diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6525ba45..9b4bcdf2 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -13,8 +13,10 @@ build/CMakeFiles/*
 build/tests
 build/client
 build/core
+build/benchmark
 build/i2pd
 build/i2pd-tests
+build/i2pd-benchmark
 *.cmake
 *.a
 *.o
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index e03b0f9b..d0312076 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ option(WITH_BINARY    "Build binary" ON)
 option(WITH_STATIC    "Static build" OFF)
 option(WITH_UPNP      "Include support for UPnP client" OFF)
 option(WITH_TESTS     "Build unit tests" OFF)
+option(WITH_BENCHMARK "Build benchmarking code" OFF)
+option(WITH_OPTIMIZE  "Optmizeation flags" OFF)
 
 set(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/build/cmake_modules")
 set(CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR})
@@ -80,6 +82,9 @@ if(WITH_AESNI)
     add_definitions( "-maes -DAESNI")
 endif()
 
+if(WITH_OPTIMIZE AND (NOT MSVC))
+    set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -O3")
+endif()
 
 # Libraries
 # TODO: once CMake 3.1+ becomes mainstream, see e.g.
@@ -163,6 +168,8 @@ message(STATUS "  BINARY           : ${WITH_BINARY}")
 message(STATUS "  STATIC BUILD     : ${WITH_STATIC}")
 message(STATUS "  UPnP             : ${WITH_UPNP}")
 message(STATUS "  TESTS            : ${WITH_TESTS}")
+message(STATUS "  BENCHMARKING     : ${WITH_BENCHMARK}")
+message(STATUS "  OPTIMIZATION     : ${WITH_OPTIMIZE}")
 message(STATUS "---------------------------------------")
 
 # Handle paths nicely
@@ -171,6 +178,8 @@ include(GNUInstallDirs)
 set(CORE_NAME "${PROJECT_NAME}-core")
 set(CLIENT_NAME "${PROJECT_NAME}-client")
 set(TESTS_NAME "${PROJECT_NAME}-tests")
+set(BENCHMARK_NAME "${PROJECT_NAME}-benchmark")
 add_subdirectory(core)
 add_subdirectory(client)
 add_subdirectory(tests)
+add_subdirectory(benchmark)
diff --git a/benchmark/CMakeLists.txt b/benchmark/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..25d4b12c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/benchmark/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+set(BENCHMARK_SRC
+  "main.cpp"
+)
+
+if(WITH_BENCHMARK)
+    add_executable(${BENCHMARK_NAME} ${BENCHMARK_SRC})
+    target_link_libraries(
+        ${BENCHMARK_NAME} ${CORE_NAME} ${DL_LIB} ${Boost_LIBRARIES} ${CRYPTO++_LIBRARIES}
+        ${CMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT}
+    )
+    install(TARGETS
+        ${BENCHMARK_NAME} RUNTIME DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR}
+    )
+endif()
diff --git a/benchmark/main.cpp b/benchmark/main.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..387c505d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/benchmark/main.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+#include "crypto/Signature.h"
+#include <cryptopp/osrng.h>
+#include <iostream>
+#include <chrono>
+#include <functional>
+
+typedef std::function<void(CryptoPP::RandomNumberGenerator&, uint8_t*, uint8_t*)> KeyGenerator;
+
+template<class Verifier, class Signer>
+void benchmark(std::size_t count, std::size_t public_key_size, std::size_t private_key_size,
+    std::size_t signature_size, KeyGenerator generator)
+{
+    typedef std::chrono::time_point<std::chrono::high_resolution_clock> TimePoint;
+    CryptoPP::AutoSeededRandomPool rng;
+
+    uint8_t private_key[private_key_size] = {};
+    uint8_t public_key[public_key_size] = {};
+
+    generator(rng, private_key, public_key);
+
+    Verifier verifier(public_key); 
+    Signer signer(private_key); 
+
+    uint8_t message[512] = {};
+    uint8_t output[signature_size] = {};
+
+    std::chrono::nanoseconds sign_duration(0);
+    std::chrono::nanoseconds verify_duration(0);
+
+    for(std::size_t i = 0; i < count; ++i) {
+        rng.GenerateBlock(message, 512); 
+        TimePoint begin1 = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
+        signer.Sign(rng, message, 512, output);
+        TimePoint end1 = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
+
+        sign_duration += std::chrono::duration_cast<std::chrono::nanoseconds>(end1 - begin1);
+
+        TimePoint begin2 = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
+        verifier.Verify(message, 512, output);
+        TimePoint end2 = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
+
+        verify_duration += std::chrono::duration_cast<std::chrono::nanoseconds>(end2 - begin2);
+    }
+    std::cout << "Conducted " << count << " experiments." << std::endl;
+    std::cout << "Total sign time: " << std::chrono::duration_cast<std::chrono::milliseconds>(sign_duration).count() << std::endl;
+    std::cout << "Total verify time: " << std::chrono::duration_cast<std::chrono::milliseconds>(verify_duration).count() << std::endl;
+}
+
+
+int main()
+{
+    using namespace i2p::crypto;
+    std::cout << "--------DSA---------" << std::endl;
+    benchmark<DSAVerifier, DSASigner>(
+        1000, DSA_PUBLIC_KEY_LENGTH,
+        DSA_PRIVATE_KEY_LENGTH, DSA_SIGNATURE_LENGTH,
+        &CreateDSARandomKeys
+    );
+    std::cout << "-----ECDSAP256------" << std::endl;
+    benchmark<ECDSAP256Verifier, ECDSAP256Signer>(
+        1000, ECDSAP256_KEY_LENGTH,
+        ECDSAP256_KEY_LENGTH, 64,
+        &CreateECDSAP256RandomKeys
+    );
+    std::cout << "-----ECDSAP384------" << std::endl;
+    benchmark<ECDSAP384Verifier, ECDSAP384Signer>(
+        1000, ECDSAP384_KEY_LENGTH,
+        ECDSAP384_KEY_LENGTH, 64,
+        &CreateECDSAP384RandomKeys
+    );
+    std::cout << "-----ECDSAP521------" << std::endl;
+    benchmark<ECDSAP521Verifier, ECDSAP521Signer>(
+        1000, ECDSAP521_KEY_LENGTH,
+        ECDSAP521_KEY_LENGTH, 64,
+        &CreateECDSAP521RandomKeys
+    );
+    std::cout << "-----EDDSA25519-----" << std::endl;
+    benchmark<EDDSA25519Verifier, EDDSA25519Signer>(
+        1000, EDDSA25519_PUBLIC_KEY_LENGTH,
+        EDDSA25519_PRIVATE_KEY_LENGTH, 64,
+        &CreateEDDSARandomKeys
+    );
+}
diff --git a/build/BUILD_NOTES.md b/build/BUILD_NOTES.md
index c688a839..874f27c9 100644
--- a/build/BUILD_NOTES.md
+++ b/build/BUILD_NOTES.md
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ Available cmake options:
 * CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE -- build profile (Debug/Release)
 * WITH_AESNI -- AES-NI support (ON/OFF)
 * WITH_HARDENING -- enable hardening features (ON/OFF) (gcc only)
+* WITH_TESTS -- build tests (ON/OFF)
+* WITH_BENCHMARK -- build bechmarking code (ON/OFF)
+* WITH_OPTIMIZE -- enable optimization flags (ON/OFF)
 
 Debian
 ------