diff --git a/example/ios/Podfile.lock b/example/ios/Podfile.lock
index 7d391a235..c5244f04d 100644
--- a/example/ios/Podfile.lock
+++ b/example/ios/Podfile.lock
@@ -449,7 +449,7 @@ PODS:
     - GenericJSON (~> 2.0)
     - Logging (~> 1.0.0)
     - secp256k1.swift (~> 0.1)
-  - XMTP (0.10.10):
+  - XMTP (0.10.11):
     - Connect-Swift (= 0.12.0)
     - GzipSwift
     - LibXMTP (= 0.4.4-beta5)
@@ -458,7 +458,7 @@ PODS:
     - ExpoModulesCore
     - MessagePacker
     - secp256k1.swift
-    - XMTP (= 0.10.10)
+    - XMTP (= 0.10.11)
   - Yoga (1.14.0)
 
 DEPENDENCIES:
@@ -763,8 +763,8 @@ SPEC CHECKSUMS:
   secp256k1.swift: a7e7a214f6db6ce5db32cc6b2b45e5c4dd633634
   SwiftProtobuf: 407a385e97fd206c4fbe880cc84123989167e0d1
   web3.swift: 2263d1e12e121b2c42ffb63a5a7beb1acaf33959
-  XMTP: 13907da1638c2b1a23f38ef246091c7a88c33108
-  XMTPReactNative: 9ae92e4df220d4043a6583a6c05673a698390ee8
+  XMTP: 1deb40ac712ba315dcfdecd590a9b924d8c2241a
+  XMTPReactNative: a7d7c609861e0b31ca7f624f58969dcb92c19990
   Yoga: e71803b4c1fff832ccf9b92541e00f9b873119b9
 
 PODFILE CHECKSUM: 95d6ace79946933ecf80684613842ee553dd76a2
diff --git a/example/src/tests/groupTests.ts b/example/src/tests/groupTests.ts
index bf5fa7c7f..2b6b3532e 100644
--- a/example/src/tests/groupTests.ts
+++ b/example/src/tests/groupTests.ts
@@ -26,15 +26,10 @@ function test(name: string, perform: () => Promise<boolean>) {
 
 test('can make a MLS V3 client', async () => {
   // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-unused-vars
-  const keyBytes = new Uint8Array([
-    233, 120, 198, 96, 154, 65, 132, 17, 132, 96, 250, 40, 103, 35, 125, 64,
-    166, 83, 208, 224, 254, 44, 205, 227, 175, 49, 234, 129, 74, 252, 135, 145,
-  ])
   const client = await Client.createRandom({
     env: 'local',
     appVersion: 'Testing/0.0.0',
     enableAlphaMls: true,
-    dbEncryptionKey: keyBytes,
   })
 
   return true
diff --git a/ios/XMTPReactNative.podspec b/ios/XMTPReactNative.podspec
index 44e71141d..9f1df1ff9 100644
--- a/ios/XMTPReactNative.podspec
+++ b/ios/XMTPReactNative.podspec
@@ -26,5 +26,5 @@ Pod::Spec.new do |s|
   s.source_files = "**/*.{h,m,swift}"
   s.dependency 'secp256k1.swift'
 	s.dependency "MessagePacker"
-  s.dependency "XMTP", "= 0.10.10"
+  s.dependency "XMTP", "= 0.10.11"
 end
diff --git a/src/hooks/useClient.ts b/src/hooks/useClient.ts
index 26c0495a4..df6390773 100644
--- a/src/hooks/useClient.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/useClient.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import { DefaultContentTypes } from '../lib/types/DefaultContentType'
 
 interface InitializeClientOptions {
   signer: Signer | null
-  options: ClientOptions
+  options?: ClientOptions
 }
 
