diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index 8651dd2987..d2edac32a6 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -94,7 +94,6 @@ BITCOIN_CORE_H = \
   crypter.h \
   db.h \
   eccryptoverify.h \
-  ecwrapper.h \
   hash.h \
   init.h \
   key.h \
@@ -242,7 +241,6 @@ libbitcoin_common_a_SOURCES = \
   core_read.cpp \
   core_write.cpp \
   eccryptoverify.cpp \
-  ecwrapper.cpp \
   hash.cpp \
   key.cpp \
   keystore.cpp \
@@ -363,7 +361,6 @@ libbitcoinconsensus_la_SOURCES = \
   crypto/sha512.cpp \
   crypto/ripemd160.cpp \
   eccryptoverify.cpp \
-  ecwrapper.cpp \
   hash.cpp \
   pubkey.cpp \
   script/script.cpp \
@@ -378,7 +375,7 @@ if GLIBC_BACK_COMPAT
 endif
 
 libbitcoinconsensus_la_LDFLAGS = -no-undefined -version-info 1:0:0 $(RELDFLAGS)
-libbitcoinconsensus_la_LIBADD = $(CRYPTO_LIBS) $(SSL_LIBS)
+libbitcoinconsensus_la_LIBADD = $(CRYPTO_LIBS) $(LIBSECP256K1)
 libbitcoinconsensus_la_CPPFLAGS = $(CRYPTO_CFLAGS) -I$(builddir)/obj -I$(srcdir)/secp256k1/include -DBUILD_BITCOIN_INTERNAL
 if USE_LIBSECP256K1
 libbitcoinconsensus_la_LIBADD += secp256k1/libsecp256k1.la
diff --git a/src/ecwrapper.cpp b/src/ecwrapper.cpp
deleted file mode 100644
index 5bfa740cc6..0000000000
--- a/src/ecwrapper.cpp
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,195 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright (c) 2009-2014 The Bitcoin developers
-// Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
-// file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
-
-#include "ecwrapper.h"
-
-#include "serialize.h"
-#include "uint256.h"
-
-#include <openssl/bn.h>
-#include <openssl/ecdsa.h>
-#include <openssl/obj_mac.h>
-
-namespace {
-
-/**
- * Perform ECDSA key recovery (see SEC1 4.1.6) for curves over (mod p)-fields
- * recid selects which key is recovered
- * if check is non-zero, additional checks are performed
- */
-int ECDSA_SIG_recover_key_GFp(EC_KEY *eckey, ECDSA_SIG *ecsig, const unsigned char *msg, int msglen, int recid, int check)
-{
-    if (!eckey) return 0;
-
-    int ret = 0;
-    BN_CTX *ctx = NULL;
-
-    BIGNUM *x = NULL;
-    BIGNUM *e = NULL;
-    BIGNUM *order = NULL;
-    BIGNUM *sor = NULL;
-    BIGNUM *eor = NULL;
-    BIGNUM *field = NULL;
-    EC_POINT *R = NULL;
-    EC_POINT *O = NULL;
-    EC_POINT *Q = NULL;
-    BIGNUM *rr = NULL;
-    BIGNUM *zero = NULL;
-    int n = 0;
-    int i = recid / 2;
-
-    const EC_GROUP *group = EC_KEY_get0_group(eckey);
-    if ((ctx = BN_CTX_new()) == NULL) { ret = -1; goto err; }
-    BN_CTX_start(ctx);
-    order = BN_CTX_get(ctx);
-    if (!EC_GROUP_get_order(group, order, ctx)) { ret = -2; goto err; }
-    x = BN_CTX_get(ctx);
-    if (!BN_copy(x, order)) { ret=-1; goto err; }
-    if (!BN_mul_word(x, i)) { ret=-1; goto err; }
-    if (!BN_add(x, x, ecsig->r)) { ret=-1; goto err; }
-    field = BN_CTX_get(ctx);
-    if (!EC_GROUP_get_curve_GFp(group, field, NULL, NULL, ctx)) { ret=-2; goto err; }
-    if (BN_cmp(x, field) >= 0) { ret=0; goto err; }
-    if ((R = EC_POINT_new(group)) == NULL) { ret = -2; goto err; }
-    if (!EC_POINT_set_compressed_coordinates_GFp(group, R, x, recid % 2, ctx)) { ret=0; goto err; }
-    if (check)
-    {
-        if ((O = EC_POINT_new(group)) == NULL) { ret = -2; goto err; }
