diff --git a/.github/workflows/coverage.yml b/.github/workflows/coverage.yml
index c918ea5..fdd3a5e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/coverage.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/coverage.yml
@@ -16,4 +16,4 @@ jobs:
         COVERALLS_REPO_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.COVERALLS_REPO_TOKEN }}
       run: |
         cargo install cargo-tarpaulin
-        cargo tarpaulin --ciserver github-ci --coveralls $COVERALLS_REPO_TOKEN
+        cargo tarpaulin --all-features --ciserver github-ci --coveralls $COVERALLS_REPO_TOKEN
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 9134602..496bcd1 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -17,13 +17,17 @@ license = "Apache-2.0"
 exclude = ["/.github/*"]
 
 [dependencies.num-traits]
-version = "0.2.15"
+version = "0.2.19"
 default-features = false
 
 [dependencies.num-integer]
 version = "0.1.45"
 default-features = false
 
+[dependencies.zeroize]
+version = "1.8.1"
+optional = true
+
 [profile.dev]
 opt-level = 0
 debug = true
@@ -33,3 +37,7 @@ lto = false
 panic = 'unwind'
 incremental = false
 codegen-units = 16
+
+[features]
+use-unsafe = []
+default = []
diff --git a/src/fixeduint.rs b/src/fixeduint.rs
index 78969b3..0501444 100644
--- a/src/fixeduint.rs
+++ b/src/fixeduint.rs
@@ -17,12 +17,19 @@ use num_traits::{Bounded, One, PrimInt, ToPrimitive, Zero};
 
 use num_integer;
 
+#[cfg(feature = "use-unsafe")]
+use core::borrow::{Borrow, BorrowMut};
 use core::convert::TryFrom;
 use core::fmt::Write;
+#[cfg(feature = "use-unsafe")]
+use core::hash::Hash;
 
 use crate::machineword::MachineWord;
 use crate::patch_num_traits::{OverflowingShl, OverflowingShr};
 
+#[cfg(feature = "zeroize")]
+use zeroize::DefaultIsZeroes;
+
 #[allow(unused_imports)]
 use num_traits::{FromPrimitive, Num};
 
@@ -81,6 +88,55 @@ impl<T: MachineWord, const N: usize> FixedUInt<T, N> {
         ret
     }
 
+    /// Create a little-endian integer value from its representation as a byte array in big endian.
+    pub fn from_be_bytes(bytes: &[u8]) -> Self {
+        let iter: usize = core::cmp::min(bytes.len() / Self::WORD_SIZE, N);
+        let total_bytes = iter * Self::WORD_SIZE;
+        let mut ret = Self::new();
+        for word in 0..iter {
+            let mut v = T::zero();
+            let mut next = T::zero();
+            for i in 0..Self::WORD_SIZE {
+                let byte_index = total_bytes - (word + 1) * Self::WORD_SIZE + i;
+                let byte = bytes[byte_index];
+                v = next | byte.into();
+                next = if Self::WORD_BITS == 8 { v } else { v.shl(8) };
+            }
+            ret.array[word] = v;
+        }
+        ret
+    }
+
+    // Converts the FixedUInt into a little-endian byte array.
+    pub fn to_le_bytes<'a>(&self, output_buffer: &'a mut [u8]) -> Result<&'a [u8], bool> {
+        let total_bytes = N * Self::WORD_SIZE;
+        if output_buffer.len() < total_bytes {
+            return Err(false); // Buffer too small
+        }
+        for (i, word) in self.array.iter().enumerate() {
+            let start = i * Self::WORD_SIZE;
+            let end = start + Self::WORD_SIZE;
+            let word_bytes = word.to_le_bytes();
+            output_buffer[start..end].copy_from_slice(word_bytes.as_ref());
+        }
+        Ok(&output_buffer[..total_bytes])
+    }
+
+    // Converts the FixedUInt into a big-endian byte array.
+    pub fn to_be_bytes<'a>(&self, output_buffer: &'a mut [u8]) -> Result<&'a [u8], bool> {
+        let total_bytes = N * Self::WORD_SIZE;
+        if output_buffer.len() < total_bytes {
+            return Err(false); // Buffer too small
+        }
+        for (i, word) in self.array.iter().rev().enumerate() {
+            let start = i * Self::WORD_SIZE;
+            let end = start + Self::WORD_SIZE;
+            let word_bytes = word.to_be_bytes();
+            output_buffer[start..end].copy_from_slice(word_bytes.as_ref());
+        }
+        Ok(&output_buffer[..total_bytes])
+    }
+
     /// Converts to hex string, given a buffer. CAVEAT: This method removes any leading zero
     pub fn to_hex_str<'a>(&self, result: &'a mut [u8]) -> Result<&'a str, core::fmt::Error> {
         type Error = core::fmt::Error;
@@ -1341,6 +1397,89 @@ impl<T: MachineWord, const N: usize> num_integer::Integer for FixedUInt<T, N> {
 
