diff --git a/crates/core/component/chain/src/component/view.rs b/crates/core/component/chain/src/component/view.rs
index f6f867319a..12abc8ae5f 100644
--- a/crates/core/component/chain/src/component/view.rs
+++ b/crates/core/component/chain/src/component/view.rs
@@ -71,7 +71,8 @@ pub trait StateReadExt: StateRead {
             .await?
             .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("Missing block_timestamp"))?;
 
-        Ok(Time::from_str(&timestamp_string).unwrap())
+        Ok(Time::from_str(&timestamp_string)
+            .context("block_timestamp was an invalid RFC3339 time string")?)
     }
 
     /// Checks a provided chain_id against the chain state.
diff --git a/crates/core/component/chain/src/genesis/app_state.rs b/crates/core/component/chain/src/genesis/app_state.rs
index 07b67c1fe5..ee5221c345 100644
--- a/crates/core/component/chain/src/genesis/app_state.rs
+++ b/crates/core/component/chain/src/genesis/app_state.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+use anyhow::Context;
 use penumbra_proto::{
     core::chain::v1alpha1 as pb, core::stake::v1alpha1 as pb_stake, DomainType, TypeUrl,
 };
@@ -27,23 +28,39 @@ impl Default for AppState {
             allocations: vec![
                 Allocation {
                     amount: 1000u128.into(),
-                    denom: "penumbra".parse().unwrap(),
-                    address: crate::test_keys::ADDRESS_0_STR.parse().unwrap(),
+                    denom: "penumbra"
+                        .parse()
+                        .expect("hardcoded \"penumbra\" denom should be parseable"),
+                    address: crate::test_keys::ADDRESS_0_STR
+                        .parse()
+                        .expect("hardcoded test address should be valid"),
                 },
                 Allocation {
                     amount: 100u128.into(),
-                    denom: "test_usd".parse().unwrap(),
-                    address: crate::test_keys::ADDRESS_0_STR.parse().unwrap(),
+                    denom: "test_usd"
+                        .parse()
+                        .expect("hardcoded \"test_usd\" denom should be parseable"),
+                    address: crate::test_keys::ADDRESS_0_STR
+                        .parse()
+                        .expect("hardcoded test address should be valid"),
                 },
                 Allocation {
                     amount: 100u128.into(),
-                    denom: "gm".parse().unwrap(),
-                    address: crate::test_keys::ADDRESS_1_STR.parse().unwrap(),
+                    denom: "gm"
+                        .parse()
+                        .expect("hardcoded \"gm\" denom should be parseable"),
+                    address: crate::test_keys::ADDRESS_1_STR
+                        .parse()
+                        .expect("hardcoded test address should be valid"),
                 },
                 Allocation {
                     amount: 100u128.into(),
-                    denom: "gn".parse().unwrap(),
-                    address: crate::test_keys::ADDRESS_1_STR.parse().unwrap(),
+                    denom: "gn"
+                        .parse()
+                        .expect("hardcoded \"gn\" denom should be parseable"),
+                    address: crate::test_keys::ADDRESS_1_STR
+                        .parse()
+                        .expect("hardcoded test address should be valid"),
                 },
             ],
         }
@@ -65,7 +82,10 @@ impl TryFrom<pb::GenesisAppState> for AppState {
 
     fn try_from(msg: pb::GenesisAppState) -> Result<Self, Self::Error> {
         Ok(AppState {
-            chain_params: msg.chain_params.unwrap().try_into()?,
+            chain_params: msg
+                .chain_params
+                .context("chain params not present in protobuf message")?
+                .try_into()?,
             validators: msg
                 .validators
                 .into_iter()
diff --git a/crates/core/component/chain/src/lib.rs b/crates/core/component/chain/src/lib.rs
index 12132b6ecc..faa4df4200 100644
--- a/crates/core/component/chain/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/core/component/chain/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+#![deny(clippy::unwrap_used)]
 #![cfg_attr(docsrs, feature(doc_cfg))]
 
 mod epoch;
@@ -33,11 +34,25 @@ pub mod test_keys {
     /// These addresses both correspond to the test wallet above.
     pub const ADDRESS_1_STR: &str = "penumbrav2t1gl609fq6xzjcqn3hz3crysw2s0nkt330lyhaq403ztmrm3yygsgdklt9uxfs0gedwp6sypp5k5ln9t62lvs9t0a990q832wnxak8r939g5u6uz5aessd8saxvv7ewlz4hhqnws";
 
-    pub static ADDRESS_0: Lazy<Address> = Lazy::new(|| ADDRESS_0_STR.parse().unwrap());
-    pub static ADDRESS_1: Lazy<Address> = Lazy::new(|| ADDRESS_1_STR.parse().unwrap());
+    pub static ADDRESS_0: Lazy<Address> = Lazy::new(|| {
+        ADDRESS_0_STR
+            .parse()
+            .expect("hardcoded test addresses should be valid")
+    });
+    pub static ADDRESS_1: Lazy<Address> = Lazy::new(|| {
+        ADDRESS_1_STR
+            .parse()
+            .expect("hardcoded test addresses should be valid")
+    });
 
-    pub static SPEND_KEY: Lazy<SpendKey> =
-        Lazy::new(|| SpendKey::from_seed_phrase(SEED_PHRASE.parse().unwrap(), 0));
+    pub static SPEND_KEY: Lazy<SpendKey> = Lazy::new(|| {
+        SpendKey::from_seed_phrase(
+            SEED_PHRASE
+                .parse()
+                .expect("hardcoded test seed phrase should be valid"),
+            0,
+        )
+    });
 
     pub static FULL_VIEWING_KEY: Lazy<FullViewingKey> =
         Lazy::new(|| SPEND_KEY.full_viewing_key().clone());