diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f8629ea1a..5c3190842 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ IMPROVEMENTS
 
 FIXES
 * [lcd] Switch to bech32 for addresses on all human readable inputs and outputs
+* [cli] Added `--gas` flag to specify transaction gas limit
 
 ## 0.18.0
 
diff --git a/client/context/helpers.go b/client/context/helpers.go
index f47cc7ff4..880c4adb3 100644
--- a/client/context/helpers.go
+++ b/client/context/helpers.go
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ func (ctx CoreContext) SignAndBuild(name, passphrase string, msg sdk.Msg, cdc *w
 		ChainID:   chainID,
 		Sequences: []int64{sequence},
 		Msg:       msg,
-		Fee:       auth.NewStdFee(10000, sdk.Coin{}), // TODO run simulate to estimate gas?
+		Fee:       auth.NewStdFee(ctx.Gas, sdk.Coin{}), // TODO run simulate to estimate gas?
 	}
 
 	keybase, err := keys.GetKeyBase()
diff --git a/client/context/types.go b/client/context/types.go
index da15b3293..e9c97ffbc 100644
--- a/client/context/types.go
+++ b/client/context/types.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 type CoreContext struct {
 	ChainID         string
 	Height          int64
+	Gas             int64
 	TrustNode       bool
 	NodeURI         string
 	FromAddressName string
@@ -31,6 +32,12 @@ func (c CoreContext) WithHeight(height int64) CoreContext {
 	return c
 }
 
+// WithGas - return a copy of the context with an updated gas
+func (c CoreContext) WithGas(gas int64) CoreContext {
+	c.Gas = gas
+	return c
+}
+
 // WithTrustNode - return a copy of the context with an updated TrustNode flag
 func (c CoreContext) WithTrustNode(trustNode bool) CoreContext {
 	c.TrustNode = trustNode
diff --git a/client/context/viper.go b/client/context/viper.go
index 4b3007f12..081c9f5c2 100644
--- a/client/context/viper.go
+++ b/client/context/viper.go
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ func NewCoreContextFromViper() CoreContext {
 	return CoreContext{
 		ChainID:         chainID,
 		Height:          viper.GetInt64(client.FlagHeight),
+		Gas:             viper.GetInt64(client.FlagGas),
 		TrustNode:       viper.GetBool(client.FlagTrustNode),
 		FromAddressName: viper.GetString(client.FlagName),
 		NodeURI:         nodeURI,
diff --git a/client/flags.go b/client/flags.go
index 0b907604a..f4ee4279b 100644
--- a/client/flags.go
+++ b/client/flags.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ const (
 	FlagChainID   = "chain-id"
 	FlagNode      = "node"
 	FlagHeight    = "height"
+	FlagGas       = "gas"
 	FlagTrustNode = "trust-node"
 	FlagName      = "name"
 	FlagSequence  = "sequence"
@@ -25,6 +26,7 @@ func GetCommands(cmds ...*cobra.Command) []*cobra.Command {
 		c.Flags().String(FlagChainID, "", "Chain ID of tendermint node")
 		c.Flags().String(FlagNode, "tcp://localhost:46657", "<host>:<port> to tendermint rpc interface for this chain")
 		c.Flags().Int64(FlagHeight, 0, "block height to query, omit to get most recent provable block")
+		c.Flags().Int64(FlagGas, 200000, "gas limit to set per-transaction")
 	}
 	return cmds
 }
diff --git a/client/lcd/lcd_test.go b/client/lcd/lcd_test.go
index 19eff52c4..1b1257f34 100644
--- a/client/lcd/lcd_test.go
+++ b/client/lcd/lcd_test.go
@@ -22,11 +22,11 @@ import (
 	tmcfg "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/config"
 	nm "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/node"
 	p2p "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/p2p"
+	pvm "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/privval"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/proxy"
 	ctypes "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/rpc/core/types"
 	tmrpc "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/rpc/lib/server"
 	tmtypes "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/types"
-	pvm "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/privval"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tmlibs/cli"
 	dbm "github.com/tendermint/tmlibs/db"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tmlibs/log"
@@ -385,6 +385,7 @@ func startTMAndLCD() (*nm.Node, net.Listener, error) {
 		return nil, nil, err
 	}
 	viper.Set(cli.HomeFlag, dir)
+	viper.Set(client.FlagGas, 200000)
 	kb, err := keys.GetKeyBase() // dbm.NewMemDB()) // :(
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, nil, err