diff --git a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/src/index.js b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/src/index.js
index 6707446a..e9cefe62 100644
--- a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/src/index.js
+++ b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/src/index.js
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ async function * walkPath (path, ipld, options = {}) {
     cid,
     toResolve
   } = cidAndRest(path)
-  let name = cid.toBaseEncodedString()
+  let name = cid.toString()
   let entryPath = name
   const startingDepth = toResolve.length
 
diff --git a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/src/resolvers/dag-cbor.js b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/src/resolvers/dag-cbor.js
index 79899daa..40f69809 100644
--- a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/src/resolvers/dag-cbor.js
+++ b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/src/resolvers/dag-cbor.js
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ const resolve = async (cid, name, path, toResolve, resolve, depth, ipld, options
       subObject = subObject[prop]
     } else {
       // cannot resolve further
-      throw errCode(new Error(`No property named ${prop} found in cbor node ${cid.toBaseEncodedString()}`), 'ERR_NO_PROP')
+      throw errCode(new Error(`No property named ${prop} found in cbor node ${cid}`), 'ERR_NO_PROP')
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/src/resolvers/identity.js b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/src/resolvers/identity.js
index 06035886..080ee182 100644
--- a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/src/resolvers/identity.js
+++ b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/src/resolvers/identity.js
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ const rawContent = (node) => {
  */
 const resolve = async (cid, name, path, toResolve, resolve, depth, ipld, options) => {
   if (toResolve.length) {
-    throw errCode(new Error(`No link named ${path} found in raw node ${cid.toBaseEncodedString()}`), 'ERR_NOT_FOUND')
+    throw errCode(new Error(`No link named ${path} found in raw node ${cid}`), 'ERR_NOT_FOUND')
   }
 
   const buf = await mh.decode(cid.multihash)
diff --git a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/src/resolvers/raw.js b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/src/resolvers/raw.js
index 2e6812eb..5ec94544 100644
--- a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/src/resolvers/raw.js
+++ b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/src/resolvers/raw.js
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ const rawContent = (node) => {
  */
 const resolve = async (cid, name, path, toResolve, resolve, depth, ipld, options) => {
   if (toResolve.length) {
-    throw errCode(new Error(`No link named ${path} found in raw node ${cid.toBaseEncodedString()}`), 'ERR_NOT_FOUND')
+    throw errCode(new Error(`No link named ${path} found in raw node ${cid}`), 'ERR_NOT_FOUND')
   }
 
   const buf = await ipld.get(cid, options)
diff --git a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/src/resolvers/unixfs-v1/index.js b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/src/resolvers/unixfs-v1/index.js
index 1b74ebf9..441c17be 100644
--- a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/src/resolvers/unixfs-v1/index.js
+++ b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/src/resolvers/unixfs-v1/index.js
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ const unixFsResolver = async (cid, name, path, toResolve, resolve, depth, ipld,
   let next
 
   if (!name) {
-    name = cid.toBaseEncodedString()
+    name = cid.toString()
   }
 
   try {
diff --git a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/exporter-sharded.spec.js b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/exporter-sharded.spec.js
index ddec0d16..c4bce877 100644
--- a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/exporter-sharded.spec.js
+++ b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/exporter-sharded.spec.js
@@ -172,59 +172,59 @@ describe('exporter sharded', function () {
 
   it('exports one file from a sharded directory', async () => {
     const dirCid = await createShard(31)
-    const exported = await exporter(`/ipfs/${dirCid.toBaseEncodedString()}/file-14`, ipld)
+    const exported = await exporter(`/ipfs/${dirCid}/file-14`, ipld)
 
     expect(exported).to.have.property('name', 'file-14')
   })
 
   it('exports one file from a sharded directory sub shard', async () => {
     const dirCid = await createShard(31)
-    const exported = await exporter(`/ipfs/${dirCid.toBaseEncodedString()}/file-30`, ipld)
+    const exported = await exporter(`/ipfs/${dirCid}/file-30`, ipld)
 
     expect(exported.name).to.deep.equal('file-30')
   })
 
   it('exports one file from a shard inside a shard inside a shard', async () => {
     const dirCid = await createShard(2568)
-    const exported = await exporter(`/ipfs/${dirCid.toBaseEncodedString()}/file-2567`, ipld)
+    const exported = await exporter(`/ipfs/${dirCid}/file-2567`, ipld)
 
