diff --git a/crypto/crypto.go b/crypto/crypto.go
index e51b63bec..2492165d3 100644
--- a/crypto/crypto.go
+++ b/crypto/crypto.go
@@ -141,11 +141,11 @@ func toECDSA(d []byte, strict bool) (*ecdsa.PrivateKey, error) {
 
 	// The priv.D must < N
 	if priv.D.Cmp(secp256k1N) >= 0 {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid private key, >=N")
+		return nil, errors.New("invalid private key, >=N")
 	}
 	// The priv.D must not be zero or negative.
 	if priv.D.Sign() <= 0 {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid private key, zero or negative")
+		return nil, errors.New("invalid private key, zero or negative")
 	}
 
 	priv.PublicKey.X, priv.PublicKey.Y = priv.PublicKey.Curve.ScalarBaseMult(d)
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ func LoadECDSA(file string) (*ecdsa.PrivateKey, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	} else if n != len(buf) {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("key file too short, want 64 hex characters")
+		return nil, errors.New("key file too short, want 64 hex characters")
 	}
 	if err := checkKeyFileEnd(r); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/crypto/ecies/ecies.go b/crypto/ecies/ecies.go
index 64b5a99d0..738bb8f58 100644
--- a/crypto/ecies/ecies.go
+++ b/crypto/ecies/ecies.go
@@ -36,18 +36,18 @@ import (
 	"crypto/hmac"
 	"crypto/subtle"
 	"encoding/binary"
-	"fmt"
+	"errors"
 	"hash"
 	"io"
 	"math/big"
 )
 
 var (
-	ErrImport                     = fmt.Errorf("ecies: failed to import key")
-	ErrInvalidCurve               = fmt.Errorf("ecies: invalid elliptic curve")
-	ErrInvalidPublicKey           = fmt.Errorf("ecies: invalid public key")
-	ErrSharedKeyIsPointAtInfinity = fmt.Errorf("ecies: shared key is point at infinity")
-	ErrSharedKeyTooBig            = fmt.Errorf("ecies: shared key params are too big")
+	ErrImport                     = errors.New("ecies: failed to import key")
+	ErrInvalidCurve               = errors.New("ecies: invalid elliptic curve")
+	ErrInvalidPublicKey           = errors.New("ecies: invalid public key")
+	ErrSharedKeyIsPointAtInfinity = errors.New("ecies: shared key is point at infinity")
+	ErrSharedKeyTooBig            = errors.New("ecies: shared key params are too big")
 )
 
 // PublicKey is a representation of an elliptic curve public key.
@@ -138,8 +138,8 @@ func (prv *PrivateKey) GenerateShared(pub *PublicKey, skLen, macLen int) (sk []b
 }
 
 var (
-	ErrSharedTooLong  = fmt.Errorf("ecies: shared secret is too long")
-	ErrInvalidMessage = fmt.Errorf("ecies: invalid message")
+	ErrSharedTooLong  = errors.New("ecies: shared secret is too long")
+	ErrInvalidMessage = errors.New("ecies: invalid message")
 )
 
 // NIST SP 800-56 Concatenation Key Derivation Function (see section 5.8.1).
diff --git a/crypto/ecies/ecies_test.go b/crypto/ecies/ecies_test.go
index 8ca42c9c8..e3da71010 100644
--- a/crypto/ecies/ecies_test.go
+++ b/crypto/ecies/ecies_test.go
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ import (
 	"crypto/rand"
 	"crypto/sha256"
 	"encoding/hex"
-	"fmt"
+	"errors"
 	"math/big"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ func TestKDF(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-var ErrBadSharedKeys = fmt.Errorf("ecies: shared keys don't match")
+var ErrBadSharedKeys = errors.New("ecies: shared keys don't match")
 
 // cmpParams compares a set of ECIES parameters. We assume, as per the
 // docs, that AES is the only supported symmetric encryption algorithm.
diff --git a/crypto/ecies/params.go b/crypto/ecies/params.go
index 39e7c8947..df7698ea0 100644
--- a/crypto/ecies/params.go
+++ b/crypto/ecies/params.go
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ import (
 	"crypto/elliptic"
 	"crypto/sha256"
 	"crypto/sha512"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"hash"
 
@@ -47,8 +48,8 @@ import (
 
 var (
 	DefaultCurve                  = ethcrypto.S256()
-	ErrUnsupportedECDHAlgorithm   = fmt.Errorf("ecies: unsupported ECDH algorithm")
-	ErrUnsupportedECIESParameters = fmt.Errorf("ecies: unsupported ECIES parameters")
+	ErrUnsupportedECDHAlgorithm   = errors.New("ecies: unsupported ECDH algorithm")
+	ErrUnsupportedECIESParameters = errors.New("ecies: unsupported ECIES parameters")
 	ErrInvalidKeyLen              = fmt.Errorf("ecies: invalid key size (> %d) in ECIESParams", maxKeyLen)
 )
 
diff --git a/crypto/signature_cgo.go b/crypto/signature_cgo.go
index 3a32755f5..2339e5201 100644
--- a/crypto/signature_cgo.go
+++ b/crypto/signature_cgo.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ package crypto
 import (
 	"crypto/ecdsa"
 	"crypto/elliptic"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common/math"
@@ -72,7 +73,7 @@ func VerifySignature(pubkey, digestHash, signature []byte) bool {
 func DecompressPubkey(pubkey []byte) (*ecdsa.PublicKey, error) {
 	x, y := secp256k1.DecompressPubkey(pubkey)
 	if x == nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid public key")
+		return nil, errors.New("invalid public key")
 	}
 	return &ecdsa.PublicKey{X: x, Y: y, Curve: S256()}, nil
 }
diff --git a/crypto/signature_nocgo.go b/crypto/signature_nocgo.go
index 3e48e51e8..6d628d758 100644
--- a/crypto/signature_nocgo.go
+++ b/crypto/signature_nocgo.go
@@ -74,12 +74,12 @@ func Sign(hash []byte, prv *ecdsa.PrivateKey) ([]byte, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("hash is required to be exactly 32 bytes (%d)", len(hash))
 	}
 	if prv.Curve != btcec.S256() {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("private key curve is not secp256k1")
+		return nil, errors.New("private key curve is not secp256k1")
 	}
 	// ecdsa.PrivateKey -> btcec.PrivateKey
 	var priv btcec.PrivateKey
 	if overflow := priv.Key.SetByteSlice(prv.D.Bytes()); overflow || priv.Key.IsZero() {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid private key")
+		return nil, errors.New("invalid private key")
 	}
 	defer priv.Zero()
 	sig, err := btc_ecdsa.SignCompact(&priv, hash, false) // ref uncompressed pubkey