diff --git a/internal/staging/primitives/uint256/uint256.go b/internal/staging/primitives/uint256/uint256.go
index afa6be3f..c2e70ecb 100644
--- a/internal/staging/primitives/uint256/uint256.go
+++ b/internal/staging/primitives/uint256/uint256.go
@@ -21,6 +21,11 @@ var (
 	// zero32 is an array of 32 bytes used for the purposes of zeroing and is
 	// defined here to avoid extra allocations.
 	zero32 = [32]byte{}
+
+	// bigUint256Mask is the value 2^256 - 1 (aka max uint256) as a stdlib big
+	// integer.  It is defined here to save allocations in the conversion code.
+	bigTwo256      = new(big.Int).Lsh(big.NewInt(1), 256)
+	bigUint256Mask = new(big.Int).Sub(bigTwo256, big.NewInt(1))
 )
 
 // Uint256 implements high-performance, zero-allocation, unsigned 256-bit
@@ -1776,3 +1781,40 @@ func (n *Uint256) ToBig() *big.Int {
 	n.PutBig(&out)
 	return &out
 }
+
+// SetBig sets the uint256 to the passed standard library big integer modulo
+// 2^256.
+//
+// The resulting uint256 will be set to the 2's complement of the provided value
+// when it is negative.
+//
+// The uint256 is returned to support chaining.  This enables syntax like:
+// n := new(Uint256).SetBig(n2).AddUint64(1) so that n = n2 + 1 where n2 is not
+// modified.
+//
+// PERFORMANCE NOTE: When the caller expects values to potentially be larger
+// than a max uint256, it is _highly_ recommended to reduce the value mod 2^256
+// prior to calling this method for better performance.
+//
+// The reason is that this method requires an allocation and copy when the
+// provided big integer is larger than a max uint256 in order to reduce it
+// without modifying the provided arg.  The caller can avoid this allocation by
+// performing the mod 2^256 prior to calling this method with the value.
+//
+// More concretely, it is around 3 to 4 times faster to perform the reduction
+// caller side as well as avoiding the allocation.
+func (n *Uint256) SetBig(n2 *big.Int) *Uint256 {
+	// Take the value mod 2^256 if needed.
+	tmp := n2
+	if n2.BitLen() > 256 {
+		tmp = new(big.Int).And(n2, bigUint256Mask)
+	}
+
+	var buf [32]byte
+	tmp.FillBytes(buf[:]) // Requires Go 1.15.
+	n.SetBytes(&buf)
+	if tmp.Sign() < 0 {
+		n.Negate()
+	}
+	return n
+}
diff --git a/internal/staging/primitives/uint256/uint256_test.go b/internal/staging/primitives/uint256/uint256_test.go
index c6a7f106..28c0d79b 100644
--- a/internal/staging/primitives/uint256/uint256_test.go
+++ b/internal/staging/primitives/uint256/uint256_test.go
@@ -4077,3 +4077,102 @@ func TestUint256ToBigRandom(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// TestUint256SetBig ensures that setting a uint256 to a standard library big
+// integer works as expected for edge cases.
+func TestUint256SetBig(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string // test description
+		in   string // hex encoded big int test value
+		want string // expected hex encoded uint256
+	}{{
+		name: "0",
+		in:   "00",
+		want: "0",
+	}, {
+		name: "1",
+		in:   "1",
+		want: "1",
+	}, {
+		name: "-1",
+		in:   "-1",
+		want: "ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff",
+	}, {
+		name: "2",
+		in:   "2",
+		want: "2",
+	}, {
+		name: "-2",
+		in:   "-2",
+		want: "fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffe",
+	}, {
+		name: "max int256 (2^255 - 1)",
+		in:   "7fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff",
+		want: "7fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff",
+	}, {
+		name: "min int256 (-2^255)",
+		in:   "-8000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
+		want: "8000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
+	}, {
+		name: "max uint256 (2^256 - 1)",
+		in:   "ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff",
+		want: "ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff",
+	}, {
+		name: "max uint256 + 1 (2^256)",
+		in:   "10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
+		want: "0",
+	}, {
+		name: "max uint256 + 2 (2^256 + 1)",
+		in:   "10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001",
+		want: "1",
+	}}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		// Parse test vals.
+		in, ok := new(big.Int).SetString(test.in, 16)
+		if !ok {
+			t.Errorf("%q: big int parse err for string %s", test.name, test.in)
+			continue
+		}
+		want := hexToUint256(test.want)
+
+		// Ensure setting the uint256 to the test big int produces the expected
+		// value.
+		var n Uint256
+		n.SetBig(in)
+		if !n.Eq(want) {
+			t.Errorf("%q: unexpected result -- got: %x, want: %x", test.name, n,
+				want)
+			continue
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// TestUint256SetBigRandom ensures that converting bit ints created from random
+// values to uint256s works as expected.
+func TestUint256SetBigRandom(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	// Use a unique random seed each test instance and log it if the tests fail.
+	seed := time.Now().Unix()
+	rng := rand.New(rand.NewSource(seed))
+	defer func(t *testing.T, seed int64) {
+		if t.Failed() {
+			t.Logf("random seed: %d", seed)
+		}
+	}(t, seed)
+
+	for i := 0; i < 100; i++ {
+		// Generate big integer and uint256 pair.
+		bigN, wantUint256 := randBigIntAndUint256(t, rng)
+
+		// Convert the big int to a uint256 and ensure they match.
+		uint256Result := new(Uint256).SetBig(bigN)
+		if !uint256Result.Eq(wantUint256) {
+			t.Fatalf("mismatched uint256 conversion: %x -- got %x, want %x",
+				bigN, uint256Result, wantUint256)
+		}
+	}
+}