diff --git a/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/beacon_chain.rs b/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/beacon_chain.rs
index 2954e6c69f9..b1de15cf3fa 100644
--- a/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/beacon_chain.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/beacon_chain.rs
@@ -636,10 +636,21 @@ impl<T: BeaconChainTypes> BeaconChain<T> {
 
     /// Load persisted ProofEngine state from disk, returning `None` if not found or corrupt.
     pub fn load_proof_engine_state(store: BeaconStore<T>) -> Option<PersistedProofEngineState> {
-        match store.get_item::<PersistedProofEngineState>(&PROOF_ENGINE_DB_KEY) {
-            Ok(Some(persisted)) => {
-                tracing::info!("Loaded ProofEngine state from disk");
-                Some(persisted)
+        match store
+            .hot_db
+            .get_bytes(DBColumn::ProofEngine, PROOF_ENGINE_DB_KEY.as_slice())
+        {
+            Ok(Some(bytes)) => {
+                match PersistedProofEngineState::from_bytes(&bytes, store.get_config()) {
+                    Ok(persisted) => {
+                        tracing::info!("Loaded ProofEngine state from disk");
+                        Some(persisted)
+                    }
+                    Err(e) => {
+                        tracing::warn!(error = ?e, "Failed to decode ProofEngine state from disk, starting fresh");
+                        None
+                    }
+                }
             }
             Ok(None) => None,
             Err(e) => {
diff --git a/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/canonical_head.rs b/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/canonical_head.rs
index 91ca50f06de..9f2f3d4c1b4 100644
--- a/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/canonical_head.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/canonical_head.rs
@@ -56,8 +56,7 @@ use state_processing::AllCaches;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 use std::time::Duration;
 use store::{
-    Error as StoreError, KeyValueStore, KeyValueStoreOp, StoreConfig, StoreItem,
-    iter::StateRootsIterator,
+    Error as StoreError, KeyValueStore, KeyValueStoreOp, StoreConfig, iter::StateRootsIterator,
 };
 use task_executor::{JoinHandle, ShutdownReason};
 use tracing::info_span;
@@ -1062,7 +1061,7 @@ impl<T: BeaconChainTypes> BeaconChain<T> {
 
         let op = proof_engine
             .to_persisted()
-            .as_kv_store_op(PROOF_ENGINE_DB_KEY);
+            .as_kv_store_op(PROOF_ENGINE_DB_KEY, self.store.get_config())?;
         self.store.hot_db.do_atomically(vec![op])?;
         Ok(())
     }
diff --git a/beacon_node/execution_layer/src/eip8025/persisted_state.rs b/beacon_node/execution_layer/src/eip8025/persisted_state.rs
index 9ca3373841b..8491fb076e3 100644
--- a/beacon_node/execution_layer/src/eip8025/persisted_state.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/execution_layer/src/eip8025/persisted_state.rs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ use crate::ForkchoiceState;
 use ssz::{Decode, Encode};
 use ssz_derive::{Decode, Encode};
 use std::collections::{BTreeMap, HashMap, HashSet};
-use store::{DBColumn, Error as StoreError, StoreItem};
+use store::{DBColumn, Error as StoreError, KeyValueStoreOp, StoreConfig, StoreItem};
 use types::{ExecutionBlockHash, Hash256, SignedExecutionProof};
 
 /// Version field for future format migrations within the ProofEngine state.
@@ -90,6 +90,35 @@ impl StoreItem for PersistedProofEngineState {
 }
 
 impl PersistedProofEngineState {
+    /// Decompress and decode from bytes using zstd (mirrors `PersistedForkChoiceV28::from_bytes`).
+    pub fn from_bytes(bytes: &[u8], store_config: &StoreConfig) -> Result<Self, StoreError> {
+        let decompressed_bytes = store_config
+            .decompress_bytes(bytes)
+            .map_err(StoreError::Compression)?;
+        Self::from_ssz_bytes(&decompressed_bytes).map_err(Into::into)
+    }
+
+    /// Encode and compress to bytes using zstd (mirrors `PersistedForkChoiceV28::as_bytes`).
+    pub fn as_bytes(&self, store_config: &StoreConfig) -> Result<Vec<u8>, StoreError> {
+        let ssz_bytes = self.as_ssz_bytes();
+        store_config
+            .compress_bytes(&ssz_bytes)
+            .map_err(StoreError::Compression)
+    }
+
+    /// Produce a compressed `KeyValueStoreOp` for atomic persistence.
+    pub fn as_kv_store_op(
+        &self,
+        key: Hash256,
+        store_config: &StoreConfig,
+    ) -> Result<KeyValueStoreOp, StoreError> {
+        Ok(KeyValueStoreOp::PutKeyValue(
+            DBColumn::ProofEngine,
+            key.as_slice().to_vec(),
+            self.as_bytes(store_config)?,
+        ))
+    }
+
     pub fn from_state(state: &State) -> Self {
         Self {
             version: PROOF_ENGINE_STATE_VERSION,
@@ -411,4 +440,54 @@ mod tests {
         );
         assert_eq!(decoded.buffer.requests, persisted.buffer.requests);
     }
+
+    /// Verifies that compress → decompress round-trip via `as_bytes`/`from_bytes`
+    /// preserves all fields, and that compressed output is smaller than raw SSZ.
+    #[test]
+    fn test_compressed_round_trip() {
+        let fixture = TestStateFixtureBuilder::simple_chain()
+            .with_fork(1, 2, Some(0))
+            .with_fork(1, 3, Some(3))
+            .build();
+
+        let mut state = State::new();
+        fixture.bootstrap_canonical(&mut state).unwrap();
+        fixture.insert_fork(&mut state, 0, None).unwrap();
+
+        let head = fixture.canonical_block_hash(2);
+        let safe = fixture.canonical_block_hash(1);
+        let finalized = fixture.canonical_block_hash(0);
+        state
+            .forkchoice_updated(create_forkchoice_state(head, safe, finalized))
+            .unwrap();
+
+        let persisted = PersistedProofEngineState::from_state(&state);
+        let store_config = StoreConfig::default();
+
+        // Compress.
+        let compressed = persisted.as_bytes(&store_config).unwrap();
+        let raw_ssz = persisted.as_store_bytes();
+
+        // Compressed should differ from raw SSZ (zstd adds framing even if not smaller).
+        assert_ne!(compressed, raw_ssz);
+
+        // Decompress and verify equality.
+        let decoded = PersistedProofEngineState::from_bytes(&compressed, &store_config).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(decoded.version, persisted.version);
+        assert_eq!(decoded.last_valid_fcs, persisted.last_valid_fcs);
+        assert_eq!(decoded.latest_fcs, persisted.latest_fcs);
+        assert_eq!(
+            decoded.tree.proofs_by_block_hash,
+            persisted.tree.proofs_by_block_hash
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            decoded.tree.request_root_to_block_hash,
+            persisted.tree.request_root_to_block_hash
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            decoded.tree.current_canonical_head,
+            persisted.tree.current_canonical_head
+        );
+        assert_eq!(decoded.buffer.requests, persisted.buffer.requests);
+    }
 }