diff --git a/backend/src/api/bitcoin/bitcoin-api-abstract-factory.ts b/backend/src/api/bitcoin/bitcoin-api-abstract-factory.ts
index aa9fe5d15..7b2802d1b 100644
--- a/backend/src/api/bitcoin/bitcoin-api-abstract-factory.ts
+++ b/backend/src/api/bitcoin/bitcoin-api-abstract-factory.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ export interface AbstractBitcoinApi {
   $getBlockHash(height: number): Promise<string>;
   $getBlockHeader(hash: string): Promise<string>;
   $getBlock(hash: string): Promise<IEsploraApi.Block>;
-  $getRawBlock(hash: string): Promise<string>;
+  $getRawBlock(hash: string): Promise<Buffer>;
   $getAddress(address: string): Promise<IEsploraApi.Address>;
   $getAddressTransactions(address: string, lastSeenTxId: string): Promise<IEsploraApi.Transaction[]>;
   $getAddressPrefix(prefix: string): string[];
diff --git a/backend/src/api/bitcoin/bitcoin-api.ts b/backend/src/api/bitcoin/bitcoin-api.ts
index 0a3d674ec..cad11aeda 100644
--- a/backend/src/api/bitcoin/bitcoin-api.ts
+++ b/backend/src/api/bitcoin/bitcoin-api.ts
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ class BitcoinApi implements AbstractBitcoinApi {
       .then((rpcBlock: IBitcoinApi.Block) => rpcBlock.tx);
   }
 
-  $getRawBlock(hash: string): Promise<string> {
+  $getRawBlock(hash: string): Promise<Buffer> {
     return this.bitcoindClient.getBlock(hash, 0)
       .then((raw: string) => Buffer.from(raw, "hex"));
   }
diff --git a/backend/src/api/bitcoin/esplora-api.ts b/backend/src/api/bitcoin/esplora-api.ts
index 3662347d6..37f6e5892 100644
--- a/backend/src/api/bitcoin/esplora-api.ts
+++ b/backend/src/api/bitcoin/esplora-api.ts
@@ -55,9 +55,9 @@ class ElectrsApi implements AbstractBitcoinApi {
       .then((response) => response.data);
   }
 
-  $getRawBlock(hash: string): Promise<string> {
-    return axios.get<string>(config.ESPLORA.REST_API_URL + '/block/' + hash + "/raw", this.axiosConfig)
-      .then((response) => response.data);
+  $getRawBlock(hash: string): Promise<Buffer> {
+    return axios.get<string>(config.ESPLORA.REST_API_URL + '/block/' + hash + "/raw", { ...this.axiosConfig, responseType: 'arraybuffer' })
+      .then((response) => { return Buffer.from(response.data); });
   }
 
   $getAddress(address: string): Promise<IEsploraApi.Address> {
diff --git a/backend/src/api/blocks.ts b/backend/src/api/blocks.ts
index 828c86c31..f247617de 100644
--- a/backend/src/api/blocks.ts
+++ b/backend/src/api/blocks.ts
@@ -744,8 +744,8 @@ class Blocks {
     let transactions;
     if (Common.blocksSummariesIndexingEnabled()) {
       transactions = await this.$getStrippedBlockTransactions(hash);
-      const rawBlock = await bitcoinClient.getBlock(hash, 0);
-      const block = Block.fromHex(rawBlock);
+      const rawBlock = await bitcoinApi.$getRawBlock(hash);
+      const block = Block.fromBuffer(rawBlock);
       const txMap = {};
       for (const tx of block.transactions || []) {
         txMap[tx.getId()] = tx;