diff --git a/ssz/Cargo.toml b/ssz/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0500ab3c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ssz/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+[package]
+name = "ssz"
+version = "0.1.0"
+authors = ["Paul Hauner <paul@paulhauner.com>"]
+
+[dependencies]
+bytes = "0.4.9"
+ethereum-types = ""
diff --git a/ssz/README.md b/ssz/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ea31acfa8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ssz/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# simpleserialize (ssz)
+
+This is a **work-in-progress** crate designed to perform the "simpleserialize"
+serialization described by Vitalik Buterin. The method is tentatively intended
+for use in the Ethereum Beacon Chain.
+
+There are two primary sources for this spec, and they are presently
+conflicting:
+
+ - The ethereum/beacon_chain reference implementation [simpleserialize.py](https://github.com/ethereum/beacon_chain/blob/master/beacon_chain/utils/simpleserialize.py) file.
+ - The [py_ssz module](https://github.com/ethereum/research/tree/master/py_ssz)
+   in ethereum/research.
+
+This implementation is presently a placeholder until the final spec is decided.
+Do not rely upon it for reference.
+
+## TODO
+
+ - Wait for spec to finalize.
+ - Implement encoding for all useful types.
+ - Implement decoding.
diff --git a/ssz/src/lib.rs b/ssz/src/lib.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9b392a875
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ssz/src/lib.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,181 @@
+/*
+ * This is a WIP of implementing an alternative 
+ * serialization strategy. It attempts to follow Vitalik's
+ * "ssz" format here: 
+ * https://github.com/ethereum/research/tree/master/py_ssz
+ *
+ * This implementation is not final and would almost certainly
+ * have issues.
+ */
+extern crate bytes;
+extern crate ethereum_types;
+
+use self::bytes::{ BytesMut, BufMut };
+use self::ethereum_types::{ H256, U256 };
+
+pub const LENGTH_BYTES: usize = 4;
+
+pub trait Encodable {
+    fn ssz_append(&self, s: &mut SszStream);
+}
+
+pub struct SszStream {
+    buffer: Vec<u8>
+}
+
+impl SszStream {
+    pub fn new() -> Self {
+        SszStream {
+            buffer: Vec::new()
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn append<E>(&mut self, value: &E) -> &mut Self
+        where E: Encodable
+    {
+        value.ssz_append(self);
+        self
+    }
+
+    fn append_encoded_vec(&mut self, v: &mut Vec<u8>) {
+        self.buffer.append(&mut encode_length(v.len(), LENGTH_BYTES));
+        self.buffer.append(v) ;
+    }
+    
+    fn append_encoded_array(&mut self, a: &mut [u8]) {
+        let len = a.len();
+        self.buffer.append(&mut encode_length(len, LENGTH_BYTES));
+        self.buffer.extend_from_slice(&a[0..len]);
+    }
+
+    pub fn drain(self) -> Vec<u8> {
+        self.buffer
+    }
+}
+
+pub fn encode<E>(value: &E) -> Vec<u8>
+    where E: Encodable
+{
+    let mut stream = SszStream::new();
+    stream.append(value);
+    stream.drain()
+}
+
+fn encode_length(len: usize, length_bytes: usize) -> Vec<u8> {
+    assert!(length_bytes > 0);  // For sanity
+    assert!((len as usize) < 2usize.pow(length_bytes as u32 * 8));
+    let mut header: Vec<u8> = vec![0; length_bytes];
+    for i in 0..length_bytes {
+        let offset = (length_bytes - i - 1) * 8;
+        header[i] = ((len >> offset) & 0xff) as u8;
+    };
+    header
+}
+
+/*
+ * Implementations for various types
+ */
+
+impl Encodable for u32 {
+    fn ssz_append(&self, s: &mut SszStream) {
+        let mut buf = BytesMut::with_capacity(32/8);
+        buf.put_u32_be(*self);
+        s.append_encoded_vec(&mut buf.to_vec());
+    }
+}
+
+impl Encodable for u64 {
+    fn ssz_append(&self, s: &mut SszStream) {
+        let mut buf = BytesMut::with_capacity(64/8);
+        buf.put_u64_be(*self);
+        s.append_encoded_vec(&mut buf.to_vec());
+    }
+}
+
+impl Encodable for H256 {
+    fn ssz_append(&self, s: &mut SszStream) {
+        s.append_encoded_vec(&mut self.to_vec());
+    }
+}
+
+impl Encodable for U256 {
+    fn ssz_append(&self, s: &mut SszStream) {
+        let mut a = [0; 32];
+        self.to_big_endian(&mut a);
+        s.append_encoded_array(&mut a);
+    }
+}
+
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    
+    #[test]
+    #[should_panic]
+    fn test_encode_length_0_bytes_panic() {
+        encode_length(0, 0);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_encode_length_4_bytes() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            encode_length(0, 4),
+            vec![0; 4]
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            encode_length(1, 4),
+            vec![0, 0, 0, 1]
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            encode_length(255, 4),
+            vec![0, 0, 0, 255]
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            encode_length(256, 4),
+            vec![0, 0, 1, 0]
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            encode_length(4294967295, 4),  // 2^(4*8) - 1
+            vec![255, 255, 255, 255]
+        );
+    }
+    
+    #[test]
+    #[should_panic]
+    fn test_encode_length_4_bytes_panic() {
+        encode_length(4294967296, 4);  // 2^(4*8)
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_serialization() {
+        pub struct TestStruct {
+            pub one: u32,
+            pub two: H256,
+            pub three: u64,        
+        }
+
+        impl Encodable for TestStruct {
+            fn ssz_append(&self, s: &mut SszStream) {
+                s.append(&self.one);
+                s.append(&self.two);
+                s.append(&self.three);
+            }
+        }
+
+        let t = TestStruct {
+            one: 1,
+            two: H256::zero(),
+            three: 100
+        };
+
+        let e = encode(&t);
+        assert_eq!(e[0..4], [0, 0, 0, 4]);
+        assert_eq!(e[4..8], [0, 0, 0, 1]);
+        assert_eq!(e[8..12], [0, 0, 0, 32]);
+        assert_eq!(e[12..44], [0; 32]);
+        assert_eq!(e[44..48], [0, 0, 0, 8]);
+        assert_eq!(e[48..56], [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 100]);
+        assert_eq!(e.len(), 56);
+    }
+}