 // #endregion num-integer::Integer
 
+#[cfg(feature = "zeroize")]
+impl<T: MachineWord, const N: usize> DefaultIsZeroes for FixedUInt<T, N> {}
+
+// Helper, holds an owned copy of returned bytes
+#[derive(Eq, PartialEq, Clone, Copy, PartialOrd, Ord, Debug)]
+pub struct BytesHolder<T: MachineWord, const N: usize> {
+    array: [T; N],
+}
+
+#[cfg(feature = "use-unsafe")]
+impl<T: MachineWord, const N: usize> BytesHolder<T, N> {
+    // Converts internal storage to a mutable byte slice
+    fn as_byte_slice_mut(&mut self) -> &mut [u8] {
+        // SAFETY: This is safe because the size of the array is the same as the size of the slice
+        unsafe {
+            core::slice::from_raw_parts_mut(
+                &mut self.array as *mut T as *mut u8,
+                N * core::mem::size_of::<T>(),
+            )
+        }
+    }
+    fn as_byte_slice(&self) -> &[u8] {
+        // SAFETY: This is safe because the size of the array is the same as the size of the slice
+        unsafe {
+            core::slice::from_raw_parts(
+                &self.array as *const T as *const u8,
+                N * core::mem::size_of::<T>(),
+            )
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(feature = "use-unsafe")]
+impl<T: MachineWord, const N: usize> Borrow<[u8]> for BytesHolder<T, N> {
+    fn borrow(&self) -> &[u8] {
+        self.as_byte_slice()
+    }
+}
+#[cfg(feature = "use-unsafe")]
+impl<T: MachineWord, const N: usize> BorrowMut<[u8]> for BytesHolder<T, N> {
+    fn borrow_mut(&mut self) -> &mut [u8] {
+        self.as_byte_slice_mut()
+    }
+}
+#[cfg(feature = "use-unsafe")]
+impl<T: MachineWord, const N: usize> AsRef<[u8]> for BytesHolder<T, N> {
+    fn as_ref(&self) -> &[u8] {
+        self.as_byte_slice()
+    }
+}
+#[cfg(feature = "use-unsafe")]
+impl<T: MachineWord, const N: usize> AsMut<[u8]> for BytesHolder<T, N> {
+    fn as_mut(&mut self) -> &mut [u8] {
+        self.as_byte_slice_mut()
+    }
+}
+#[cfg(feature = "use-unsafe")]
+impl<T: MachineWord, const N: usize> Hash for BytesHolder<T, N> {
+    fn hash<H: core::hash::Hasher>(&self, _state: &mut H) {
+        todo!()
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(feature = "use-unsafe")]
+impl<T: MachineWord, const N: usize> num_traits::ToBytes for FixedUInt<T, N>
+where
+    T: core::fmt::Debug,
+{
+    type Bytes = BytesHolder<T, N>;
+
+    fn to_be_bytes(&self) -> Self::Bytes {
+        let mut ret = Self::Bytes { array: self.array };
+        let _ = self.to_be_bytes(ret.as_byte_slice_mut());
+        ret
+    }
+
+    fn to_le_bytes(&self) -> Self::Bytes {
+        let mut ret = Self::Bytes { array: self.array };
+        let _ = self.to_le_bytes(ret.as_byte_slice_mut());
+        ret
+    }
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::FixedUInt as Bn;
@@ -1558,4 +1697,62 @@ mod tests {
         let f4 = Bn8::from_u64(990224).unwrap();
         assert!(f4 > Bn8::from_u64(990223).unwrap());
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_le_be_bytes() {
