diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f9940ed2..f1ca5165 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,3 +5,4 @@ package-lock.json
 .envrc
 lib
 test.html
+bench.js
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 93e05955..6ebe5b79 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -210,8 +210,8 @@ Importing the entirety of `nostr-tools` may bloat your build, so you should prob
 
 ```js
 import { generateSecretKey, finalizeEvent, verifyEvent } from 'nostr-tools/pure'
-import SimplePool from 'nostr-tools/pool-pure'
-import Relay, { Subscription } from 'nostr-tools/relay-pure'
+import { SimplePool } from 'nostr-tools/pool-pure'
+import { Relay, Subscription } from 'nostr-tools/relay'
 import { matchFilter } from 'nostr-tools/filter'
 import { decode, nprofileEncode, neventEncode, npubEncode } from 'nostr-tools/nip19'
 // and so on and so forth
@@ -232,11 +232,18 @@ initNostrWasm().then(setNostrWasm)
 // see https://www.npmjs.com/package/nostr-wasm for options
 ```
 
-If you're going to use `Relay` and `SimplePool` you must also import `nostr-tools/relay-wasm` and/or `nostr-tools/pool-wasm` instead of the defaults:
+If you're going to use `Relay` and `SimplePool` you must also import `nostr-tools/abstract-relay` and/or `nostr-tools/abstract-pool` instead of the defaults and then instantiate them by passing the `verifyEvent`:
 
 ```js
-import Relay, { Subscription } from 'nostr-tools/relay-wasm'
-import SimplePool from 'nostr-tools/pool-wasm'
+import { setNostrWasm, verifyEvent } from 'nostr-tools/wasm'
+import { AbstractRelay } from 'nostr-tools/abstract-relay'
+import { AbstractSimplePool } from 'nostr-tools/abstract-pool'
+import { initNostrWasm } from 'nostr-wasm'
+
+initNostrWasm().then(setNostrWasm)
+
+const relay = AbstractRelay.connect('wss://relayable.org', { verifyEvent })
+const pool = new AbstractSimplePool({ verifyEvent })
 ```
 
 This may be faster than the pure-JS [noble libraries](https://paulmillr.com/noble/) used by default and in `nostr-tools/pure`.
diff --git a/trusted-pool.ts b/abstract-pool.ts
similarity index 87%
rename from trusted-pool.ts
rename to abstract-pool.ts
index 90d92b06..d37ceea9 100644
--- a/trusted-pool.ts
+++ b/abstract-pool.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
-import Relay, { SubscriptionParams, Subscription } from './trusted-relay.ts'
+import { AbstractRelay as AbstractRelay, SubscriptionParams, Subscription } from './abstract-relay.ts'
 import { normalizeURL } from './utils.ts'
 
 import type { Event, Nostr } from './core.ts'
 import { type Filter } from './filter.ts'
+import { alwaysTrue } from './helpers.ts'
 
 export type SubCloser = { close: () => void }
 
@@ -12,25 +13,25 @@ export type SubscribeManyParams = Omit<SubscriptionParams, 'onclose' | 'id'> & {
   id?: string
 }
 
-export default class TrustedSimplePool {
-  private relays = new Map<string, Relay>()
-  public seenOn = new Map<string, Set<Relay>>()
+export class AbstractSimplePool {
+  private relays = new Map<string, AbstractRelay>()
+  public seenOn = new Map<string, Set<AbstractRelay>>()
   public trackRelays: boolean = false
 
-  public verifyEvent: Nostr['verifyEvent'] | undefined
+  public verifyEvent: Nostr['verifyEvent']
   public trustedRelayURLs = new Set<string>()
 
-  constructor(opts: { verifyEvent?: Nostr['verifyEvent'] } = {}) {
+  constructor(opts: { verifyEvent: Nostr['verifyEvent'] }) {
     this.verifyEvent = opts.verifyEvent
   }
 