-        if (!EC_POINT_mul(group, O, NULL, R, order, ctx)) { ret=-2; goto err; }
-        if (!EC_POINT_is_at_infinity(group, O)) { ret = 0; goto err; }
-    }
-    if ((Q = EC_POINT_new(group)) == NULL) { ret = -2; goto err; }
-    n = EC_GROUP_get_degree(group);
-    e = BN_CTX_get(ctx);
-    if (!BN_bin2bn(msg, msglen, e)) { ret=-1; goto err; }
-    if (8*msglen > n) BN_rshift(e, e, 8-(n & 7));
-    zero = BN_CTX_get(ctx);
-    if (!BN_zero(zero)) { ret=-1; goto err; }
-    if (!BN_mod_sub(e, zero, e, order, ctx)) { ret=-1; goto err; }
-    rr = BN_CTX_get(ctx);
-    if (!BN_mod_inverse(rr, ecsig->r, order, ctx)) { ret=-1; goto err; }
-    sor = BN_CTX_get(ctx);
-    if (!BN_mod_mul(sor, ecsig->s, rr, order, ctx)) { ret=-1; goto err; }
-    eor = BN_CTX_get(ctx);
-    if (!BN_mod_mul(eor, e, rr, order, ctx)) { ret=-1; goto err; }
-    if (!EC_POINT_mul(group, Q, eor, R, sor, ctx)) { ret=-2; goto err; }
-    if (!EC_KEY_set_public_key(eckey, Q)) { ret=-2; goto err; }
-
-    ret = 1;
-
-err:
-    if (ctx) {
-        BN_CTX_end(ctx);
-        BN_CTX_free(ctx);
-    }
-    if (R != NULL) EC_POINT_free(R);
-    if (O != NULL) EC_POINT_free(O);
-    if (Q != NULL) EC_POINT_free(Q);
-    return ret;
-}
-
-} // anon namespace
-
-CECKey::CECKey() {
-    pkey = EC_KEY_new_by_curve_name(NID_secp256k1);
-    assert(pkey != NULL);
-}
-
-CECKey::~CECKey() {
-    EC_KEY_free(pkey);
-}
-
-void CECKey::GetPubKey(std::vector<unsigned char> &pubkey, bool fCompressed) {
-    EC_KEY_set_conv_form(pkey, fCompressed ? POINT_CONVERSION_COMPRESSED : POINT_CONVERSION_UNCOMPRESSED);
-    int nSize = i2o_ECPublicKey(pkey, NULL);
-    assert(nSize);
-    assert(nSize <= 65);
-    pubkey.clear();
-    pubkey.resize(nSize);
-    unsigned char *pbegin(begin_ptr(pubkey));
-    int nSize2 = i2o_ECPublicKey(pkey, &pbegin);
-    assert(nSize == nSize2);
-}
-
-bool CECKey::SetPubKey(const unsigned char* pubkey, size_t size) {
-    return o2i_ECPublicKey(&pkey, &pubkey, size) != NULL;
-}
-
-bool CECKey::Verify(const uint256 &hash, const std::vector<unsigned char>& vchSig) {
-    if (vchSig.empty())
-        return false;
-
-    // New versions of OpenSSL will reject non-canonical DER signatures. de/re-serialize first.
-    unsigned char *norm_der = NULL;
-    ECDSA_SIG *norm_sig = ECDSA_SIG_new();
-    const unsigned char* sigptr = &vchSig[0];
-    assert(norm_sig);
-    if (d2i_ECDSA_SIG(&norm_sig, &sigptr, vchSig.size()) == NULL)
-    {
-        /* As of OpenSSL 1.0.0p d2i_ECDSA_SIG frees and nulls the pointer on
-         * error. But OpenSSL's own use of this function redundantly frees the
-         * result. As ECDSA_SIG_free(NULL) is a no-op, and in the absence of a
-         * clear contract for the function behaving the same way is more
-         * conservative.
-         */
-        ECDSA_SIG_free(norm_sig);
-        return false;
-    }
-    int derlen = i2d_ECDSA_SIG(norm_sig, &norm_der);
-    ECDSA_SIG_free(norm_sig);
-    if (derlen <= 0)
-        return false;
-
-    // -1 = error, 0 = bad sig, 1 = good
-    bool ret = ECDSA_verify(0, (unsigned char*)&hash, sizeof(hash), norm_der, derlen, pkey) == 1;
-    OPENSSL_free(norm_der);
-    return ret;
-}
-
-bool CECKey::Recover(const uint256 &hash, const unsigned char *p64, int rec)
-{
-    if (rec<0 || rec>=3)
-        return false;
