diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 5f1a335..f8a7dc5 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,4 @@
 .idea/
 lbryschema-cli
+lbryschema-python-binding.h
+lbryschema-python-binding.so
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/binding/lbryschema-python-binding.go b/binding/lbryschema-python-binding.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..557c383
--- /dev/null
+++ b/binding/lbryschema-python-binding.go
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+package main
+import (
+	"C"
+	"../claim"
+)
+
+//export VerifySignature
+func VerifySignature(claimHex string, certificateHex string, claimAddress string, certificateId string) (bool) {
+	decodedClaim, err := claim.DecodeClaimHex(claimHex)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	decodedCertificate, err := claim.DecodeClaimHex(certificateHex)
+	result, err := decodedClaim.ValidateClaimSignature(decodedCertificate, claimAddress, certificateId)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	return result
+}
+
+func main() {}
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 06fc6b0..cea268d 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -5,4 +5,5 @@ echo "Building protobuf files"
 rm -rf pb/*.pb.go
 protoc --go_out=. pb/*.proto
 go build ./...
-go build ./cli/lbryschema-cli.go
\ No newline at end of file
+go build ./cli/lbryschema-cli.go
+go build -o lbryschema-python-binding.so -buildmode=c-shared ./binding/lbryschema-python-binding.go
diff --git a/test_binding.py b/test_binding.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae6a08f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test_binding.py
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+from ctypes import *
+
+
+class _GoString(Structure):
+    _fields_ = [
+        ("p", c_char_p),
+        ("n", c_longlong)
+    ]
+
+
+def GoString(s):
+    if not isinstance(s, (str, unicode)):
+        raise TypeError("invalid type: %s" % str(type(s)))
+    x = str(s)
+    return _GoString(x, len(x))
+
+
+def GoBinding(library, *argTypes):
+    """
+    Get a binding to a go function of the same name in the given .so
+    The python function itself is not run, and can return or pass
+
+    :param argTypes: *parameter types
+    """
+
+    lib = cdll.LoadLibrary(library)
+
+    def inner(fn):
+        _types = {
+            str: _GoString
+        }
+
+        _getters = {
+            str: GoString
+        }
+
+        for v in argTypes:
+            if not isinstance(v, type):
+                raise TypeError("invalid argument type")
+            if v not in _types:
+                raise TypeError("type does not have a mapping: %s" % str(type(v)))
+
+        _go_func = getattr(lib, fn.__name__)
+        _go_func.argtypes = [_types[v] for v in argTypes]
+
+        def _wrap(*args):
+            _args = [_getters[arg_type](arg) for arg_type, arg in zip(argTypes, args)]
+            return _go_func(*tuple(_args))
+        return _wrap
+    return inner
+
+
+@GoBinding("./lbryschema-python-binding.so", str, str, str, str)
+def VerifySignature(claim, certificate, claim_address, certificate_id):
+    pass
+
+
+cert_claim_hex = "08011002225e0801100322583056301006072a8648ce3d020106052b8104000a03420004d015365a40f3e5c03c87227168e5851f44659837bcf6a3398ae633bc37d04ee19baeb26dc888003bd728146dbea39f5344bf8c52cedaf1a3a1623a0166f4a367"
+signed_claim_hex = "080110011ad7010801128f01080410011a0c47616d65206f66206c696665221047616d65206f66206c696665206769662a0b4a6f686e20436f6e776179322e437265617469766520436f6d6d6f6e73204174747269627574696f6e20342e3020496e7465726e6174696f6e616c38004224080110011a195569c917f18bf5d2d67f1346aa467b218ba90cdbf2795676da250000803f4a0052005a001a41080110011a30b6adf6e2a62950407ea9fb045a96127b67d39088678d2f738c359894c88d95698075ee6203533d3c204330713aa7acaf2209696d6167652f6769662a5c080110031a40c73fe1be4f1743c2996102eec6ce0509e03744ab940c97d19ddb3b25596206367ab1a3d2583b16c04d2717eeb983ae8f84fee2a46621ffa5c4726b30174c6ff82214251305ca93d4dbedb50dceb282ebcb7b07b7ac65"
+claim_addr = "bSkUov7HMWpYBiXackDwRnR5ishhGHvtJt"
+cert_id = "251305ca93d4dbedb50dceb282ebcb7b07b7ac65"
+import time
+from lbryschema.decode import smart_decode
+
+cd = smart_decode(signed_claim_hex)
+certd = smart_decode(cert_claim_hex)
+
+
+def clock_lbryschema_python(n=10.0):
+    start = time.time()
+    for i in range(int(n)):
+        assert cd.validate_signature(claim_addr, certd)
+        if i % 10 == 0:
+            print i
+    avg = float(time.time() - start) / n
+    return 1.0 / avg
+
+
+def clock_lbryschema_go(n=100.0):
+    start = time.time()
+    for i in range(int(n)):
+        assert VerifySignature(signed_claim_hex, cert_claim_hex, claim_addr, cert_id)
+        if i % 10 == 0:
+            print i
+    avg = float(time.time() - start) / n
+    return 1.0 / avg
+
+print "Start"
+print "%f validations / second with python" % clock_lbryschema_python()
+print "%f validations / second with go binding" % clock_lbryschema_go()
+