diff --git a/mev_inspect/schemas/__init__.py b/mev_inspect/schemas/__init__.py
index 442724e..b4319d2 100644
--- a/mev_inspect/schemas/__init__.py
+++ b/mev_inspect/schemas/__init__.py
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 from .abi import ABI
-from .blocks import Block, Trace, TraceType
+from .blocks import Block, NestedTrace, Trace, TraceType
diff --git a/mev_inspect/traces.py b/mev_inspect/traces.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..29c8acd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mev_inspect/traces.py
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+from typing import Iterable, List
+
+from mev_inspect.schemas import Trace, NestedTrace
+
+
+def as_nested_traces(traces: Iterable[Trace]) -> List[NestedTrace]:
+    """
+    Turns a list of Traces into a a tree of NestedTraces
+    using their trace addresses
+
+    Right now this has an exponential (?) runtime because we rescan
+    most traces at each level of tree depth
+
+    TODO to write a better implementation if it becomes a bottleneck
+    Should be doable in linear time
+    """
+
+    nested_traces = []
+
+    parent = None
+    children: List[Trace] = []
+
+    sorted_traces = sorted(traces, key=lambda t: t.trace_address)
+
+    for trace in sorted_traces:
+        if parent is None:
+            parent = trace
+            children = []
+            continue
+
+        elif not _is_subtrace(trace, parent):
+            nested_traces.append(
+                NestedTrace(
+                    trace=parent,
+                    subtraces=as_nested_traces(children),
+                )
+            )
+
+            parent = trace
+            children = []
+
+        else:
+            children.append(trace)
+
+    if parent is not None:
+        nested_traces.append(
+            NestedTrace(
+                trace=parent,
+                subtraces=as_nested_traces(children),
+            )
+        )
+
+    return nested_traces
+
+
+def _is_subtrace(trace: Trace, parent: Trace):
+    parent_trace_length = len(parent.trace_address)
+
+    if len(trace.trace_address) > parent_trace_length:
+        prefix = trace.trace_address[:parent_trace_length]
+        return prefix == parent.trace_address
+
+    return False
diff --git a/tests/trace_test.py b/tests/trace_test.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..24af48f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/trace_test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+import unittest
+from typing import List
+
+from mev_inspect.schemas import Trace, TraceType, NestedTrace
+from mev_inspect.traces import as_nested_traces
+
+
+DEFAULT_BLOCK_NUMBER = 123
+
+
+class TestTraces(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_nested_traces(self):
+        trace_addresses = [
+            [0, 2],
+            [],
+            [2],
+            [0],
+            [0, 0],
+            [0, 1],
+            [1],
+            [1, 0],
+            [0, 1, 0],
+        ]
+
+        traces = [build_trace_at_address(address) for address in trace_addresses]
+
+        nested_traces = as_nested_traces(traces)
+
+        assert len(nested_traces) == 1
+        root_trace = nested_traces[0]
+
+        assert_trace_address(root_trace, [])
+        assert len(root_trace.subtraces) == 3
+
+        [trace_0, trace_1, trace_2] = root_trace.subtraces
+
+        assert_trace_address(trace_0, [0])
+        assert_trace_address(trace_1, [1])
+        assert_trace_address(trace_2, [2])
+
+        assert len(trace_0.subtraces) == 3
+        assert len(trace_1.subtraces) == 1
+        assert len(trace_2.subtraces) == 0
+
+        [trace_0_0, trace_0_1, trace_0_2] = trace_0.subtraces
+        [trace_1_0] = trace_1.subtraces
+
+        assert_trace_address(trace_0_0, [0, 0])
+        assert_trace_address(trace_0_1, [0, 1])
+        assert_trace_address(trace_0_2, [0, 2])
+        assert_trace_address(trace_1_0, [1, 0])
+
+        assert len(trace_0_0.subtraces) == 0
+        assert len(trace_0_1.subtraces) == 1
+        assert len(trace_0_2.subtraces) == 0
+        assert len(trace_1_0.subtraces) == 0
+
+        [trace_0_1_0] = trace_0_1.subtraces
+        assert_trace_address(trace_0_1_0, [0, 1, 0])
+        assert len(trace_0_1_0.subtraces) == 0
+
+
+def build_trace_at_address(
+    trace_address: List[int],
+) -> Trace:
+    return Trace(
+        # real values
+        trace_address=trace_address,
+        # placeholders
+        transaction_hash="",
+        action={},
+        block_hash="",
+        block_number=DEFAULT_BLOCK_NUMBER,
+        result=None,
+        subtraces=0,
+        transaction_position=None,
+        type=TraceType.call,
+        error=None,
+    )
+
+
+def assert_trace_address(nested_trace: NestedTrace, trace_address: List[int]):
+    assert nested_trace.trace.trace_address == trace_address