diff --git a/x/auth/CHANGELOG.md b/x/auth/CHANGELOG.md
index ffd25882fa..9c7dbacbd0 100644
--- a/x/auth/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/x/auth/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -48,3 +48,8 @@ Ref: https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/
 
 * [#18817](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/18817) SigVerification, GasConsumption, IncreaseSequence ante decorators have all been joined into one SigVerification decorator. Gas consumption during TX validation flow has reduced.
 * [#19093](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/19093) SetPubKeyDecorator was merged into SigVerification, gas consumption is almost halved for a simple tx.
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* [#19099](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/19099) `verifyIsOnCurve` now checks if we are simulating to avoid malformed public key error.
+
diff --git a/x/auth/ante/sigverify.go b/x/auth/ante/sigverify.go
index 4a9109ff6b..99fe0da3f1 100644
--- a/x/auth/ante/sigverify.go
+++ b/x/auth/ante/sigverify.go
@@ -95,6 +95,11 @@ func OnlyLegacyAminoSigners(sigData signing.SignatureData) bool {
 }
 
 func verifyIsOnCurve(pubKey cryptotypes.PubKey) (err error) {
+	// when simulating pubKey.Key will always be nil
+	if pubKey.Bytes() == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	switch typedPubKey := pubKey.(type) {
 	case *secp256k1.PubKey:
 		pubKeyObject, err := secp256k1dcrd.ParsePubKey(typedPubKey.Bytes())