diff --git a/funding/routes.py b/funding/routes.py
index 435f24f..8ddf467 100644
--- a/funding/routes.py
+++ b/funding/routes.py
@@ -57,19 +57,20 @@ def postSlate(receivingAddress, slate):
 )
 def getSlates(receivingAddress, signature):
     try:
-        if receivingAddress is None:
+        if receivingAddress is None or signature is None:
             return make_response(jsonify({'status': 'failure', 'error': str("missing correct arguments")}))
-        
-        # Deserialize the base-58 address to hex, and then to an internal public key format
+
+        # Deserialize the base-58 address to an internal public key format
         # NOTE: This assumes that the network version (which is not part of the key) is exactly 2 bytes
-        public_key = secp256k1.PublicKey(base58.b58decode_check(receivingAddress)[2:])
-        
+        public_key = secp256k1.PublicKey(base58.b58decode_check(receivingAddress)[2:], raw=True)
+
         # Prepare the message bound to the signature: a domain separator and the encoded address
         # For some reason, the original client code calls this the "challenge"
         message = 'SubscribeRequest_' + receivingAddress
 
         # Deserialize and verify the provided signature against the message and address public key
-        if not public_key.ecdsa_verify(message, public_key.ecdsa_deserialize(signature)):
+        if not public_key.ecdsa_verify(message.encode(),
+                                       public_key.ecdsa_deserialize(bytes(bytearray.fromhex(signature)))):
             return make_response(jsonify({'status': 'failure', 'error': str("bad signature")}))
 
         slates = Slate.find_slates(address=receivingAddress)