diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index f2001236a..36c1dfbe8 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -310,6 +310,8 @@ std::string HelpMessage(HelpMessageMode mode)
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-alerts", strprintf(_("Receive and display P2P network alerts (default: %u)"), DEFAULT_ALERTS));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-alertnotify=<cmd>", _("Execute command when a relevant alert is received or we see a really long fork (%s in cmd is replaced by message)"));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-blocknotify=<cmd>", _("Execute command when the best block changes (%s in cmd is replaced by block hash)"));
+    if (showDebug)
+        strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-blocksonly", strprintf(_("Whether to operate in a blocks only mode (default: %u)"), DEFAULT_BLOCKSONLY));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-checkblocks=<n>", strprintf(_("How many blocks to check at startup (default: %u, 0 = all)"), DEFAULT_CHECKBLOCKS));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-checklevel=<n>", strprintf(_("How thorough the block verification of -checkblocks is (0-4, default: %u)"), DEFAULT_CHECKLEVEL));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-conf=<file>", strprintf(_("Specify configuration file (default: %s)"), "bitcoin.conf"));
@@ -375,6 +377,7 @@ std::string HelpMessage(HelpMessageMode mode)
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-whitebind=<addr>", _("Bind to given address and whitelist peers connecting to it. Use [host]:port notation for IPv6"));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-whitelist=<netmask>", _("Whitelist peers connecting from the given netmask or IP address. Can be specified multiple times.") +
         " " + _("Whitelisted peers cannot be DoS banned and their transactions are always relayed, even if they are already in the mempool, useful e.g. for a gateway"));
+    strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-whitelistalwaysrelay", strprintf(_("Always relay transactions received from whitelisted peers (default: %d)"), DEFAULT_WHITELISTALWAYSRELAY));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-maxuploadtarget=<n>", strprintf(_("Tries to keep outbound traffic under the given target (in MiB per 24h), 0 = no limit (default: %d)"), DEFAULT_MAX_UPLOAD_TARGET));
 
 #ifdef ENABLE_WALLET
@@ -816,6 +819,16 @@ bool AppInit2(boost::thread_group& threadGroup, CScheduler& scheduler)
         }
 #endif
     }
+
+    // disable walletbroadcast and whitelistalwaysrelay in blocksonly mode
+    if (GetBoolArg("-blocksonly", DEFAULT_BLOCKSONLY)) {
+        if (SoftSetBoolArg("-whitelistalwaysrelay", false))
+            LogPrintf("%s: parameter interaction: -blocksonly=1 -> setting -whitelistalwaysrelay=0\n", __func__);
+#ifdef ENABLE_WALLET
+        if (SoftSetBoolArg("-walletbroadcast", false))
+            LogPrintf("%s: parameter interaction: -blocksonly=1 -> setting -walletbroadcast=0\n", __func__);
+#endif
+    }
     
     // Make sure enough file descriptors are available
     int nBind = std::max((int)mapArgs.count("-bind") + (int)mapArgs.count("-whitebind"), 1);
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 4647112d4..9fca183bb 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -4219,7 +4219,7 @@ bool static ProcessMessage(CNode* pfrom, string strCommand, CDataStream& vRecv,
             bool fAlreadyHave = AlreadyHave(inv);
             LogPrint("net", "got inv: %s  %s peer=%d\n", inv.ToString(), fAlreadyHave ? "have" : "new", pfrom->id);
 
-            if (!fAlreadyHave && !fImporting && !fReindex && inv.type != MSG_BLOCK)
+            if (!fAlreadyHave && !fImporting && !fReindex && inv.type != MSG_BLOCK && !GetBoolArg("-blocksonly", DEFAULT_BLOCKSONLY))
                 pfrom->AskFor(inv);
 
             if (inv.type == MSG_BLOCK) {
@@ -4466,7 +4466,7 @@ bool static ProcessMessage(CNode* pfrom, string strCommand, CDataStream& vRecv,
             assert(recentRejects);
             recentRejects->insert(tx.GetHash());
 
-            if (pfrom->fWhitelisted) {
+            if (pfrom->fWhitelisted && GetBoolArg("-whitelistalwaysrelay", DEFAULT_WHITELISTALWAYSRELAY)) {
                 // Always relay transactions received from whitelisted peers, even
                 // if they were rejected from the mempool, allowing the node to
                 // function as a gateway for nodes hidden behind it.
diff --git a/src/main.h b/src/main.h
index 5fb553486..c304b311e 100644
--- a/src/main.h
+++ b/src/main.h
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ struct CNodeStateStats;
 
 /** Default for accepting alerts from the P2P network. */
 static const bool DEFAULT_ALERTS = true;
+/** Default for DEFAULT_WHITELISTALWAYSRELAY. */
+static const bool DEFAULT_WHITELISTALWAYSRELAY = true;
 /** Default for -minrelaytxfee, minimum relay fee for transactions */
 static const unsigned int DEFAULT_MIN_RELAY_TX_FEE = 1000;
 /** Default for -maxorphantx, maximum number of orphan transactions kept in memory */
diff --git a/src/net.cpp b/src/net.cpp
index 1ea50b249..000eefc85 100644
--- a/src/net.cpp
+++ b/src/net.cpp
@@ -460,7 +460,7 @@ void CNode::PushVersion()
     else
         LogPrint("net", "send version message: version %d, blocks=%d, us=%s, peer=%d\n", PROTOCOL_VERSION, nBestHeight, addrMe.ToString(), id);
     PushMessage("version", PROTOCOL_VERSION, nLocalServices, nTime, addrYou, addrMe,
-                nLocalHostNonce, strSubVersion, nBestHeight, true);
+                nLocalHostNonce, strSubVersion, nBestHeight, !GetBoolArg("-blocksonly", DEFAULT_BLOCKSONLY));
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/net.h b/src/net.h
index cd2d225d7..ebdbe7756 100644
--- a/src/net.h
+++ b/src/net.h
@@ -62,6 +62,8 @@ static const size_t MAPASKFOR_MAX_SZ = MAX_INV_SZ;
 static const unsigned int DEFAULT_MAX_PEER_CONNECTIONS = 125;
 /** The default for -maxuploadtarget. 0 = Unlimited */
 static const uint64_t DEFAULT_MAX_UPLOAD_TARGET = 0;
+/** Default for blocks only*/
+static const bool DEFAULT_BLOCKSONLY = false;
 
 unsigned int ReceiveFloodSize();
 unsigned int SendBufferSize();
@@ -342,7 +344,7 @@ public:
     // We use fRelayTxes for two purposes -
     // a) it allows us to not relay tx invs before receiving the peer's version message
     // b) the peer may tell us in its version message that we should not relay tx invs
-    //    until it has initialized its bloom filter.
+    //    unless it loads a bloom filter.
     bool fRelayTxes;
     CSemaphoreGrant grantOutbound;
     CCriticalSection cs_filter;