diff --git a/zcutil/fetch-params.py b/zcutil/fetch-params.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a31e47dc2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zcutil/fetch-params.py
@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+"""fetch-params.py - fetch Zcash public alpha keys
+
+Usage: python fetch-params.py
+"""
+
+
+from __future__ import print_function
+
+import hashlib
+import os
+import subprocess
+import sys
+
+
+urls = [
+    'https://z.cash/downloads/zc-testnet-public-alpha-proving.key',
+    'https://z.cash/downloads/zc-testnet-public-alpha-verification.key',
+]
+
+sizes = [
+    2007057094,
+    3478,
+]
+
+hash_algo = hashlib.sha256
+
+hashes = [
+    '7844a96933979158886a5b69fb163f49de76120fa1dcfc33b16c83c134e61817',
+    '6902fd687bface72e572a7cda57f6da5a0c606c7b9769f30becd255e57924f41',
+]
+
+params_readme = """
+This directory stores common zcash zkSNARK parameters. Note that is is
+distinct from the daemon's -datadir argument because the parameters are
+large and may be shared across multiple distinct -datadir's such as when
+setting up test networks.
+"""
+
+fetch_params_info = """
+This script will fetch the Zcash zkSNARK parameters and verify their
+integrity with sha256sum.
+
+The parameters currently are about 2GiB in size, so plan accordingly
+for your bandwidth constraints. If the files are already present and
+have the correct sha256sum, no networking is used.
+"""
+
+
+def which(name):
+    p = subprocess.Popen(['which', name], stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
+    p.wait()
+    if not p.returncode == 0:
+        return None
+    out = p.stdout.read()
+    return out.rstrip('\n')
+
+
+# Note: This assumes cwd is set appropriately!
+def fetch(url):
+    cmd = which('curl') or which('wget') or None
+    if cmd is None:
+        raise OSError('curl or wget is required')
+    options = {
+        'curl': [
+            '--remote-name',
+            '--insecure',
+            '--continue-at', '-',
+            '--location',
+        ],
+        'wget': [
+            '--progress=dot:giga',
+            # Note: --no-check-certificate should be ok, since we rely
+            # on sha256 for integrity, and there's no confidentiality
+            # requirement.  Our website uses letsencrypt certificates
+            # which are not supported by some wget installations,
+            # so we expect some cert failures.
+            '--no-check-certificate',
+        ],
+    }
+    opt = options[os.path.basename(cmd)]
+    ret = subprocess.call([cmd, url] + opt)
+    if not ret == 0:
+        raise OSError('%s failed with status %i' % (cmd, ret))
+
+
+def verify(filename, digest):
+    hash = hash_algo()
+    with open(filename, 'rb') as f:
+        while True:
+            dat = f.read(hash.block_size * 1024)
+            if len(dat) == 0:
+                break
+            hash.update(dat)
+    return hash.hexdigest() == digest
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+
+    if len(sys.argv) == 1:
+        pass
+    elif len(sys.argv) == 2 and sys.argv[1] in ('-h', '--help'):
+        print(__doc__)
+        sys.exit(0)
+    else:
+        print(__doc__)
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    home = os.environ['HOME']
+
+    # This may be the first time the user's run this script, so give
+    # them some info, especially about bandwidth usage:
+    print(fetch_params_info)
+
+    # Now create params_dir and insert a README if necessary:
+    print('Creating params directory...')
+    params_dir = os.path.join(home, '.zcash-params')
+    try:
+        os.mkdir(params_dir)
+    except OSError:
+        pass
+    params_readme_path = os.path.join(params_dir, 'README')
+    if not os.path.exists(params_readme_path):
+        with open(params_readme_path, 'w+') as f:
+            print(params_readme, file=f)
+    print('For details about this directory, see:', params_readme_path)
+
+    regtest_dir = os.path.join(params_dir, 'regtest')
+    try:
+        os.mkdir(regtest_dir)
+    except OSError:
+        pass
+    # This should have the same params as regtest.
+    # We use symlinks for now.
+    testnet3_dir = os.path.join(params_dir, 'testnet3')
+    try:
+        os.mkdir(testnet3_dir)
+    except OSError:
+        pass
+    os.chdir(regtest_dir)
+    for (url, size, hash) in zip(urls, sizes, hashes):
+        filename = url.split('/')[-1]
+        print('Fetching', filename, '...')
+        if not os.path.exists(filename) or \
+                not os.stat(filename).st_size == size:
+            fetch(url)
+        # Now verify their hashes:
+        print('Verifying', filename, '...')
+        assert verify(filename, hash)
+        try:
+            os.remove(os.path.join(testnet3_dir, filename))
+        except OSError:
+            pass
+        os.symlink(
+            os.path.join(regtest_dir, filename),
+            os.path.join(testnet3_dir, filename),
+        )