-    ECDSA_SIG *sig = ECDSA_SIG_new();
-    BN_bin2bn(&p64[0],  32, sig->r);
-    BN_bin2bn(&p64[32], 32, sig->s);
-    bool ret = ECDSA_SIG_recover_key_GFp(pkey, sig, (unsigned char*)&hash, sizeof(hash), rec, 0) == 1;
-    ECDSA_SIG_free(sig);
-    return ret;
-}
-
-bool CECKey::TweakPublic(const unsigned char vchTweak[32]) {
-    bool ret = true;
-    BN_CTX *ctx = BN_CTX_new();
-    BN_CTX_start(ctx);
-    BIGNUM *bnTweak = BN_CTX_get(ctx);
-    BIGNUM *bnOrder = BN_CTX_get(ctx);
-    BIGNUM *bnOne = BN_CTX_get(ctx);
-    const EC_GROUP *group = EC_KEY_get0_group(pkey);
-    EC_GROUP_get_order(group, bnOrder, ctx); // what a grossly inefficient way to get the (constant) group order...
-    BN_bin2bn(vchTweak, 32, bnTweak);
-    if (BN_cmp(bnTweak, bnOrder) >= 0)
-        ret = false; // extremely unlikely
-    EC_POINT *point = EC_POINT_dup(EC_KEY_get0_public_key(pkey), group);
-    BN_one(bnOne);
-    EC_POINT_mul(group, point, bnTweak, point, bnOne, ctx);
-    if (EC_POINT_is_at_infinity(group, point))
-        ret = false; // ridiculously unlikely
-    EC_KEY_set_public_key(pkey, point);
-    EC_POINT_free(point);
-    BN_CTX_end(ctx);
-    BN_CTX_free(ctx);
-    return ret;
-}
-
-bool CECKey::SanityCheck()
-{
-    EC_KEY *pkey = EC_KEY_new_by_curve_name(NID_secp256k1);
-    if(pkey == NULL)
-        return false;
-    EC_KEY_free(pkey);
-
-    // TODO Is there more EC functionality that could be missing?
-    return true;
-}
diff --git a/src/ecwrapper.h b/src/ecwrapper.h
deleted file mode 100644
index 4efde51650..0000000000
--- a/src/ecwrapper.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,40 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright (c) 2009-2014 The Bitcoin developers
-// Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
-// file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
-
-#ifndef BITCOIN_ECWRAPPER_H
-#define BITCOIN_ECWRAPPER_H
-
-#include <cstddef>
-#include <vector>
-
-#include <openssl/ec.h>
-
-class uint256;
-
-/** RAII Wrapper around OpenSSL's EC_KEY */
-class CECKey {
-private:
-    EC_KEY *pkey;
-
-public:
-    CECKey();
-    ~CECKey();
-
-    void GetPubKey(std::vector<unsigned char>& pubkey, bool fCompressed);
-    bool SetPubKey(const unsigned char* pubkey, size_t size);
-    bool Verify(const uint256 &hash, const std::vector<unsigned char>& vchSig);
-
-    /**
-     * reconstruct public key from a compact signature
-     * This is only slightly more CPU intensive than just verifying it.
-     * If this function succeeds, the recovered public key is guaranteed to be valid
-     * (the signature is a valid signature of the given data for that key)
-     */
-    bool Recover(const uint256 &hash, const unsigned char *p64, int rec);
-
-    bool TweakPublic(const unsigned char vchTweak[32]);
-    static bool SanityCheck();
-};
-
-#endif // BITCOIN_ECWRAPPER_H
diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index 970fb0ec1f..902c33c0c9 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 #include "main.h"
 #include "miner.h"
 #include "net.h"
+#include "pubkey.h"
 #include "rpcserver.h"
 #include "script/standard.h"
 #include "txdb.h"
@@ -196,6 +197,7 @@ void Shutdown()
     pwalletMain = NULL;
 #endif
     ECC_Stop();
+    ECC_Verify_Stop();
     LogPrintf("%s: done\n", __func__);
 }
 