     expect(exported.name).to.deep.equal('file-2567')
   })
 
   it('extracts a deep folder from the sharded directory', async () => {
     const dirCid = await createShardWithFileNames(31, (index) => `/foo/bar/baz/file-${index}`)
-    const exported = await exporter(`/ipfs/${dirCid.toBaseEncodedString()}/foo/bar/baz`, ipld)
+    const exported = await exporter(`/ipfs/${dirCid}/foo/bar/baz`, ipld)
 
     expect(exported.name).to.deep.equal('baz')
   })
 
   it('extracts an intermediate folder from the sharded directory', async () => {
     const dirCid = await createShardWithFileNames(31, (index) => `/foo/bar/baz/file-${index}`)
-    const exported = await exporter(`/ipfs/${dirCid.toBaseEncodedString()}/foo/bar`, ipld)
+    const exported = await exporter(`/ipfs/${dirCid}/foo/bar`, ipld)
 
     expect(exported.name).to.deep.equal('bar')
   })
 
   it('uses .path to extract all intermediate entries from the sharded directory', async () => {
     const dirCid = await createShardWithFileNames(31, (index) => `/foo/bar/baz/file-${index}`)
-    const exported = await all(walkPath(`/ipfs/${dirCid.toBaseEncodedString()}/foo/bar/baz/file-1`, ipld))
+    const exported = await all(walkPath(`/ipfs/${dirCid}/foo/bar/baz/file-1`, ipld))
 
     expect(exported.length).to.equal(5)
 
-    expect(exported[0].name).to.equal(dirCid.toBaseEncodedString())
+    expect(exported[0].name).to.equal(dirCid.toString())
     expect(exported[1].name).to.equal('foo')
-    expect(exported[1].path).to.equal(`${dirCid.toBaseEncodedString()}/foo`)
+    expect(exported[1].path).to.equal(`${dirCid}/foo`)
     expect(exported[2].name).to.equal('bar')
-    expect(exported[2].path).to.equal(`${dirCid.toBaseEncodedString()}/foo/bar`)
+    expect(exported[2].path).to.equal(`${dirCid}/foo/bar`)
     expect(exported[3].name).to.equal('baz')
-    expect(exported[3].path).to.equal(`${dirCid.toBaseEncodedString()}/foo/bar/baz`)
+    expect(exported[3].path).to.equal(`${dirCid}/foo/bar/baz`)
     expect(exported[4].name).to.equal('file-1')
-    expect(exported[4].path).to.equal(`${dirCid.toBaseEncodedString()}/foo/bar/baz/file-1`)
+    expect(exported[4].path).to.equal(`${dirCid}/foo/bar/baz/file-1`)
   })
 
   it('uses .path to extract all intermediate entries from the sharded directory as well as the contents', async () => {
     const dirCid = await createShardWithFileNames(31, (index) => `/foo/bar/baz/file-${index}`)
-    const exported = await all(walkPath(`/ipfs/${dirCid.toBaseEncodedString()}/foo/bar/baz`, ipld))
+    const exported = await all(walkPath(`/ipfs/${dirCid}/foo/bar/baz`, ipld))
 
     expect(exported.length).to.equal(4)
 
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ describe('exporter sharded', function () {
       hashAlg: mh.names['sha2-256']
     })
 
-    const exported = await exporter(`/ipfs/${shardNodeCid.toBaseEncodedString()}/normal-dir/shard/file-1`, ipld)
+    const exported = await exporter(`/ipfs/${shardNodeCid}/normal-dir/shard/file-1`, ipld)
 
     expect(exported.name).to.deep.equal('file-1')
   })
diff --git a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/exporter-subtree.spec.js b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/exporter-subtree.spec.js
index 854ab0d7..14a11332 100644
--- a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/exporter-subtree.spec.js
+++ b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/exporter-subtree.spec.js
@@ -44,11 +44,11 @@ describe('exporter subtree', () => {
       throw new Error('Nothing imported')
     }
 
-    const exported = await exporter(`${imported.cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/level-1/200Bytes.txt`, ipld)
+    const exported = await exporter(`${imported.cid}/level-1/200Bytes.txt`, ipld)
 
     expect(exported).to.have.property('cid')
     expect(exported.name).to.equal('200Bytes.txt')
-    expect(exported.path).to.equal(`${imported.cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/level-1/200Bytes.txt`)
+    expect(exported.path).to.equal(`${imported.cid}/level-1/200Bytes.txt`)
 
     if (exported.type !== 'file') {
       throw new Error('Unexpected type')
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ describe('exporter subtree', () => {
       throw new Error('Nothing imported')
     }
 