-  async ensureRelay(url: string, params?: { connectionTimeout?: number }): Promise<Relay> {
+  async ensureRelay(url: string, params?: { connectionTimeout?: number }): Promise<AbstractRelay> {
     url = normalizeURL(url)
 
     let relay = this.relays.get(url)
     if (!relay) {
-      relay = new Relay(url, {
-        verifyEvent: this.trustedRelayURLs.has(url) ? undefined : this.verifyEvent,
+      relay = new AbstractRelay(url, {
+        verifyEvent: this.trustedRelayURLs.has(url) ? alwaysTrue : this.verifyEvent,
       })
       if (params?.connectionTimeout) relay.connectionTimeout = params.connectionTimeout
       this.relays.set(url, relay)
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@ export default class TrustedSimplePool {
 
   subscribeMany(relays: string[], filters: Filter[], params: SubscribeManyParams): SubCloser {
     if (this.trackRelays) {
-      params.receivedEvent = (relay: Relay, id: string) => {
+      params.receivedEvent = (relay: AbstractRelay, id: string) => {
         let set = this.seenOn.get(id)
         if (!set) {
           set = new Set()
@@ -99,7 +100,7 @@ export default class TrustedSimplePool {
           return
         }
 
-        let relay: Relay
+        let relay: AbstractRelay
         try {
           relay = await this.ensureRelay(url, {
             connectionTimeout: params.maxWait ? Math.max(params.maxWait * 0.8, params.maxWait - 1000) : undefined,
diff --git a/trusted-relay.ts b/abstract-relay.ts
similarity index 90%
rename from trusted-relay.ts
rename to abstract-relay.ts
index 981df8fd..cb788736 100644
--- a/trusted-relay.ts
+++ b/abstract-relay.ts
@@ -4,10 +4,10 @@ import type { Event, EventTemplate, Nostr } from './core.ts'
 import { matchFilters, type Filter } from './filter.ts'
 import { getHex64, getSubscriptionId } from './fakejson.ts'
 import { Queue, normalizeURL } from './utils.ts'
-import { nip42 } from './index.ts'
+import { makeAuthEvent } from './nip42.ts'
 import { yieldThread } from './helpers.ts'
 
-export default class TrustedRelay {
+export class AbstractRelay {
   public readonly url: string
   private _connected: boolean = false
 
@@ -16,10 +16,10 @@ export default class TrustedRelay {
 
   public baseEoseTimeout: number = 4400
   public connectionTimeout: number = 4400
+  public openSubs = new Map<string, Subscription>()
   private connectionTimeoutHandle: ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | undefined
 
   private connectionPromise: Promise<void> | undefined
-  private openSubs = new Map<string, Subscription>()
   private openCountRequests = new Map<string, CountResolver>()
   private openEventPublishes = new Map<string, EventPublishResolver>()
   private ws: WebSocket | undefined
@@ -27,15 +27,15 @@ export default class TrustedRelay {
   private queueRunning = false
   private challenge: string | undefined
   private serial: number = 0
-  private verifyEvent: Nostr['verifyEvent'] | undefined
+  private verifyEvent: Nostr['verifyEvent']
 
-  constructor(url: string, opts: { verifyEvent?: Nostr['verifyEvent'] } = {}) {
+  constructor(url: string, opts: { verifyEvent: Nostr['verifyEvent'] }) {
     this.url = normalizeURL(url)
     this.verifyEvent = opts.verifyEvent
   }
 
-  static async connect(url: string, opts: { verifyEvent?: Nostr['verifyEvent'] } = {}) {
-    const relay = new TrustedRelay(url, opts)
+  static async connect(url: string, opts: { verifyEvent: Nostr['verifyEvent'] }) {
+    const relay = new AbstractRelay(url, opts)
     await relay.connect()
     return relay
   }
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ export default class TrustedRelay {
         case 'EVENT': {
           const so = this.openSubs.get(data[1] as string) as Subscription
           const event = data[2] as Event
-          if ((this.verifyEvent ? this.verifyEvent(event) : true) && matchFilters(so.filters, event)) {
+          if (this.verifyEvent(event) && matchFilters(so.filters, event)) {
             so.onevent(event)
           }
           return
@@ -200,7 +200,6 @@ export default class TrustedRelay {
           if (!so) return
           so.closed = true
           so.close(data[2] as string)
-          this.openSubs.delete(id)
           return
         }
         case 'NOTICE':
@@ -226,7 +225,7 @@ export default class TrustedRelay {
 
