diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e64f28d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# exclude changes from `git diff`
+Cargo.lock binary
diff --git a/bin/builder.rs b/bin/builder.rs
index 88a9e39..adf2699 100644
--- a/bin/builder.rs
+++ b/bin/builder.rs
@@ -17,6 +17,14 @@ async fn main() -> eyre::Result<()> {
 
     builder::config_from_env();
 
+    // Pre-load the KZG settings in a separate thread.
+    //
+    // This takes ~3 seconds, and we want to do it in parallel with the rest of
+    // the initialization.
+    std::thread::spawn(|| {
+        let _settings = alloy::eips::eip4844::env_settings::EnvKzgSettings::default().get();
+    });
+
     // Set up env and metrics tasks
     let (env_task, metrics_task) = tokio::try_join!(EnvTask::new(), MetricsTask::new())?;