 export const useClient = <
diff --git a/src/lib/Client.ts b/src/lib/Client.ts
index badbe2f06..21a2052fe 100644
--- a/src/lib/Client.ts
+++ b/src/lib/Client.ts
@@ -50,11 +50,10 @@ export class Client<
     ContentCodecs extends DefaultContentTypes = DefaultContentTypes,
   >(
     wallet: Signer | WalletClient | null,
-    options: ClientOptions & { codecs?: ContentCodecs }
+    opts?: Partial<ClientOptions> & { codecs?: ContentCodecs }
   ): Promise<Client<ContentCodecs>> {
-    if (options.dbEncryptionKey.length !== 32) {
-      throw new Error('The encryption key must be exactly 32 bytes.')
-    }
+    const options = defaultOptions(opts)
+
     const { enableSubscription, createSubscription } =
       this.setupSubscriptions(options)
     const signer = getSigner(wallet)
@@ -100,7 +99,7 @@ export class Client<
             this.removeSignSubscription()
             this.removeAuthSubscription()
             const address = await signer.getAddress()
-            resolve(new Client(address, options?.codecs || []))
+            resolve(new Client(address, opts?.codecs || []))
           }
         )
         await XMTPModule.auth(
@@ -140,11 +139,9 @@ export class Client<
    * @returns {Promise<Client>} A Promise that resolves to a new Client instance with a random address.
    */
   static async createRandom<ContentTypes extends DefaultContentTypes>(
-    options: ClientOptions & { codecs?: ContentTypes }
+    opts?: Partial<ClientOptions> & { codecs?: ContentTypes }
   ): Promise<Client<ContentTypes>> {
-    if (options.dbEncryptionKey.length !== 32) {
-      throw new Error('The encryption key must be exactly 32 bytes.')
-    }
+    const options = defaultOptions(opts)
     const { enableSubscription, createSubscription } =
       this.setupSubscriptions(options)
     const address = await XMTPModule.createRandom(
@@ -159,7 +156,7 @@ export class Client<
     this.removeSubscription(enableSubscription)
     this.removeSubscription(createSubscription)
 
-    return new Client(address, options?.codecs || [])
+    return new Client(address, opts?.codecs || [])
   }
 
   /**
@@ -176,11 +173,9 @@ export class Client<
     ContentCodecs extends DefaultContentTypes = [],
   >(
     keyBundle: string,
-    options: ClientOptions & { codecs?: ContentCodecs }
+    opts?: Partial<ClientOptions> & { codecs?: ContentCodecs }
   ): Promise<Client<DefaultContentTypes>> {
-    if (options.dbEncryptionKey.length !== 32) {
-      throw new Error('The encryption key must be exactly 32 bytes.')
-    }
+    const options = defaultOptions(opts)
     const address = await XMTPModule.createFromKeyBundle(
       keyBundle,
       options.env,
@@ -189,7 +184,7 @@ export class Client<
       options.dbEncryptionKey,
       options.dbPath
     )
-    return new Client(address, options?.codecs || [])
+    return new Client(address, opts?.codecs || [])
   }
 
   /**
@@ -237,11 +232,9 @@ export class Client<
    */
   static async canMessage(
     peerAddress: string,
-    options: ClientOptions
+    opts?: Partial<ClientOptions>
   ): Promise<boolean> {
-    if (options.dbEncryptionKey.length !== 32) {
-      throw new Error('The encryption key must be exactly 32 bytes.')
-    }
+    const options = defaultOptions(opts)
     return await XMTPModule.staticCanMessage(
       peerAddress,
       options.env,
@@ -451,9 +444,9 @@ export type ClientOptions = {
    */
   enableAlphaMls?: boolean
   /**
-   * REQUIRED specify the encryption key for the database. The encryption key must be exactly 32 bytes.
+   * OPTIONAL specify the encryption key for the database. The encryption key must be exactly 32 bytes.
    */
-  dbEncryptionKey: Uint8Array
+  dbEncryptionKey?: Uint8Array
   /**
    * OPTIONAL specify the XMTP managed database path
    */
@@ -464,3 +457,19 @@ export type KeyType = {
   kind: 'identity' | 'prekey'
   prekeyIndex?: number
 }
+
+/**
+ * Provide a default client configuration. These settings can be used on their own, or as a starting point for custom configurations
+ *
+ * @param opts additional options to override the default settings
+ */
+export function defaultOptions(opts?: Partial<ClientOptions>): ClientOptions {
+  const _defaultOptions: ClientOptions = {
+    env: 'dev',
+    enableAlphaMls: false,
+    dbEncryptionKey: undefined,
+    dbPath: undefined,
+  }
+
+  return { ..._defaultOptions, ...opts } as ClientOptions
+}