   public async auth(signAuthEvent: (authEvent: EventTemplate) => Promise<void>) {
     if (!this.challenge) throw new Error("can't perform auth, no challenge was received")
-    const evt = nip42.makeAuthEvent(this.url, this.challenge)
+    const evt = makeAuthEvent(this.url, this.challenge)
     await signAuthEvent(evt)
     this.send('["AUTH",' + JSON.stringify(evt) + ']')
   }
@@ -268,17 +267,25 @@ export default class TrustedRelay {
     this._connected = false
     this.ws?.close()
   }
+
+  // this method simulates receiving a message from the websocket
+  public _push(msg: string) {
+    this.incomingMessageQueue.enqueue(msg)
+    if (!this.queueRunning) {
+      this.runQueue()
+    }
+  }
 }
 
 export class Subscription {
-  public readonly relay: TrustedRelay
+  public readonly relay: AbstractRelay
   public readonly id: string
 
   public closed: boolean = false
   public eosed: boolean = false
   public filters: Filter[]
   public alreadyHaveEvent: ((id: string) => boolean) | undefined
-  public receivedEvent: ((relay: TrustedRelay, id: string) => void) | undefined
+  public receivedEvent: ((relay: AbstractRelay, id: string) => void) | undefined
 
   public onevent: (evt: Event) => void
   public oneose: (() => void) | undefined
@@ -287,7 +294,7 @@ export class Subscription {
   public eoseTimeout: number
   private eoseTimeoutHandle: ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | undefined
 
-  constructor(relay: TrustedRelay, id: string, filters: Filter[], params: SubscriptionParams) {
+  constructor(relay: AbstractRelay, id: string, filters: Filter[], params: SubscriptionParams) {
     this.relay = relay
     this.filters = filters
     this.id = id
@@ -328,6 +335,7 @@ export class Subscription {
       this.relay.send('["CLOSE",' + JSON.stringify(this.id) + ']')
       this.closed = true
     }
+    this.relay.openSubs.delete(this.id)
     this.onclose?.(reason)
   }
 }
@@ -337,7 +345,7 @@ export type SubscriptionParams = {
   oneose?: () => void
   onclose?: (reason: string) => void
   alreadyHaveEvent?: (id: string) => boolean
-  receivedEvent?: (relay: TrustedRelay, id: string) => void
+  receivedEvent?: (relay: AbstractRelay, id: string) => void
   eoseTimeout?: number
 }
 
diff --git a/benchmark.ts b/benchmark.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..82703f2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/benchmark.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+import { initNostrWasm } from 'nostr-wasm'
+import { NostrEvent } from './core'
+import { finalizeEvent, generateSecretKey } from './pure'
+import { setNostrWasm, verifyEvent } from './wasm'
+import { AbstractRelay } from './abstract-relay.ts'
+import { Relay as PureRelay } from './relay.ts'
+import { alwaysTrue } from './helpers.ts'
+
+const RUNS = 400
+
+let messages: string[] = []
+let baseContent = ''
+for (let i = 0; i < RUNS; i++) {
+  baseContent += 'a'
+}
+const secretKey = generateSecretKey()
+for (let i = 0; i < RUNS / 100; i++) {
+  const tags = []
+  for (let t = 0; t < i; t++) {
+    tags.push(['t', 'nada'])
+  }
+  const event = { created_at: Math.round(Date.now()) / 1000, kind: 1, content: baseContent.slice(0, RUNS - i), tags }
+  const signed = finalizeEvent(event, secretKey)
+  messages.push(JSON.stringify(['EVENT', '_', signed]))
+}
+
+setNostrWasm(await initNostrWasm())
+
+const pureRelay = new PureRelay('wss://pure.com/')
+const trustedRelay = new AbstractRelay('wss://trusted.com/', { verifyEvent: alwaysTrue })
+const wasmRelay = new AbstractRelay('wss://wasm.com/', { verifyEvent })
+
+const run = (relay: AbstractRelay) => async () => {
+  return new Promise<void>(resolve => {
+    let received = 0
+    let sub = relay.prepareSubscription([{}], {
+      onevent(_: NostrEvent) {
+        received++
+        if (received === messages.length - 1) {
+          resolve()
+          sub.closed = true
+          sub.close()
+        }
+      },
+      id: '_',
+    })
+    for (let e = 0; e < messages.length; e++) {
+      relay._push(messages[e])
+    }
+  })
+}
+
+const benchmarks: Record<string, { test: () => Promise<void>; runs: number[] }> = {
+  trusted: { test: run(trustedRelay), runs: [] },
+  pure: { test: run(pureRelay), runs: [] },
+  wasm: { test: run(wasmRelay), runs: [] },
+}
+
+for (let b = 0; b < 50; b++) {
+  for (let name in benchmarks) {
+    const { test, runs } = benchmarks[name]
+    const before = performance.now()
+    await test()
+    runs.push(performance.now() - before)
+  }
+}
+
+for (let name in benchmarks) {
+  const { runs } = benchmarks[name]
+  console.log(name, runs.reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0) / runs.length)
+}
diff --git a/build.js b/build.js
index 0ce633a6..b46642d8 100755
--- a/build.js
+++ b/build.js
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ const entryPoints = fs
       file !== 'core.ts' &&
       file !== 'test-helpers.ts' &&
       file !== 'helpers.ts' &&
+      file !== 'benchmarks.ts' &&
       !file.endsWith('.test.ts') &&
       fs.statSync(join(process.cwd(), file)).isFile(),
   )
diff --git a/bun.lockb b/bun.lockb
index 62dc90de..6cde0595 100755
Binary files a/bun.lockb and b/bun.lockb differ
diff --git a/core.ts b/core.ts
index 462e8ce8..d8be6aad 100644
--- a/core.ts
+++ b/core.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ export interface Event {
   [verifiedSymbol]?: boolean
 }
 
