diff --git a/packages/cosmwasm/src/cosmwasmclient.ts b/packages/cosmwasm/src/cosmwasmclient.ts
index e8a17b4d..3ab253d7 100644
--- a/packages/cosmwasm/src/cosmwasmclient.ts
+++ b/packages/cosmwasm/src/cosmwasmclient.ts
@@ -199,8 +199,8 @@ export class CosmWasmClient {
    */
   public async getIdentifier(tx: CosmosSdkTx): Promise<string> {
     // We consult the REST API because we don't have a local amino encoder
-    const bytes = await this.restClient.encodeTx(tx);
-    const hash = new Sha256(bytes).digest();
+    const response = await this.restClient.encodeTx(tx);
+    const hash = new Sha256(fromBase64(response.tx)).digest();
     return toHex(hash).toUpperCase();
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/cosmwasm/src/restclient.spec.ts b/packages/cosmwasm/src/restclient.spec.ts
index 8d6d48c6..955565d3 100644
--- a/packages/cosmwasm/src/restclient.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/cosmwasm/src/restclient.spec.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ import {
 } from "./msgs";
 import { RestClient } from "./restclient";
 import { SigningCosmWasmClient } from "./signingcosmwasmclient";
-import cosmoshub from "./testdata/cosmoshub.json";
 import {
   alice,
   bech32AddressMatcher,
@@ -747,14 +746,6 @@ describe("RestClient", () => {
     });
   });
 
-  describe("encodeTx", () => {
-    it("works for cosmoshub example", async () => {
-      pendingWithoutWasmd();
-      const client = new RestClient(wasmd.endpoint);
-      expect(await client.encodeTx(cosmoshub.tx)).toEqual(fromBase64(cosmoshub.tx_data));
-    });
-  });
-
   describe("postTx", () => {
     it("can send tokens", async () => {
       pendingWithoutWasmd();
diff --git a/packages/sdk38/src/cosmosclient.ts b/packages/sdk38/src/cosmosclient.ts
index 5b43dc97..fc6fd5b5 100644
--- a/packages/sdk38/src/cosmosclient.ts
+++ b/packages/sdk38/src/cosmosclient.ts
@@ -181,8 +181,8 @@ export class CosmosClient {
    */
   public async getIdentifier(tx: CosmosSdkTx): Promise<string> {
     // We consult the REST API because we don't have a local amino encoder
-    const bytes = await this.restClient.encodeTx(tx);
-    const hash = new Sha256(bytes).digest();
+    const response = await this.restClient.encodeTx(tx);
+    const hash = new Sha256(fromBase64(response.tx)).digest();
     return toHex(hash).toUpperCase();
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/sdk38/src/index.ts b/packages/sdk38/src/index.ts
index 50ca53e3..332b6398 100644
--- a/packages/sdk38/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/sdk38/src/index.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ export {
   AuthAccountsResponse,
   BlockResponse,
   BroadcastMode,
+  EncodeTxResponse,
   PostTxsResponse,
   NodeInfoResponse,
   RestClient,
diff --git a/packages/sdk38/src/restclient.spec.ts b/packages/sdk38/src/restclient.spec.ts
index bdaea11a..f2544e1e 100644
--- a/packages/sdk38/src/restclient.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/sdk38/src/restclient.spec.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 /* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/camelcase */
-import { fromBase64 } from "@cosmjs/encoding";
 import { assert, sleep } from "@cosmjs/utils";
 import { ReadonlyDate } from "readonly-date";
 
@@ -523,7 +522,12 @@ describe("RestClient", () => {
     it("works for cosmoshub example", async () => {
       pendingWithoutWasmd();
       const client = new RestClient(wasmd.endpoint);
-      expect(await client.encodeTx(cosmoshub.tx)).toEqual(fromBase64(cosmoshub.tx_data));
+      const response = await client.encodeTx(cosmoshub.tx);
+      expect(response).toEqual(
+        jasmine.objectContaining({
+          tx: cosmoshub.tx_data,
+        }),
+      );
     });
   });
 
diff --git a/packages/sdk38/src/restclient.ts b/packages/sdk38/src/restclient.ts
index 7404c807..0cf8e62a 100644
--- a/packages/sdk38/src/restclient.ts
+++ b/packages/sdk38/src/restclient.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import { fromBase64 } from "@cosmjs/encoding";
 import { isNonNullObject } from "@cosmjs/utils";
 import axios, { AxiosError, AxiosInstance } from "axios";
 
@@ -147,8 +146,9 @@ export interface PostTxsResponse {
   readonly gas_used?: string;
 }
 
-interface EncodeTxResponse {
-  // base64-encoded amino-binary encoded representation
+/** A reponse from the /txs/encode endpoint */
+export interface EncodeTxResponse {
+  /** base64-encoded amino-binary encoded representation */
   readonly tx: string;
 }
 
@@ -289,12 +289,12 @@ export class RestClient {
   }
 
   /** returns the amino-encoding of the transaction performed by the server */
-  public async encodeTx(tx: CosmosSdkTx): Promise<Uint8Array> {
+  public async encodeTx(tx: CosmosSdkTx): Promise<EncodeTxResponse> {
     const responseData = await this.post("/txs/encode", tx);
     if (!responseData.tx) {
       throw new Error("Unexpected response data format");
     }
-    return fromBase64((responseData as EncodeTxResponse).tx);
+    return responseData as EncodeTxResponse;
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/packages/sdk38/types/index.d.ts b/packages/sdk38/types/index.d.ts
index 7a9de872..26f37186 100644
--- a/packages/sdk38/types/index.d.ts
+++ b/packages/sdk38/types/index.d.ts
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ export {
   AuthAccountsResponse,
   BlockResponse,
   BroadcastMode,
+  EncodeTxResponse,
   PostTxsResponse,
   NodeInfoResponse,
   RestClient,
diff --git a/packages/sdk38/types/restclient.d.ts b/packages/sdk38/types/restclient.d.ts
index d27863db..830457cb 100644
--- a/packages/sdk38/types/restclient.d.ts
+++ b/packages/sdk38/types/restclient.d.ts
@@ -125,6 +125,11 @@ export interface PostTxsResponse {
   /** The gas used by the execution */
   readonly gas_used?: string;
 }
+/** A reponse from the /txs/encode endpoint */
+export interface EncodeTxResponse {
+  /** base64-encoded amino-binary encoded representation */
+  readonly tx: string;
+}
 /**
  * The mode used to send transaction
  *
@@ -162,7 +167,7 @@ export declare class RestClient {
   txById(id: string): Promise<TxsResponse>;
   txsQuery(query: string): Promise<SearchTxsResponse>;
   /** returns the amino-encoding of the transaction performed by the server */
-  encodeTx(tx: CosmosSdkTx): Promise<Uint8Array>;
+  encodeTx(tx: CosmosSdkTx): Promise<EncodeTxResponse>;
   /**
    * Broadcasts a signed transaction to into the transaction pool.
    * Depending on the RestClient's broadcast mode, this might or might