diff --git a/app/lib/kredits/contracts/base.js b/app/lib/kredits/contracts/base.js
index 6ac690f..a7a35aa 100644
--- a/app/lib/kredits/contracts/base.js
+++ b/app/lib/kredits/contracts/base.js
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
-import Kredits from '../kredits';
-import multihashes from 'npm:multihashes';
-
 export default class Base {
   constructor(contract) {
     this.contract = contract;
@@ -10,28 +7,4 @@ export default class Base {
     return this.contract.functions;
   }
 
-  // TODO: move into utils
-  fetchAndMergeIpfsData(data, Serializer) {
-    if (!data.hashSize || data.hashSize === 0) {
-      return data;
-    }
-    let digest = Kredits.ipfs.Buffer.from(data.ipfsHash.slice(2), 'hex');
-    let ipfsHash = multihashes.encode(digest, data.hashFunction, data.hashSize);
-
-    return Kredits.ipfs
-      .cat(ipfsHash)
-      .then(Serializer.deserialize)
-      .then((attributes) => {
-        return Object.assign({}, data, attributes);
-      });
-  }
-
-  decodeIpfsHash(ipfsHash) {
-    let multihash = multihashes.decode(multihashes.fromB58String(ipfsHash));
-    return {
-      ipfsHash: '0x' + multihashes.toHexString(multihash.digest),
-      hashSize: multihash.length,
-      hashFunction: multihash.code
-    };
-  }
 }
diff --git a/app/lib/kredits/contracts/contributor.js b/app/lib/kredits/contracts/contributor.js
index 65cad84..4e859ff 100644
--- a/app/lib/kredits/contracts/contributor.js
+++ b/app/lib/kredits/contracts/contributor.js
@@ -35,30 +35,23 @@ export default class Contributor extends Base {
       })
       // Fetch IPFS data if available
       .then((data) => {
-        return this.fetchAndMergeIpfsData(data, ContributorSerializer);
+        return Kredits.ipfs.catAndMerge(data, ContributorSerializer.deserialize);
       });
   }
 
-  add(attributes) {
-    console.log(attributes);
-
-    let json = ContributorSerializer.serialize(attributes);
+  add(contributorAttr) {
+    let json = ContributorSerializer.serialize(contributorAttr);
     // TODO: validate against schema
 
     return Kredits.ipfs
-      .add(new Kredits.ipfs.Buffer(json))
-      .then((res) => res[0].hash)
-      .then((ipfsHash) => {
-        Object.assign(attributes, this.decodeIpfsHash(ipfsHash));
-        return attributes;
-      })
-      .then((attr) => {
+      .add(json)
+      .then((ipfsHashAttr) => {
         let contributor = [
-          attr.address,
-          attr.ipfsHash,
-          attr.hashFunction,
-          attr.hashSize,
-          attr.isCore,
+          contributorAttr.address,
+          ipfsHashAttr.ipfsHash,
+          ipfsHashAttr.hashFunction,
+          ipfsHashAttr.hashSize,
+          contributorAttr.isCore,
         ];
 
         console.log('[kredits] addContributor', ...contributor);
diff --git a/app/lib/kredits/contracts/operator.js b/app/lib/kredits/contracts/operator.js
index 841c421..c62eb9c 100644
--- a/app/lib/kredits/contracts/operator.js
+++ b/app/lib/kredits/contracts/operator.js
@@ -35,30 +35,23 @@ export default class Operator extends Base {
       })
       // Fetch IPFS data if available
       .then((data) => {
-        return this.fetchAndMergeIpfsData(data, ContributionSerializer);
+        return Kredits.ipfs.catAndMerge(data, ContributionSerializer.deserialize);
       });
   }
 
-  addProposal(attributes) {
-    console.log(attributes);
-
-    let json = ContributionSerializer.serialize(attributes);
+  addProposal(proposalAttr) {
+    let json = ContributionSerializer.serialize(proposalAttr);
     // TODO: validate against schema
 
     return Kredits.ipfs
-      .add(new Kredits.ipfs.Buffer(json))
-      .then((res) => res[0].hash)
-      .then((ipfsHash) => {
-        Object.assign(attributes, this.decodeIpfsHash(ipfsHash));
-        return attributes;
-      })
-      .then((attr) => {
+      .add(json)
+      .then((ipfsHashAttr) => {
         let proposal = [
-          attr.recipientId,
-          attr.amount,
-          attr.ipfsHash,
-          attr.hashFunction,
-          attr.hashSize,
+          proposalAttr.recipientId,
+          proposalAttr.amount,
+          ipfsHashAttr.ipfsHash,
+          ipfsHashAttr.hashFunction,
+          ipfsHashAttr.hashSize,
         ];
 
         console.log('[kredits] addProposal', ...proposal);
diff --git a/app/lib/kredits/kredits.js b/app/lib/kredits/kredits.js
index 1531a0b..b087371 100644
--- a/app/lib/kredits/kredits.js
+++ b/app/lib/kredits/kredits.js
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 import ethers from 'npm:ethers';
-import ipfsAPI from 'npm:ipfs-api';
 import RSVP from 'rsvp';
 
 import abis from 'contracts/abis';
 import addresses from 'contracts/addresses';
 
 import contracts from './contracts';
+import IPFS from './utils/ipfs';
 
 // Helpers
 function capitalize(word) {
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ export default class Kredits {
 
   static setup(provider, signer, ipfsConfig) {
     this.ipfsConfig = ipfsConfig;
-    this.ipfs = ipfsAPI(ipfsConfig);
+    this.ipfs = new IPFS(ipfsConfig);
 
     let registryContract = this.initRegistryContract(provider);
 
diff --git a/app/lib/kredits/utils/ipfs.js b/app/lib/kredits/utils/ipfs.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9485c12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/lib/kredits/utils/ipfs.js
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+import ipfsAPI from 'npm:ipfs-api';
+import multihashes from 'npm:multihashes';
+
+export default class IPFS {
+
+  constructor(config) {
+    this._ipfsAPI = ipfsAPI(config);
+    this._config = config;
+  }
+
+  catAndMerge(data, deserializer) {
+    // if no hash details are found simply return the data; nothing to merge
+    if (!data.hashSize || data.hashSize === 0) {
+      return data;
+    }
+    return this.cat(data)
+      .then(deserializer)
+      .then((attributes) => {
+        return Object.assign({}, data, attributes);
+      });
+  }
+
+  add(data) {
+    return this._ipfsAPI
+      .add(new this._ipfsAPI.Buffer(data))
+      .then((res) => {
+        return this.decodeHash(res[0].hash);
+      });
+  }
+
+  cat(hashData) {
+    let ipfsHash = hashData; // default - if it is a string
+    if (hashData.hasOwnProperty('hashSize')) {
+      ipfsHash = this.encodeHash(hashData);
+    }
+    return this._ipfsAPI.cat(ipfsHash);
+  }
+
+  decodeHash(ipfsHash) {
+    let multihash = multihashes.decode(multihashes.fromB58String(ipfsHash));
+    return {
+      ipfsHash: '0x' + multihashes.toHexString(multihash.digest),
+      hashSize: multihash.length,
+      hashFunction: multihash.code,
+      sourceHash: ipfsHash
+    };
+  }
+
+  encodeHash(hashData) {
+    let digest = this._ipfsAPI.Buffer.from(hashData.ipfsHash.slice(2), 'hex');
+    return multihashes.encode(digest, hashData.hashFunction, hashData.hashSize);
+  }
+
+
+}