+        let le_bytes = [1, 2, 3, 4];
+        let be_bytes = [4, 3, 2, 1];
+        let u8_ver = FixedUInt::<u8, 4>::from_le_bytes(&le_bytes);
+        let u16_ver = FixedUInt::<u16, 2>::from_le_bytes(&le_bytes);
+        let u32_ver = FixedUInt::<u32, 1>::from_le_bytes(&le_bytes);
+        let u8_ver_be = FixedUInt::<u8, 4>::from_be_bytes(&be_bytes);
+        let u16_ver_be = FixedUInt::<u16, 2>::from_be_bytes(&be_bytes);
+        let u32_ver_be = FixedUInt::<u32, 1>::from_be_bytes(&be_bytes);
+
+        assert_eq!(u8_ver.array, [1, 2, 3, 4]);
+        assert_eq!(u16_ver.array, [0x0201, 0x0403]);
+        assert_eq!(u32_ver.array, [0x04030201]);
+        assert_eq!(u8_ver_be.array, [1, 2, 3, 4]);
+        assert_eq!(u16_ver_be.array, [0x0201, 0x0403]);
+        assert_eq!(u32_ver_be.array, [0x04030201]);
+
+        let mut output_buffer = [0u8; 16];
+        assert_eq!(u8_ver.to_le_bytes(&mut output_buffer).unwrap(), &le_bytes);
+        assert_eq!(u8_ver.to_be_bytes(&mut output_buffer).unwrap(), &be_bytes);
+        assert_eq!(u16_ver.to_le_bytes(&mut output_buffer).unwrap(), &le_bytes);
+        assert_eq!(u16_ver.to_be_bytes(&mut output_buffer).unwrap(), &be_bytes);
+        assert_eq!(u32_ver.to_le_bytes(&mut output_buffer).unwrap(), &le_bytes);
+        assert_eq!(u32_ver.to_be_bytes(&mut output_buffer).unwrap(), &be_bytes);
+    }
+
+    fn test_helper<T: num_traits::ToBytes>(input: &T, expected_be: &[u8]) {
+        let mut buffer = [0u8; 256];
+        buffer[..expected_be.len()].copy_from_slice(expected_be);
+        let expected_le = &mut buffer[..expected_be.len()];
+        expected_le.reverse();
+
+        let out = input.to_be_bytes();
+        assert_eq!(out.as_ref(), expected_be);
+        let out = input.to_le_bytes();
+        assert_eq!(out.as_ref(), expected_le);
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(feature = "use-unsafe")]
+    #[test]
+    fn test_to_bytes() {
+        test_helper(&0xAB_u8, &[0xAB_u8]);
+        test_helper(&0xABCD_u16, &[0xAB, 0xCD]);
+        test_helper(
+            &FixedUInt::<u8, 4>::from_u32(0x12345678).unwrap(),
+            &[0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78],
+        );
+        test_helper(
+            &FixedUInt::<u16, 2>::from_u32(0x12345678).unwrap(),
+            &[0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78],
+        );
+        test_helper(
+            &FixedUInt::<u32, 1>::from_u32(0x12345678).unwrap(),
+            &[0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78],
+        );
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/machineword.rs b/src/machineword.rs
index 307f45d..c3647d4 100644
--- a/src/machineword.rs
+++ b/src/machineword.rs
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ pub trait MachineWord:
     + core::ops::BitAndAssign
     + core::ops::BitOrAssign
     + core::ops::BitXorAssign
+    + num_traits::FromBytes
+    + num_traits::ToBytes
 {
     type DoubleWord: num_traits::PrimInt;
     fn to_double(self) -> Self::DoubleWord;