diff --git a/key/key.go b/key/key.go
index 9a8808f..d75a503 100644
--- a/key/key.go
+++ b/key/key.go
@@ -3,12 +3,16 @@ package key
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/hex"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"math"
 
 	"github.com/plprobelab/go-kademlia/kad"
 )
 
+// ErrInvalidDataLength is the error returned when attempting to construct a key from binary data of the wrong length.
+var ErrInvalidDataLength = errors.New("invalid data length")
+
 const bitPanicMsg = "bit index out of range"
 
 // Key256 is a 256-bit Kademlia key.
@@ -21,7 +25,7 @@ var _ kad.Key[Key256] = Key256{}
 // NewKey256 returns a 256-bit Kademlia key whose bits are set from the supplied bytes.
 func NewKey256(data []byte) Key256 {
 	if len(data) != 32 {
-		panic("invalid data length for key")
+		panic(ErrInvalidDataLength)
 	}
 	var b [32]byte
 	copy(b[:], data)
@@ -86,7 +90,15 @@ func (k Key256) CommonPrefixLength(o Key256) int {
 
 // Compare compares the numeric value of the key with another key of the same type.
 func (k Key256) Compare(o Key256) int {
-	return bytes.Compare(k.b[:], o.b[:])
+	if k.b != nil && o.b != nil {
+		return bytes.Compare(k.b[:], o.b[:])
+	}
+
+	var zero [32]byte
+	if k.b == nil {
+		return bytes.Compare(zero[:], o.b[:])
+	}
+	return bytes.Compare(zero[:], k.b[:])
 }
 
 // HexString returns a string containing the hexadecimal representation of the key.
@@ -97,6 +109,16 @@ func (k Key256) HexString() string {
 	return hex.EncodeToString(k.b[:])
 }
 
+// MarshalBinary marshals the key into a byte slice.
+// The bytes may be passed to NewKey256 to construct a new key with the same value.
+func (k Key256) MarshalBinary() ([]byte, error) {
+	buf := make([]byte, 32)
+	if k.b != nil {
+		copy(buf, (*k.b)[:])
+	}
+	return buf, nil
+}
+
 // Key32 is a 32-bit Kademlia key, suitable for testing and simulation of small networks.
 type Key32 uint32
 
diff --git a/key/key_test.go b/key/key_test.go
index ad2d6ed..86b6baa 100644
--- a/key/key_test.go
+++ b/key/key_test.go
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ func TestKey256(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	tester.RunTests(t)
+
+	testBinaryMarshaler(t, tester.KeyX, NewKey256)
 }
 
 func TestKey32(t *testing.T) {
@@ -79,6 +81,7 @@ func TestBitStrKey7(t *testing.T) {
 	tester.RunTests(t)
 }
 
+// KeyTester tests a kad.Key's implementation
 type KeyTester[K kad.Key[K]] struct {
 	// Key 0 is zero
 	Key0 K
@@ -127,6 +130,12 @@ func (kt *KeyTester[K]) TestXor(t *testing.T) {
 
 	xored = kt.Key1.Xor(kt.Key2)
 	require.Equal(t, kt.Key1xor2, xored)
+
+	var empty K // zero value of key
+	xored = kt.Key0.Xor(empty)
+	require.Equal(t, kt.Key0, xored)
+	xored = empty.Xor(kt.Key0)
+	require.Equal(t, kt.Key0, xored)
 }
 
 func (kt *KeyTester[K]) TestCommonPrefixLength(t *testing.T) {
@@ -141,6 +150,12 @@ func (kt *KeyTester[K]) TestCommonPrefixLength(t *testing.T) {
 
 	cpl = kt.Key0.CommonPrefixLength(kt.Key010)
 	require.Equal(t, 1, cpl)
+
+	var empty K // zero value of key
+	cpl = kt.Key0.CommonPrefixLength(empty)
+	require.Equal(t, kt.Key0.BitLen(), cpl)
+	cpl = empty.CommonPrefixLength(kt.Key0)
+	require.Equal(t, kt.Key0.BitLen(), cpl)
 }
 