-    const exported = await exporter(`${imported.cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/level-1`, ipld)
+    const exported = await exporter(`${imported.cid}/level-1`, ipld)
 
     if (exported.type !== 'directory') {
       throw new Error('Unexpected type')
@@ -84,10 +84,10 @@ describe('exporter subtree', () => {
 
     expect(files.length).to.equal(2)
     expect(files[0].name).to.equal('200Bytes.txt')
-    expect(files[0].path).to.equal(`${imported.cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/level-1/200Bytes.txt`)
+    expect(files[0].path).to.equal(`${imported.cid}/level-1/200Bytes.txt`)
 
     expect(files[1].name).to.equal('level-2')
-    expect(files[1].path).to.equal(`${imported.cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/level-1/level-2`)
+    expect(files[1].path).to.equal(`${imported.cid}/level-1/level-2`)
 
     if (files[0].type !== 'file') {
       throw new Error('Unexpected type')
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ describe('exporter subtree', () => {
     }
 
     try {
-      await exporter(`${imported.cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/doesnotexist`, ipld)
+      await exporter(`${imported.cid}/doesnotexist`, ipld)
     } catch (err) {
       expect(err.code).to.equal('ERR_NOT_FOUND')
     }
@@ -134,16 +134,16 @@ describe('exporter subtree', () => {
       throw new Error('Nothing imported')
     }
 
-    const exported = await all(walkPath(`${imported.cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/level-1/level-2/200Bytes.txt`, ipld))
+    const exported = await all(walkPath(`${imported.cid}/level-1/level-2/200Bytes.txt`, ipld))
 
     expect(exported.length).to.equal(4)
-    expect(exported[0].path).to.equal(imported.cid.toBaseEncodedString())
-    expect(exported[0].name).to.equal(imported.cid.toBaseEncodedString())
-    expect(exported[1].path).to.equal(`${imported.cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/level-1`)
+    expect(exported[0].path).to.equal(imported.cid.toString())
+    expect(exported[0].name).to.equal(imported.cid.toString())
+    expect(exported[1].path).to.equal(`${imported.cid}/level-1`)
     expect(exported[1].name).to.equal('level-1')
-    expect(exported[2].path).to.equal(`${imported.cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/level-1/level-2`)
+    expect(exported[2].path).to.equal(`${imported.cid}/level-1/level-2`)
     expect(exported[2].name).to.equal('level-2')
-    expect(exported[3].path).to.equal(`${imported.cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/level-1/level-2/200Bytes.txt`)
+    expect(exported[3].path).to.equal(`${imported.cid}/level-1/level-2/200Bytes.txt`)
     expect(exported[3].name).to.equal('200Bytes.txt')
   })
 })
diff --git a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/exporter.spec.js b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/exporter.spec.js
index dcc3c355..ee295045 100644
--- a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/exporter.spec.js
+++ b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/exporter.spec.js
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ describe('exporter', () => {
     const file = await exporter(result.cid, ipld)
 
     expect(file).to.have.property('cid')
-    expect(file).to.have.property('path', result.cid.toBaseEncodedString())
+    expect(file).to.have.property('path', result.cid.toString())
 
     if (file.type !== 'file') {
       throw new Error('Unexpected type')
@@ -199,11 +199,11 @@ describe('exporter', () => {
       content: asAsyncIterable(smallFile)
     }], block))
 
-    const path = `/ipfs/${files[1].cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/${fileName}`
+    const path = `/ipfs/${files[1].cid}/${fileName}`
     const file = await exporter(path, ipld)
 
     expect(file.name).to.equal(fileName)
-    expect(file.path).to.equal(`${files[1].cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/${fileName}`)
+    expect(file.path).to.equal(`${files[1].cid}/${fileName}`)
   })
 
   it('small file in a directory with an square brackets in the title', async () => {
@@ -215,11 +215,11 @@ describe('exporter', () => {
       content: asAsyncIterable(smallFile)
     }], block))
 