@@ -770,6 +772,7 @@ bool AppInit2(boost::thread_group& threadGroup)
     // ********************************************************* Step 4: application initialization: dir lock, daemonize, pidfile, debug log
 
     // Initialize elliptic curve code
+    ECC_Verify_Start();
     ECC_Start();
 
     // Sanity check
diff --git a/src/key.cpp b/src/key.cpp
index 9674ae1c89..507361d190 100644
--- a/src/key.cpp
+++ b/src/key.cpp
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@
 #include "random.h"
 
 #include <secp256k1.h>
-#include "ecwrapper.h"
 
 static secp256k1_context_t* secp256k1_context = NULL;
 
@@ -183,11 +182,6 @@ void CExtKey::Decode(const unsigned char code[74]) {
 }
 
 bool ECC_InitSanityCheck() {
-#if !defined(USE_SECP256K1)
-    if (!CECKey::SanityCheck()) {
-        return false;
-    }
-#endif
     CKey key;
     key.MakeNewKey(true);
     CPubKey pubkey = key.GetPubKey();
diff --git a/src/pubkey.cpp b/src/pubkey.cpp
index 91979ff4dc..162be80079 100644
--- a/src/pubkey.cpp
+++ b/src/pubkey.cpp
@@ -4,27 +4,15 @@
 
 #include "pubkey.h"
 
-#include "eccryptoverify.h"
-
-#ifdef USE_SECP256K1
 #include <secp256k1.h>
-#else
-#include "ecwrapper.h"
-#endif
+
+static secp256k1_context_t* secp256k1_context = NULL;
 
 bool CPubKey::Verify(const uint256 &hash, const std::vector<unsigned char>& vchSig) const {
     if (!IsValid())
         return false;
-#ifdef USE_SECP256K1
-    if (secp256k1_ecdsa_verify((const unsigned char*)&hash, 32, &vchSig[0], vchSig.size(), begin(), size()) != 1)
+    if (secp256k1_ecdsa_verify(secp256k1_context, (const unsigned char*)&hash, &vchSig[0], vchSig.size(), begin(), size()) != 1)
         return false;
-#else
-    CECKey key;
-    if (!key.SetPubKey(begin(), size()))
-        return false;
-    if (!key.Verify(hash, vchSig))
-        return false;
-#endif
     return true;
 }
 
@@ -33,52 +21,28 @@ bool CPubKey::RecoverCompact(const uint256 &hash, const std::vector<unsigned cha
         return false;
     int recid = (vchSig[0] - 27) & 3;
     bool fComp = ((vchSig[0] - 27) & 4) != 0;
-#ifdef USE_SECP256K1
     int pubkeylen = 65;
-    if (!secp256k1_ecdsa_recover_compact((const unsigned char*)&hash, 32, &vchSig[1], (unsigned char*)begin(), &pubkeylen, fComp, recid))
+    if (!secp256k1_ecdsa_recover_compact(secp256k1_context, (const unsigned char*)&hash, &vchSig[1], (unsigned char*)begin(), &pubkeylen, fComp, recid))
         return false;
     assert((int)size() == pubkeylen);
-#else
-    CECKey key;
-    if (!key.Recover(hash, &vchSig[1], recid))
-        return false;
-    std::vector<unsigned char> pubkey;
-    key.GetPubKey(pubkey, fComp);
-    Set(pubkey.begin(), pubkey.end());
-#endif
     return true;
 }
 
 bool CPubKey::IsFullyValid() const {
     if (!IsValid())
         return false;
-#ifdef USE_SECP256K1
-    if (!secp256k1_ecdsa_pubkey_verify(begin(), size()))
+    if (!secp256k1_ec_pubkey_verify(secp256k1_context, begin(), size()))
         return false;
-#else
-    CECKey key;
-    if (!key.SetPubKey(begin(), size()))
-        return false;
-#endif
     return true;
 }
 