+export type NostrEvent = Event
 export type EventTemplate = Pick<Event, 'kind' | 'tags' | 'content' | 'created_at'>
 export type UnsignedEvent = Pick<Event, 'kind' | 'tags' | 'content' | 'created_at' | 'pubkey'>
 
diff --git a/helpers.ts b/helpers.ts
index 9931320d..7419d152 100644
--- a/helpers.ts
+++ b/helpers.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import { verifiedSymbol, type Event, type Nostr } from './core.ts'
+
 export async function yieldThread() {
   return new Promise(resolve => {
     const ch = new MessageChannel()
@@ -7,3 +9,8 @@ export async function yieldThread() {
     ch.port1.start()
   })
 }
+
+export const alwaysTrue: Nostr['verifyEvent'] = (t: Event) => {
+  t[verifiedSymbol] = true
+  return t[verifiedSymbol]
+}
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index cc79d9c4..02213e1e 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 {
+  "type": "module",
   "name": "nostr-tools",
   "version": "2.1.0",
   "description": "Tools for making a Nostr client.",
@@ -39,35 +40,25 @@
       "require": "./lib/cjs/filter.js",
       "types": "./lib/types/filter.d.ts"
     },
-    "./trusted-relay": {
-      "import": "./lib/esm/trusted-relay.js",
-      "require": "./lib/cjs/trusted-relay.js",
-      "types": "./lib/types/trusted-relay.d.ts"
+    "./abstract-relay": {
+      "import": "./lib/esm/abstract-relay.js",
+      "require": "./lib/cjs/abstract-relay.js",
+      "types": "./lib/types/abstract-relay.d.ts"
     },
-    "./relay-wasm": {
-      "import": "./lib/esm/relay-wasm.js",
-      "require": "./lib/cjs/relay-wasm.js",
-      "types": "./lib/types/relay-wasm.d.ts"
+    "./relay": {
+      "import": "./lib/esm/relay.js",
+      "require": "./lib/cjs/relay.js",
+      "types": "./lib/types/relay.d.ts"
     },
-    "./relay-pure": {
-      "import": "./lib/esm/relay-pure.js",
-      "require": "./lib/cjs/relay-pure.js",
-      "types": "./lib/types/relay-pure.d.ts"
+    "./abstract-pool": {
+      "import": "./lib/esm/abstract-pool.js",
+      "require": "./lib/cjs/abstract-pool.js",
+      "types": "./lib/types/abstract-pool.d.ts"
     },
-    "./trusted-pool": {
-      "import": "./lib/esm/trusted-pool.js",
-      "require": "./lib/cjs/trusted-pool.js",
-      "types": "./lib/types/trusted-pool.d.ts"
-    },
-    "./pool-wasm": {
-      "import": "./lib/esm/pool-wasm.js",
-      "require": "./lib/cjs/pool-wasm.js",
-      "types": "./lib/types/pool-wasm.d.ts"
-    },
-    "./pool-pure": {
-      "import": "./lib/esm/pool-pure.js",
-      "require": "./lib/cjs/pool-pure.js",
-      "types": "./lib/types/pool-pure.d.ts"
+    "./pool": {
+      "import": "./lib/esm/pool.js",
+      "require": "./lib/cjs/pool.js",
+      "types": "./lib/types/pool.d.ts"
     },
     "./references": {
       "import": "./lib/esm/references.js",
@@ -183,6 +174,7 @@
     "@scure/base": "1.1.1",
     "@scure/bip32": "1.3.1",
     "@scure/bip39": "1.2.1",
+    "mitata": "^0.1.6",
     "nostr-wasm": "v0.0.3"
   },
   "peerDependencies": {
diff --git a/pool-pure.ts b/pool-pure.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index b33de080..00000000
--- a/pool-pure.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-import { verifyEvent } from './pure.ts'
-import TrustedSimplePool from './trusted-pool.ts'
-
-export default class PureSimplePool extends TrustedSimplePool {
-  constructor() {
-    super({ verifyEvent })
-  }
-}
-
-export * from './trusted-pool.ts'
diff --git a/pool-wasm.ts b/pool-wasm.ts
index 0e964eb7..8e444c5e 100644
--- a/pool-wasm.ts
+++ b/pool-wasm.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { verifyEvent } from './wasm.ts'
-import TrustedSimplePool from './trusted-pool.ts'
+import { TrustedSimplePool } from './trusted-pool.ts'
 