-    const path = `/ipfs/${files[1].cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/${fileName}`
+    const path = `/ipfs/${files[1].cid}/${fileName}`
     const file = await exporter(path, ipld)
 
     expect(file.name).to.equal(fileName)
-    expect(file.path).to.equal(`${files[1].cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/${fileName}`)
+    expect(file.path).to.equal(`${files[1].cid}/${fileName}`)
   })
 
   it('exports a chunk of a file with no links', async () => {
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ describe('exporter', () => {
       throw new Error('Unexpected type')
     }
 
-    expect(file).to.have.property('path', cid.toBaseEncodedString())
+    expect(file).to.have.property('path', cid.toString())
     expect(file.unixfs.fileSize()).to.equal(ONE_MEG * 6)
   })
 
@@ -354,7 +354,7 @@ describe('exporter', () => {
     })
 
     const file = await exporter(cid, ipld)
-    expect(file).to.have.property('path', cid.toBaseEncodedString())
+    expect(file).to.have.property('path', cid.toString())
 
     if (file.type !== 'file') {
       throw new Error('Unexpected type')
@@ -432,9 +432,9 @@ describe('exporter', () => {
     expect(
       files.map((file) => file.path)
     ).to.be.eql([
-      `${dir.cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/200Bytes.txt`,
-      `${dir.cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/dir-another`,
-      `${dir.cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/level-1`
+      `${dir.cid}/200Bytes.txt`,
+      `${dir.cid}/dir-another`,
+      `${dir.cid}/level-1`
     ])
 
     files
@@ -480,9 +480,9 @@ describe('exporter', () => {
     expect(
       files.map((file) => file.path)
     ).to.be.eql([
-      `${importedDir.cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/200Bytes.txt`,
-      `${importedDir.cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/dir-another`,
-      `${importedDir.cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/level-1`
+      `${importedDir.cid}/200Bytes.txt`,
+      `${importedDir.cid}/dir-another`,
+      `${importedDir.cid}/level-1`
     ])
 
     expect(
@@ -942,7 +942,7 @@ describe('exporter', () => {
     }, mc.DAG_CBOR)
 
     try {
-      await exporter(`${cborNodeCid.toBaseEncodedString()}/baz`, ipld)
+      await exporter(`${cborNodeCid}/baz`, ipld)
     } catch (err) {
       expect(err.code).to.equal('ERR_NO_PROP')
     }
@@ -954,7 +954,7 @@ describe('exporter', () => {
     }
 
     const cborNodeCid = await ipld.put(node, mc.DAG_CBOR)
-    const exported = await exporter(`${cborNodeCid.toBaseEncodedString()}`, ipld)
+    const exported = await exporter(`${cborNodeCid}`, ipld)
 
     if (exported.type !== 'object') {
       throw new Error('Unexpected type')
@@ -967,7 +967,7 @@ describe('exporter', () => {
     const cid = new CID(1, 'git-raw', new CID('zdj7WkRPAX9o9nb9zPbXzwG7JEs78uyhwbUs8JSUayB98DWWY').multihash)
 
     try {
-      await exporter(`${cid.toBaseEncodedString()}`, ipld)
+      await exporter(`${cid}`, ipld)
     } catch (err) {
       expect(err.code).to.equal('ERR_NO_RESOLVER')
     }
@@ -977,7 +977,7 @@ describe('exporter', () => {
     const cid = await ipld.put(Uint8Array.from([0, 1, 2, 3, 4]), mc.RAW)
 
     try {
-      await exporter(`${cid.toBaseEncodedString()}/lol`, ipld)
+      await exporter(`${cid}/lol`, ipld)
     } catch (err) {
       expect(err.code).to.equal('ERR_NOT_FOUND')
     }
@@ -1048,7 +1048,7 @@ describe('exporter', () => {
     }
 
     const exported = await all(recursive(dir.cid, ipld))
-    const dirCid = dir.cid.toBaseEncodedString()
+    const dirCid = dir.cid.toString()
 
     expect(exported[0].depth).to.equal(0)
     expect(exported[0].name).to.equal(dirCid)
diff --git a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/import-export-dir-sharding.spec.js b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/import-export-dir-sharding.spec.js
index acffcec5..14cb081a 100644
--- a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/import-export-dir-sharding.spec.js
+++ b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/import-export-dir-sharding.spec.js
@@ -117,10 +117,10 @@ describe('builder: directory sharding', () => {
         throw new Error('Unexpected type')
       }
 
