\ [])
 
-  defp decode_item("", result) do
-    result
+  # When we don't have any RLP left, return the accumulator
+  defp decode_item(<<>>, result) do
+    Enum.reverse(result)
   end
 
+  # Decodes the head represents an item to be added directly
+  # to the result.
   defp decode_item(<<(<<prefix>>), tail::binary>>, result) when prefix < 128 do
-    new_item = <<prefix>>
-
-    new_result = result |> add_new_item(new_item)
-
-    decode_item(tail, new_result)
+    decode_item(tail, [<<prefix>> | result])
   end
 
+  # Decodes medium length-binary?
   defp decode_item(<<(<<prefix>>), tail::binary>>, result) when prefix <= 183 do
     {new_item, new_tail} = decode_medium_binary(prefix, tail, 128)
 
-    new_result = result |> add_new_item(new_item)
-
-    decode_item(new_tail, new_result)
+    decode_item(new_tail, [new_item | result])
   end
 
+  # Decodes long length-binary?
   defp decode_item(<<(<<be_size_prefix>>), tail::binary>>, result) when be_size_prefix < 192 do
     {new_item, new_tail} = decode_long_binary(be_size_prefix, tail, 183)
 
-    new_result = result |> add_new_item(new_item)
-
-    decode_item(new_tail, new_result)
-  end
-
-  defp decode_item(<<(<<be_size_prefix>>), tail::binary>>, result) when be_size_prefix == 192 do
-    new_item = []
-
-    new_result = result |> add_new_item(new_item)
-
-    decode_item(tail, new_result)
+    decode_item(new_tail, [new_item | result])
   end
 
-  defp decode_item(<<(<<prefix>>), tail::binary>>, result) when prefix <= 247 do
-    {list, new_tail} = decode_medium_binary(prefix, tail, 192)
-
-    new_result = result |> add_decoded_list(list)
-
-    decode_item(new_tail, new_result)
+  # Decodes an empty list
+  defp decode_item(<<(<<be_size_prefix>>), tail::binary>>, result)
+       when be_size_prefix == 192 do
+    decode_item(tail, [[] | result])
   end
 
-  defp decode_item(<<(<<be_size_prefix>>), tail::binary>>, result) do
-    {list, new_tail} = decode_long_binary(be_size_prefix, tail, 247)
-
-    new_result = result |> add_decoded_list(list)
+  defp decode_item(<<(<<prefix>>), tail::binary>>, result) do
+    {list_bin, new_tail} =
+      if prefix <= 247 do
+        decode_medium_binary(prefix, tail, 192)
+      else
+        decode_long_binary(prefix, tail, 247)
+      end
 
-    decode_item(new_tail, new_result)
-  end
+    next_list = decode_item(list_bin, [])
 
-  @spec add_new_item(ExRLP.t(), ExRLP.t()) :: ExRLP.t()
-  def add_new_item(nil, new_item) do
-    new_item
-  end
-
-  def add_new_item(result, new_item) do
-    result ++ [new_item]
-  end
-
-  @spec add_decoded_list(ExRLP.t(), binary()) :: ExRLP.t()
-  defp add_decoded_list(nil, rlp_list_binary) do
-    decode_item(rlp_list_binary, [])
-  end
-
-  defp add_decoded_list(result, rlp_list_binary) do
-    list_items = decode_item(rlp_list_binary, [])
-
-    result ++ [list_items]
+    decode_item(new_tail, [next_list | result])
   end
 
   @spec decode_medium_binary(integer(), binary(), integer()) :: {binary(), binary()}
   defp decode_medium_binary(length_prefix, tail, prefix) do
     item_length = length_prefix - prefix
-    <<item::binary-size(item_length), new_tail::binary>> = tail
+    <<item::binary-size(item_length), new_tail::binary()>> = tail
 
     {item, new_tail}
   end
@@ -98,18 +74,12 @@ defmodule ExRLP.Decode do
   @spec decode_long_binary(integer(), binary(), integer()) :: {binary(), binary()}
   defp decode_long_binary(be_size_prefix, tail, prefix) do
     be_size = be_size_prefix - prefix
-    <<be::binary-size(be_size), data::binary>> = tail
+    <<be::binary-size(be_size), data::binary()>> = tail
 
-    item_length = be |> :binary.decode_unsigned()
-    <<item::binary-size(item_length), new_tail::binary>> = data
+    item_length = :binary.decode_unsigned(be)
 
-    {item, new_tail}
-  end
+    <<item::binary-size(item_length), new_tail::binary()>> = data
 
-  @spec decode_hex(binary()) :: binary()
-  defp decode_hex(binary) do
-    {:ok, decoded_binary} = binary |> Base.decode16(case: :lower)
-
-    decoded_binary
+    {item, new_tail}
   end
 end
diff --git a/mix.exs b/mix.exs
index f0f63e2..7524afc 100644
--- a/mix.exs
+++ b/mix.exs
@@ -4,13 +4,13 @@ defmodule ExRLP.Mixfile do
   def project do
     [
       app: :ex_rlp,
-      version: "0.3.1",
+      version: "0.4.0",
       elixir: "~> 1.7",
       description: "Ethereum's Recursive Length Prefix (RLP) encoding",
       package: [
         maintainers: ["Ayrat Badykov", "Geoffrey Hayes"],
         licenses: ["MIT"],
-        links: %{"GitHub" => "https://github.com/exthereum/ex_rlp"}
+        links: %{"GitHub" => "https://github.com/mana-ethereum/ex_rlp"}
       ],
       build_embedded: Mix.env() == :prod,
       start_permanent: Mix.env() == :prod,
diff --git a/test/ex_rlp/performance_test.exs b/test/ex_rlp/performance_test.exs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..06ef78a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/ex_rlp/performance_test.exs
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+defmodule ExRLP.PerformanceTest do
+  use ExUnit.Case
+
+  @large_rlp (for _ <- 1..100_000 do
+                [<<1>>, [<<1>>, <<2>>]]
+              end)
+
+  test "large rlp list" do
+    start = time_start()
+
+    assert @large_rlp
+           |> ExRLP.encode()
+           |> ExRLP.decode() == @large_rlp
+
+    assert elapsed(start) < 20
+  end
+
+  defp time_start() do
+    Time.utc_now()
+  end
+
+  defp elapsed(start) do
+    Time.diff(Time.utc_now(), start, :second)
+  end
+end