-export default class WasmSimplePool extends TrustedSimplePool {
+export class SimplePool extends TrustedSimplePool {
   constructor() {
     super({ verifyEvent })
   }
diff --git a/pool.test.ts b/pool.test.ts
index c7c003f1..6a1ea367 100644
--- a/pool.test.ts
+++ b/pool.test.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { test, expect, afterAll } from 'bun:test'
 
 import { finalizeEvent, type Event } from './pure.ts'
 import { generateSecretKey, getPublicKey } from './pure.ts'
-import { SimplePool } from './pool.ts'
+import SimplePool from './pool-pure.ts'
 
 let pool = new SimplePool()
 
diff --git a/pool.ts b/pool.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d8333ce2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pool.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+import { verifyEvent } from './pure.ts'
+import { AbstractSimplePool } from './abstract-pool.ts'
+
+export class SimplePool extends AbstractSimplePool {
+  constructor() {
+    super({ verifyEvent })
+  }
+}
+
+export * from './abstract-pool.ts'
diff --git a/relay-wasm.ts b/relay-wasm.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index ef7d3028..00000000
--- a/relay-wasm.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-import { verifyEvent } from './wasm.ts'
-import TrustedRelay from './trusted-relay.ts'
-
-export default class WasmRelay extends TrustedRelay {
-  constructor(url: string) {
-    super(url, { verifyEvent })
-  }
-
-  static async connect(url: string) {
-    const relay = new WasmRelay(url)
-    await relay.connect()
-    return relay
-  }
-}
-
-export * from './trusted-relay.ts'
diff --git a/relay-pure.ts b/relay.ts
similarity index 53%
rename from relay-pure.ts
rename to relay.ts
index 46688552..0de4e11a 100644
--- a/relay-pure.ts
+++ b/relay.ts
@@ -1,16 +1,16 @@
 import { verifyEvent } from './pure.ts'
-import TrustedRelay from './trusted-relay.ts'
+import { AbstractRelay } from './abstract-relay.ts'
 
-export default class PureRelay extends TrustedRelay {
+export class Relay extends AbstractRelay {
   constructor(url: string) {
     super(url, { verifyEvent })
   }
 
   static async connect(url: string) {
-    const relay = new PureRelay(url)
+    const relay = new Relay(url)
     await relay.connect()
     return relay
   }
 }
 
-export * from './trusted-relay.ts'
+export * from './abstract-relay.ts'