-      const expectedHash = nonShardedHash.toBaseEncodedString()
+      const expectedHash = nonShardedHash.toString()
 
       expect(dir.path).to.be.eql(expectedHash)
-      expect(dir.cid.toBaseEncodedString()).to.be.eql(expectedHash)
+      expect(dir.cid.toString()).to.be.eql(expectedHash)
       expect(files[0].path).to.be.eql(expectedHash + '/b')
       expect(files[0].unixfs.fileSize()).to.be.eql(content.length)
 
@@ -154,10 +154,10 @@ describe('builder: directory sharding', () => {
         throw new Error('Unexpected type')
       }
 
-      const expectedHash = shardedHash.toBaseEncodedString()
+      const expectedHash = shardedHash.toString()
 
       expect(dir.path).to.be.eql(expectedHash)
-      expect(dir.cid.toBaseEncodedString()).to.be.eql(expectedHash)
+      expect(dir.cid.toString()).to.be.eql(expectedHash)
       expect(files[0].path).to.be.eql(expectedHash + '/b')
       expect(files[0].unixfs.fileSize()).to.be.eql(content.length)
 
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ describe('builder: directory sharding', () => {
         if (!index) {
           // first dir
           if (depth === 1) {
-            expect(path).to.equal(dir.cid.toBaseEncodedString())
+            expect(path).to.equal(dir.cid.toString())
           }
 
           const entry = entries[path]
@@ -363,7 +363,7 @@ describe('builder: directory sharding', () => {
     })
 
     it('exports a big dir with subpath', async () => {
-      const exportHash = rootHash.toBaseEncodedString() + '/big/big/2000'
+      const exportHash = rootHash.toString() + '/big/big/2000'
 
       const node = await exporter(exportHash, ipld)
       expect(node.path).to.equal(exportHash)
diff --git a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/import-export-nested-dir.spec.js b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/import-export-nested-dir.spec.js
index f7158c9c..12ad7061 100644
--- a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/import-export-nested-dir.spec.js
+++ b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/import-export-nested-dir.spec.js
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ async function recursiveExport (node, path, entries = []) {
 function normalizeNode (node) {
   return {
     path: node.path || '',
-    multihash: node.cid.toBaseEncodedString()
+    multihash: node.cid.toString()
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/importer.spec.js b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/importer.spec.js
index 7f975db2..a84d6f63 100644
--- a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/importer.spec.js
+++ b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-exporter/test/importer.spec.js
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ function stringifyMh (files) {
   return files.map((file) => {
     return {
       ...file,
-      cid: file.cid.toBaseEncodedString()
+      cid: file.cid.toString()
     }
   })
 }
@@ -341,7 +341,7 @@ strategies.forEach((strategy) => {
       const actualFile = actualFiles[i]
 
       expect(actualFile.path).to.equal(expectedFile.path)
-      expect(actualFile.cid.toBaseEncodedString('base58btc')).to.equal(expectedFile.cid)
+      expect(actualFile.cid.toString('base58btc')).to.equal(expectedFile.cid)
 
       if (actualFile.unixfs) {
         expect(actualFile.unixfs.type).to.equal(expectedFile.type)
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ strategies.forEach((strategy) => {
       expect(files.length).to.eql(1)
 
       // always yield empty file node
-      expect(files[0].cid.toBaseEncodedString()).to.eql('QmbFMke1KXqnYyBBWxB74N4c5SBnJMVAiMNRcGu6x1AwQH')
+      expect(files[0].cid.toString()).to.eql('QmbFMke1KXqnYyBBWxB74N4c5SBnJMVAiMNRcGu6x1AwQH')
     })
 
     it('supports more than one root', async () => {
diff --git a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-importer/test/hash-parity-with-go-ipfs.spec.js b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-importer/test/hash-parity-with-go-ipfs.spec.js
index 1e996d32..9e67f52e 100644
--- a/packages/ipfs-unixfs-importer/test/hash-parity-with-go-ipfs.spec.js
+++ b/packages/ipfs-unixfs-importer/test/hash-parity-with-go-ipfs.spec.js
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ strategies.forEach(strategy => {
         throw new Error('Nothing imported')
       }
 
-      expect(file.cid.toBaseEncodedString()).to.be.equal(expectedHashes[strategy])
+      expect(file.cid.toString()).to.be.equal(expectedHashes[strategy])
     })
   })
 })