diff --git a/onionr/core.py b/onionr/core.py
index 4b6d8d88..017c7562 100644
--- a/onionr/core.py
+++ b/onionr/core.py
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ class Core:
         '''
             Set the data assciated with a hash
         '''
-        data = data.encode()
+        data = data
         hasher = hashlib.sha3_256()
         hasher.update(data)
         dataHash = hasher.hexdigest()
diff --git a/onionr/onionr.py b/onionr/onionr.py
index e9bd8f15..ae113ba4 100755
--- a/onionr/onionr.py
+++ b/onionr/onionr.py
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ except ImportError:
 
 ONIONR_TAGLINE = 'Anonymous P2P Platform - GPLv3 - https://Onionr.VoidNet.Tech'
 ONIONR_VERSION = '0.0.0' # for debugging and stuff
-API_VERSION = '1' # increments of 1; only change when something fundemental about how the API works changes. This way other nodes knows how to communicate without learning too much information about you.
+API_VERSION = '2' # increments of 1; only change when something fundemental about how the API works changes. This way other nodes knows how to communicate without learning too much information about you.
 
 class Onionr:
     def __init__(self):