diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index b58c136..e4e3997 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ libipld = { version = "0.16.0", default-features = false, features = [
 ] }
 libipld-json = { version = "0.16.0", default-features = false, optional = true }
 serde = "1.0.152"
+serde_json = "1.0.117" 
 serde_derive = "1.0.152"
 serde_ipld_dagcbor = "0.3.0"
 thiserror = "1.0.38"
diff --git a/src/codec.rs b/src/codec.rs
index c86bcbe..7564908 100644
--- a/src/codec.rs
+++ b/src/codec.rs
@@ -75,7 +75,19 @@ impl TryFrom<Encoded> for JsonWebSignature {
     type Error = Error;
 
     fn try_from(value: Encoded) -> Result<Self, Self::Error> {
-        let link = Cid::try_from(value.payload.as_ref().ok_or(Error::NotJws)?.as_slice())?;
+        let payload = value.payload.as_ref().ok_or(Error::NotJws)?;
+
+        //do we need to parse all the strings as ipfs:// CIDs here and error or can we wait until we encode?
+        let (link, pld) = match serde_json::from_slice::<serde_json::Value>(payload.as_ref()) {
+            Ok(json) => {
+                let res = match crate::JsonPld(json).try_into().map_err(|_| Error::NotJws)? {
+                    Ipld::Map(map) => map,
+                    _ => return Err(Error::NotJws),
+                };
+                (None, Some(res))
+            }
+            Err(_) => (Some(Cid::try_from(payload.as_ref())?), None),
+        };
         Ok(Self {
             payload: value
                 .payload
@@ -88,6 +100,7 @@ impl TryFrom<Encoded> for JsonWebSignature {
                 .map(Signature::from)
                 .collect(),
             link,
+            pld,
         })
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 6cb0ec5..5439d04 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -71,13 +71,10 @@ mod error;
 
 use std::{collections::BTreeMap, io::BufReader};
 
+use libipld::codec::{Codec, Decode, Encode};
 use libipld::error::UnsupportedCodec;
-use libipld::Cid;
-use libipld::Ipld;
-use libipld::{
-    codec::{Codec, Decode, Encode},
-    ipld,
-};
+
+use libipld::{Cid, Ipld};
 #[cfg(feature = "dag-json")]
 use libipld_json::DagJsonCodec;
 
@@ -158,21 +155,87 @@ impl Encode<DagJsonCodec> for Jose {
 pub struct JsonWebSignature {
     /// The payload base64 url encoded.
     pub payload: String,
-
     /// The set of signatures.
     pub signatures: Vec<Signature>,
-
     /// CID link from the payload.
-    pub link: Cid,
+    pub link: Option<Cid>,
+    /// The json payload with ipfs:// prefixed strings replaced with CIDs.
+    pub pld: Option<BTreeMap<String, Ipld>>,
+}
+
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq)]
+struct JsonPld(serde_json::Value);
+
+impl TryFrom<JsonPld> for Ipld {
+    type Error = anyhow::Error;
+
+    fn try_from(value: JsonPld) -> Result<Self, Self::Error> {
+        match value.0 {
+            serde_json::Value::Null => Ok(Ipld::Null),
+            serde_json::Value::Bool(b) => Ok(Ipld::Bool(b)),
+            serde_json::Value::Number(n) => {
+                if let Some(i) = n.as_i64() {
+                    Ok(Ipld::Integer(i as i128))
+                } else if let Some(f) = n.as_f64() {
+                    Ok(Ipld::Float(f))
+                } else {
+                    unreachable!("Number out of range")
+                }
+            }
+            serde_json::Value::String(s) => {
+                if let Some(str) = s.strip_prefix("ipfs://") {
+                    let cid = Cid::try_from(str)?;
+                    Ok(Ipld::Link(cid))
+                } else {
+                    Ok(Ipld::String(s))
+                }
+            }
+            serde_json::Value::Array(arr) => {
+                let list = arr
+                    .into_iter()
+                    .map(|v| JsonPld(v).try_into())
+                    .collect::<Result<Vec<_>, _>>()?;
+                Ok(Ipld::List(list))
+            }
+            serde_json::Value::Object(obj) => {
+                let map = obj
+                    .into_iter()
+                    .map(|(k, v)| JsonPld(v).try_into().map(|v| (k, v)))
+                    .collect::<Result<BTreeMap<_, _>, _>>()?;
+                Ok(Ipld::Map(map))
+            }
+        }
+    }
 }
 
-impl<'a> From<&'a JsonWebSignature> for Ipld {
-    fn from(value: &'a JsonWebSignature) -> Self {
-        ipld!({
-            "payload": value.payload.to_owned(),
-            "signatures": value.signatures.iter().map(Ipld::from).collect::<Vec<Ipld>>(),
-            "link": value.link,
-        })
+impl<'a> TryFrom<&'a JsonWebSignature> for Ipld {
+    type Error = anyhow::Error;
+
+    fn try_from(value: &'a JsonWebSignature) -> Result<Self, Self::Error> {
+        let mut fields = BTreeMap::new();
+
+        fields.insert("payload".to_string(), value.payload.to_owned().into());
+        fields.insert(
+            "signatures".to_string(),
+            Ipld::List(
+                value
+                    .signatures
+                    .iter()
+                    .map(Ipld::from)
+                    .collect::<Vec<Ipld>>(),
+            ),
+        );
+
+        if let Some(link) = value.link {
+            fields.insert("link".to_string(), link.into());
+        }
+
+        if let Some(pld) = value.pld.to_owned() {
+            let data: Ipld = pld.try_into()?;
+            fields.insert("pld".to_string(), data);
+        }
+
+        Ok(Ipld::Map(fields))
     }
 }
 
@@ -194,7 +257,7 @@ impl Decode<DagJoseCodec> for JsonWebSignature {
 #[cfg(feature = "dag-json")]
 impl Encode<DagJsonCodec> for JsonWebSignature {
     fn encode<W: std::io::Write>(&self, c: DagJsonCodec, w: &mut W) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
-        let data: Ipld = self.into();
+        let data: Ipld = self.try_into()?;
         data.encode(c, w)
     }
 }
@@ -403,7 +466,7 @@ mod tests {
         } = fixture_jws();
         let (payload_b64, protected_b64, signature_b64) =
             fixture_jws_base64(&payload, &protected, &signature);
-        let link = Cid::try_from(base64_url::decode(&payload_b64).unwrap()).unwrap();
+        let link = Some(Cid::try_from(base64_url::decode(&payload_b64).unwrap()).unwrap());
         assert_roundtrip(
             DagJoseCodec,
             &JsonWebSignature {
@@ -417,6 +480,7 @@ mod tests {
                     signature: signature_b64,
                 }],
                 link,
+                pld: None,
             },
             &ipld!({
                 "payload": payload,