diff --git a/onionr/communicator.py b/onionr/communicator.py
index 0ef36b24..ef63bca3 100755
--- a/onionr/communicator.py
+++ b/onionr/communicator.py
@@ -548,6 +548,10 @@ class OnionrCommunicate:
 
                     # deal with block metadata
                     blockContent = self._core.getData(i)
+                    try:
+                        blockContent = blockContent.encode()
+                    except AttributeError:
+                        pass
                     try:
                         #blockMetadata = json.loads(self._core.getData(i)).split('}')[0] + '}'
                         blockMetadata = json.loads(blockContent[:blockContent.rfind(b'}') + 1])
diff --git a/onionr/core.py b/onionr/core.py
index 8ebb432d..dae25bc3 100644
--- a/onionr/core.py
+++ b/onionr/core.py
@@ -17,11 +17,11 @@
     You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
     along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 '''
-import sqlite3, os, sys, time, math, base64, tarfile, getpass, simplecrypt, hashlib, nacl, logger, json, netcontroller
+import sqlite3, os, sys, time, math, base64, tarfile, getpass, simplecrypt, hashlib, nacl, logger, json, netcontroller, math
 #from Crypto.Cipher import AES
 #from Crypto import Random
 
-import onionrutils, onionrcrypto, btc, onionrevents as events
+import onionrutils, onionrcrypto, onionrproofs, btc, onionrevents as events
 
 if sys.version_info < (3, 6):
     try:
@@ -630,13 +630,23 @@ class Core:
             Inserts a block into the network
         '''
 
+        powProof = onionrproofs.POW(data)
+        powToken = ''
+        # wait for proof to complete
+        while True:
+            powToken = powProof.getResult()
+            if powToken != False:
+                break
+            time.sleep(0.3)
+        
+
         try:
             data.decode()
         except AttributeError:
             data = data.encode()
 
         retData = ''
-        metadata = {'type': header}
+        metadata = {'type': header, 'pow': powToken}
         sig = {}
 
         metadata = json.dumps(metadata)
diff --git a/onionr/onionrproofs.py b/onionr/onionrproofs.py
index 0eb860e2..02fee043 100644
--- a/onionr/onionrproofs.py
+++ b/onionr/onionrproofs.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
     along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 '''
 
-import nacl.encoding, nacl.hash, nacl.utils, time, math, threading, binascii, logger
+import nacl.encoding, nacl.hash, nacl.utils, time, math, threading, binascii, logger, sys
 import btc
 
 class POW:
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ class POW:
         blockCheck = 300000 # How often the hasher should check if the bitcoin block is updated (slows hashing but prevents less wasted work)
         blockCheckCount = 0
         block = '' #self.bitcoinNode.getBlockHash(self.bitcoinNode.getLastBlockHeight())
-        print('thread started')
+        #logger.debug('thread started')
         while self.hashing:
             '''
             if blockCheckCount == blockCheck:
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ class POW:
             blockCheckCount += 1
             hbCount += 1
             '''
-            token = nacl.hash.blake2b(nacl.utils.random()).decode()
+            token = nacl.hash.blake2b(nacl.utils.random() + self.data).decode()
             #print(token)
             if self.puzzle == token[0:self.difficulty]:
                 self.hashing = False
@@ -59,9 +59,21 @@ class POW:
                 logger.info('took ' + str(endTime - startTime) + ' seconds', timestamp=True)
             self.result = token
 
-    def __init__(self, difficulty, bitcoinNode=''):
+    def __init__(self, data, bitcoinNode=''):
         self.foundHash = False
-        self.difficulty = difficulty
+        self.difficulty = 0
+        self.data = data
+
+        dataLen = sys.getsizeof(data)
+        self.difficulty = math.floor(dataLen/1000000)
+        if self.difficulty <= 2:
+            self.difficulty = 4
+
+        try:
+            self.data = self.data.encode()
+        except AttributeError:
+            pass
+        self.data = nacl.hash.blake2b(self.data)
 
         logger.debug('Computing difficulty of ' + str(self.difficulty))
 
diff --git a/onionr/onionrutils.py b/onionr/onionrutils.py
index 0ef3925d..24e549a3 100644
--- a/onionr/onionrutils.py
+++ b/onionr/onionrutils.py
@@ -370,43 +370,6 @@ class OnionrUtils:
                             else:
                                 logger.warn("Bad sender id: " + signer)
 
-                    '''
-                    data = potentialMessage.read().split('}')
-                    message = data[1]
-                    sigResult = ''
-                    signer = ''
-
-                    try:
-                        metadata = json.loads(data[0] + '}')
-                    except json.decoder.JSONDecodeError:
-                        metadata = {}
-
-                    try:
-                        message = self._core._crypto.pubKeyDecrypt(message, encodedData=True, anonymous=True)
-                    except nacl.exceptions.CryptoError as e:
-                        pass
-                        #logger.error('Unable to decrypt ' + i, error=e)
-                    else:
-                        try:
-                            message = json.loads(message.decode())
-                            message['msg']
-                            message['id']
-                            message['sig']
-                        except json.decoder.JSONDecodeError:
-                            logger.error('Could not decode PM JSON')
-                        except KeyError:
-                            logger.error('PM is missing JSON keys')
-                        else:
-                            if self.validatePubKey(message['id']):
-                                sigResult = self._core._crypto.edVerify(message['msg'], message['id'], message['sig'], encodedData=True)
-                                logger.info('-----------------------------------')
-                                logger.info('Recieved message: ' + message['msg'])
-                                if sigResult:
-                                    logger.info('Valid signature by ' + message['id'])
-                                else:
-                                    logger.warn('Invalid signature by ' + message['id'])
-                    '''
-
             except FileNotFoundError:
                 pass
             except Exception as error:
@@ -452,4 +415,4 @@ class OnionrUtils:
             return False
 
     def token(self, size = 32):
-        return binascii.hexlify(os.urandom(size))
+        return binascii.hexlify(os.urandom(size))
\ No newline at end of file