 bool CPubKey::Decompress() {
     if (!IsValid())
         return false;
-#ifdef USE_SECP256K1
     int clen = size();
-    int ret = secp256k1_ecdsa_pubkey_decompress((unsigned char*)begin(), &clen);
+    int ret = secp256k1_ec_pubkey_decompress(secp256k1_context, (unsigned char*)begin(), &clen);
     assert(ret);
     assert(clen == (int)size());
-#else
-    CECKey key;
-    if (!key.SetPubKey(begin(), size()))
-        return false;
-    std::vector<unsigned char> pubkey;
-    key.GetPubKey(pubkey, false);
-    Set(pubkey.begin(), pubkey.end());
-#endif
     return true;
 }
 
@@ -89,17 +53,8 @@ bool CPubKey::Derive(CPubKey& pubkeyChild, unsigned char ccChild[32], unsigned i
     unsigned char out[64];
     BIP32Hash(cc, nChild, *begin(), begin()+1, out);
     memcpy(ccChild, out+32, 32);
-#ifdef USE_SECP256K1
     pubkeyChild = *this;
-    bool ret = secp256k1_ecdsa_pubkey_tweak_add((unsigned char*)pubkeyChild.begin(), pubkeyChild.size(), out);
-#else
-    CECKey key;
-    bool ret = key.SetPubKey(begin(), size());
-    ret &= key.TweakPublic(out);
-    std::vector<unsigned char> pubkey;
-    key.GetPubKey(pubkey, true);
-    pubkeyChild.Set(pubkey.begin(), pubkey.end());
-#endif
+    bool ret = secp256k1_ec_pubkey_tweak_add(secp256k1_context, (unsigned char*)pubkeyChild.begin(), pubkeyChild.size(), out);
     return ret;
 }
 
@@ -128,3 +83,21 @@ bool CExtPubKey::Derive(CExtPubKey &out, unsigned int nChild) const {
     out.nChild = nChild;
     return pubkey.Derive(out.pubkey, out.vchChainCode, nChild, vchChainCode);
 }
+
+void ECC_Verify_Start() {
+    assert(secp256k1_context == NULL);
+
+    secp256k1_context_t *ctx = secp256k1_context_create(SECP256K1_CONTEXT_VERIFY);
+    assert(ctx != NULL);
+
+    secp256k1_context = ctx;
+}
+
+void ECC_Verify_Stop() {
+    secp256k1_context_t *ctx = secp256k1_context;
+    secp256k1_context = NULL;
+
+    if (ctx) {
+        secp256k1_context_destroy(ctx);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/pubkey.h b/src/pubkey.h
index 37351cff0e..2ce4a0ff3d 100644
--- a/src/pubkey.h
+++ b/src/pubkey.h
@@ -203,4 +203,10 @@ struct CExtPubKey {
     bool Derive(CExtPubKey& out, unsigned int nChild) const;
 };
 
+/** Initialize the elliptic curve support. May not be called twice without calling ECC_Stop first. */
+void ECC_Verify_Start(void);
+
+/** Deinitialize the elliptic curve support. No-op if ECC_Start wasn't called first. */
+void ECC_Verify_Stop(void);
+
 #endif // BITCOIN_PUBKEY_H
diff --git a/src/test/test_bitcoin.cpp b/src/test/test_bitcoin.cpp
index 7a8f04624a..9b5ca34ce9 100644
--- a/src/test/test_bitcoin.cpp
+++ b/src/test/test_bitcoin.cpp
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 #include "key.h"
 #include "main.h"
+#include "pubkey.h"
 #include "random.h"
 #include "txdb.h"
 #include "ui_interface.h"
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ struct TestingSetup {
     boost::thread_group threadGroup;
 
     TestingSetup() {
+        ECC_Verify_Start();
         ECC_Start();
         SetupEnvironment();
         fPrintToDebugLog = false; // don't want to write to debug.log file
@@ -75,6 +77,7 @@ struct TestingSetup {
 #endif
         boost::filesystem::remove_all(pathTemp);
         ECC_Stop();
+        ECC_Verify_Stop();
     }
 };