 func (kt *KeyTester[K]) TestCompare(t *testing.T) {
@@ -167,6 +182,12 @@ func (kt *KeyTester[K]) TestCompare(t *testing.T) {
 
 	res = kt.Key1.Compare(kt.Key2)
 	require.Equal(t, -1, res)
+
+	var empty K // zero value of key
+	res = kt.Key0.Compare(empty)
+	require.Equal(t, 0, res)
+	res = empty.Compare(kt.Key0)
+	require.Equal(t, 0, res)
 }
 
 func (kt *KeyTester[K]) TestBit(t *testing.T) {
@@ -184,6 +205,11 @@ func (kt *KeyTester[K]) TestBit(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	require.Equal(t, uint(1), kt.Key2.Bit(kt.Key2.BitLen()-2), fmt.Sprintf("Key1.Bit(%d)=%d", kt.Key2.BitLen()-2, kt.Key2.BitLen()-2))
 	require.Equal(t, uint(0), kt.Key2.Bit(kt.Key2.BitLen()-1), fmt.Sprintf("Key1.Bit(%d)=%d", kt.Key2.BitLen()-2, kt.Key2.BitLen()-1))
+
+	var empty K // zero value of key
+	for i := 0; i < empty.BitLen(); i++ {
+		require.Equal(t, uint(0), empty.Bit(i), fmt.Sprintf("empty.Bit(%d)=%d", i, kt.Key0.Bit(i)))
+	}
 }
 
 func (kt *KeyTester[K]) TestBitString(t *testing.T) {
@@ -230,6 +256,21 @@ func (kt *KeyTester[K]) TestHexString(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// testBinaryMarshaler tests the behaviour of a kad.Key implementation that also implements the BinaryMarshaler interface
+func testBinaryMarshaler[K interface {
+	kad.Key[K]
+	MarshalBinary() ([]byte, error)
+}](t *testing.T, k K, newFunc func([]byte) K,
+) {
+	b, err := k.MarshalBinary()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	other := newFunc(b)
+
+	res := k.Compare(other)
+	require.Equal(t, 0, res)
+}
+
 // BitStrKey is a key represented by a string of 1's and 0's
 type BitStrKey string
 
@@ -253,6 +294,12 @@ func (k BitStrKey) Bit(i int) uint {
 
 func (k BitStrKey) Xor(o BitStrKey) BitStrKey {
 	if len(k) != len(o) {
+		if len(k) == 0 && o.isZero() {
+			return BitStrKey(o)
+		}
+		if len(o) == 0 && k.isZero() {
+			return BitStrKey(k)
+		}
 		panic("BitStrKey: other key has different length")
 	}
 	buf := make([]byte, len(k))
@@ -268,6 +315,12 @@ func (k BitStrKey) Xor(o BitStrKey) BitStrKey {
 
 func (k BitStrKey) CommonPrefixLength(o BitStrKey) int {
 	if len(k) != len(o) {
+		if len(k) == 0 && o.isZero() {
+			return len(o)
+		}
+		if len(o) == 0 && k.isZero() {
+			return len(k)
+		}
 		panic("BitStrKey: other key has different length")
 	}
 	for i := 0; i < len(k); i++ {
@@ -280,6 +333,12 @@ func (k BitStrKey) CommonPrefixLength(o BitStrKey) int {
 
 func (k BitStrKey) Compare(o BitStrKey) int {
 	if len(k) != len(o) {
+		if len(k) == 0 && o.isZero() {
+			return 0
+		}
+		if len(o) == 0 && k.isZero() {
+			return 0
+		}
 		panic("BitStrKey: other key has different length")
 	}
 	for i := 0; i < len(k); i++ {
@@ -292,3 +351,12 @@ func (k BitStrKey) Compare(o BitStrKey) int {
 	}
 	return 0
 }
+
+func (k BitStrKey) isZero() bool {
+	for i := 0; i < len(k); i++ {
+		if k[i] != '0' {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return true
+}