diff --git a/client/context/viper.go b/client/context/viper.go
index 4264776df0..9a1cd5d0d4 100644
--- a/client/context/viper.go
+++ b/client/context/viper.go
@@ -43,5 +43,7 @@ func NewCoreContextFromViper() core.CoreContext {
 		NodeURI:         nodeURI,
 		Sequence:        viper.GetInt64(client.FlagSequence),
 		Client:          rpc,
+		Decoder:         nil,
+		AccountStore:    "main",
 	}
 }
diff --git a/client/core/context.go b/client/core/context.go
index 3d7f400a8e..d56af5a816 100644
--- a/client/core/context.go
+++ b/client/core/context.go
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ package core
 
 import (
 	rpcclient "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/rpc/client"
+
+	sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types"
 )
 
 type CoreContext struct {
@@ -12,6 +14,8 @@ type CoreContext struct {
 	FromAddressName string
 	Sequence        int64
 	Client          rpcclient.Client
+	Decoder         sdk.AccountDecoder
+	AccountStore    string
 }
 
 func (c CoreContext) WithChainID(chainID string) CoreContext {
@@ -48,3 +52,13 @@ func (c CoreContext) WithClient(client rpcclient.Client) CoreContext {
 	c.Client = client
 	return c
 }
+
+func (c CoreContext) WithDecoder(decoder sdk.AccountDecoder) CoreContext {
+	c.Decoder = decoder
+	return c
+}
+
+func (c CoreContext) WithAccountStore(accountStore string) CoreContext {
+	c.AccountStore = accountStore
+	return c
+}
diff --git a/client/core/core.go b/client/core/core.go
index a39472c040..e28e6c3928 100644
--- a/client/core/core.go
+++ b/client/core/core.go
@@ -140,6 +140,24 @@ func (ctx CoreContext) SignBuildBroadcast(name string, msg sdk.Msg, cdc *wire.Co
 	return ctx.BroadcastTx(txBytes)
 }
 
+func (c CoreContext) NextSequence(address []byte) (int64, error) {
+	if c.Decoder == nil {
+		return 0, errors.New("AccountDecoder required but not provided")
+	}
+
+	res, err := c.Query(address, c.AccountStore)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+
+	account, err := c.Decoder(res)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	return account.GetSequence(), nil
+}
+
 // get passphrase from std input
 func (ctx CoreContext) GetPassphraseFromStdin(name string) (pass string, err error) {
 	buf := client.BufferStdin()
diff --git a/x/bank/commands/sendtx.go b/x/bank/commands/sendtx.go
index aa0e17a910..17bf268700 100644
--- a/x/bank/commands/sendtx.go
+++ b/x/bank/commands/sendtx.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/client/context"
 	sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types"
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/wire"
+	authcmd "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/auth/commands"
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/bank"
 )
 
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ type Commander struct {
 }
 
 func (c Commander) sendTxCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-	ctx := context.NewCoreContextFromViper()
+	ctx := context.NewCoreContextFromViper().WithDecoder(authcmd.GetAccountDecoder(c.Cdc))
 
 	// get the from address
 	from, err := ctx.GetFromAddress()
@@ -62,6 +63,20 @@ func (c Commander) sendTxCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	// build message
 	msg := BuildMsg(from, to, coins)
 
+	// default to next sequence number if none provided
+	if viper.GetInt64(client.FlagSequence) == 0 {
+		from, err := ctx.GetFromAddress()
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		seq, err := ctx.NextSequence(from)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		fmt.Printf("Defaulting to next sequence number: %d\n", seq)
+		ctx = ctx.WithSequence(seq)
+	}
+
 	// build and sign the transaction, then broadcast to Tendermint
 	res, err := ctx.SignBuildBroadcast(ctx.FromAddressName, msg, c.Cdc)
 	if err != nil {