diff --git a/cmd/basecli/commands/cmds.go b/cmd/basecli/commands/cmds.go
index faf54c227..d6d598590 100644
--- a/cmd/basecli/commands/cmds.go
+++ b/cmd/basecli/commands/cmds.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package commands
 
 import (
 	"encoding/hex"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
@@ -78,9 +79,9 @@ func doSendTx(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 
 func readSendTxFlags(tx *btypes.SendTx) error {
 	// parse to address
-	to, err := ParseHexFlag(FlagTo)
+	to, err := parseChainAddress(viper.GetString(FlagTo))
 	if err != nil {
-		return errors.Errorf("To address is invalid hex: %v\n", err)
+		return err
 	}
 
 	//parse the fee and amounts into coin types
@@ -109,6 +110,32 @@ func readSendTxFlags(tx *btypes.SendTx) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func parseChainAddress(toFlag string) ([]byte, error) {
+	var toHex string
+	var chainPrefix string
+	spl := strings.Split(toFlag, "/")
+	switch len(spl) {
+	case 1:
+		toHex = spl[0]
+	case 2:
+		chainPrefix = spl[0]
+		toHex = spl[1]
+	default:
+		return nil, errors.Errorf("To address has too many slashes")
+	}
+
+	// convert destination address to bytes
+	to, err := hex.DecodeString(cmn.StripHex(toHex))
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, errors.Errorf("To address is invalid hex: %v\n", err)
+	}
+
+	if chainPrefix != "" {
+		to = []byte(chainPrefix + "/" + string(to))
+	}
+	return to, nil
+}
+
 /******** AppTx *********/
 
 // BroadcastAppTx wraps, signs, and executes an app tx basecoin transaction
diff --git a/cmd/basecli/commands/sendtx.go b/cmd/basecli/commands/sendtx.go
index ccf00c6ed..178e4e37d 100644
--- a/cmd/basecli/commands/sendtx.go
+++ b/cmd/basecli/commands/sendtx.go
@@ -97,7 +97,8 @@ func (s *SendTx) ValidateBasic() error {
 		}
 	}
 	for _, out := range s.Tx.Outputs {
-		if len(out.Address) != 20 {
+		// we now allow chain/addr, so it can be more than 20 bytes
+		if len(out.Address) < 20 {
 			return errors.Errorf("Invalid output address length: %d", len(out.Address))
 		}
 		if !out.Coins.IsValid() {
diff --git a/tests/cli/ibc.sh b/tests/cli/ibc.sh
index 49c607834..dbe1ff4f9 100755
--- a/tests/cli/ibc.sh
+++ b/tests/cli/ibc.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 # these are two globals to control all scripts (can use eg. counter instead)
 SERVER_EXE=basecoin
 CLIENT_EXE=basecli
+# just uncomment this line for full stack traces in error output
+# CLIENT_EXE="basecli --trace"
 
 oneTimeSetUp() {
   # these are passed in as args