diff --git a/server/utils/checkSig.go b/server/utils/checkSig.go
index d505b7d..1010e19 100644
--- a/server/utils/checkSig.go
+++ b/server/utils/checkSig.go
@@ -3,70 +3,100 @@ package utils
 import (
 	"crypto/sha256"
 	"encoding/hex"
-	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
 	"log"
+	"strings"
 
 	relay "grain/server/types"
 
 	"github.com/btcsuite/btcd/btcec/v2"
 	"github.com/btcsuite/btcd/btcec/v2/schnorr"
 )
-func SerializeEvent(evt relay.Event) []byte {
-	eventData := []interface{}{
-		0,
+
+// SerializeEvent manually constructs the JSON string for event serialization
+func SerializeEvent(evt relay.Event) string {
+	// Manually construct the event data as a JSON array string
+	// Avoid escaping special characters like "&"
+	return fmt.Sprintf(
+		`[0,"%s",%d,%d,%s,"%s"]`,
 		evt.PubKey,
 		evt.CreatedAt,
 		evt.Kind,
-		evt.Tags,
-		evt.Content,
-	}
-	serializedEvent, _ := json.Marshal(eventData)
-	return serializedEvent
+		serializeTags(evt.Tags),
+		evt.Content, // Special characters like "&" are not escaped here
+	)
 }
 
+// Helper function to serialize the tags array
+func serializeTags(tags [][]string) string {
+	var tagStrings []string
+	for _, tag := range tags {
+		tagStrings = append(tagStrings, fmt.Sprintf(`["%s"]`, strings.Join(tag, `","`)))
+	}
+	return "[" + strings.Join(tagStrings, ",") + "]"
+}
+
+// CheckSignature verifies the event's signature and ID
 func CheckSignature(evt relay.Event) bool {
+	// Manually serialize the event
 	serializedEvent := SerializeEvent(evt)
-	hash := sha256.Sum256(serializedEvent)
+
+	// Compute the SHA-256 hash of the serialized event
+	hash := sha256.Sum256([]byte(serializedEvent))
 	eventID := hex.EncodeToString(hash[:])
+
+	// Log the generated and provided IDs
+	log.Printf("Generated event ID: %s, Provided event ID: %s", eventID, evt.ID)
+
+	// Compare the computed event ID with the one provided by the client
 	if eventID != evt.ID {
-		log.Printf("Invalid ID: expected %s, got %s\n", eventID, evt.ID)
+		log.Printf("Invalid ID: expected %s, got %s", eventID, evt.ID)
 		return false
 	}
 
+	// Decode the signature from hex
 	sigBytes, err := hex.DecodeString(evt.Sig)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Printf("Error decoding signature: %v\n", err)
+		log.Printf("Error decoding signature: %v", err)
 		return false
 	}
 
+	// Parse the Schnorr signature
 	sig, err := schnorr.ParseSignature(sigBytes)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Printf("Error parsing signature: %v\n", err)
+		log.Printf("Error parsing signature: %v", err)
 		return false
 	}
 
+	// Decode the public key from hex
 	pubKeyBytes, err := hex.DecodeString(evt.PubKey)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Printf("Error decoding public key: %v\n", err)
+		log.Printf("Error decoding public key: %v", err)
 		return false
 	}
 
+	// Parse the public key based on its length
 	var pubKey *btcec.PublicKey
 	if len(pubKeyBytes) == 32 {
-		// Handle 32-byte public key (x-coordinate only)
+		// Handle 32-byte compressed public key (x-coordinate only)
 		pubKey, err = btcec.ParsePubKey(append([]byte{0x02}, pubKeyBytes...))
-	} else {
-		// Handle standard compressed or uncompressed public key
+	} else if len(pubKeyBytes) == 33 || len(pubKeyBytes) == 65 {
+		// Handle standard compressed (33-byte) or uncompressed (65-byte) public key
 		pubKey, err = btcec.ParsePubKey(pubKeyBytes)
-	}
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Printf("Error parsing public key: %v\n", err)
+	} else {
+		log.Printf("Malformed public key: invalid length: %d", len(pubKeyBytes))
 		return false
 	}
 
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("Error parsing public key: %v", err)
+		return false
+	}
+
+	// Verify the signature using the event's hash and public key
 	verified := sig.Verify(hash[:], pubKey)
 	if !verified {
-		log.Printf("Signature verification failed for event ID: %s\n", evt.ID)
+		log.Printf("Signature verification failed for event ID: %s", evt.ID)
 	}
 
 	return verified