diff --git a/beacon_node/client/src/builder.rs b/beacon_node/client/src/builder.rs
index cbffed970..737cd072e 100644
--- a/beacon_node/client/src/builder.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/client/src/builder.rs
@@ -594,6 +594,8 @@ where
             eth1_service_from_genesis.drop_block_cache();
 
             CachingEth1Backend::from_service(eth1_service_from_genesis)
+        } else if config.purge_cache {
+            CachingEth1Backend::new(config, context.log().clone(), spec)
         } else {
             beacon_chain_builder
                 .get_persisted_eth1_backend()?
diff --git a/beacon_node/eth1/src/service.rs b/beacon_node/eth1/src/service.rs
index 6b23a43a4..faef1cf3e 100644
--- a/beacon_node/eth1/src/service.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/eth1/src/service.rs
@@ -343,6 +343,8 @@ pub struct Config {
     pub max_log_requests_per_update: Option<usize>,
     /// The maximum number of log requests per update.
     pub max_blocks_per_update: Option<usize>,
+    /// If set to true, the eth1 caches are wiped clean when the eth1 service starts.
+    pub purge_cache: bool,
 }
 
 impl Config {
@@ -386,6 +388,7 @@ impl Default for Config {
             blocks_per_log_query: 1_000,
             max_log_requests_per_update: Some(100),
             max_blocks_per_update: Some(8_192),
+            purge_cache: false,
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/beacon_node/src/cli.rs b/beacon_node/src/cli.rs
index c5d2cf4c6..f89579cf8 100644
--- a/beacon_node/src/cli.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/src/cli.rs
@@ -281,6 +281,13 @@ pub fn cli_app<'a, 'b>() -> App<'a, 'b> {
                        Defaults to http://127.0.0.1:8545.")
                 .takes_value(true)
         )
+        .arg(
+            Arg::with_name("eth1-purge-cache")
+                .long("eth1-purge-cache")
+                .value_name("PURGE-CACHE")
+                .help("Purges the eth1 block and deposit caches")
+                .takes_value(false)
+        )
         .arg(
             Arg::with_name("eth1-blocks-per-log-query")
                 .long("eth1-blocks-per-log-query")
diff --git a/beacon_node/src/config.rs b/beacon_node/src/config.rs
index 926ff54cc..d70ab8e46 100644
--- a/beacon_node/src/config.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/src/config.rs
@@ -183,6 +183,10 @@ pub fn get_config<E: EthSpec>(
             .map_err(|_| "eth1-blocks-per-log-query is not a valid integer".to_string())?;
     }
 
+    if cli_args.is_present("eth1-purge-cache") {
+        client_config.eth1.purge_cache = true;
+    }
+
     if let Some(freezer_dir) = cli_args.value_of("freezer-dir") {
         client_config.freezer_db_path = Some(PathBuf::from(freezer_dir));
     }