diff --git a/build/params_shared_funcs.go b/build/params_shared_funcs.go
index 0e9739914..28567d3d1 100644
--- a/build/params_shared_funcs.go
+++ b/build/params_shared_funcs.go
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ package build
 import (
 	"sort"
 
+	"github.com/filecoin-project/go-address"
+
 	"github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-core/protocol"
 
 	"github.com/filecoin-project/go-state-types/abi"
@@ -44,3 +46,7 @@ func UseNewestNetwork() bool {
 	}
 	return false
 }
+
+func SetAddressNetwork(n address.Network) {
+	address.CurrentNetwork = n
+}
diff --git a/build/params_shared_vals.go b/build/params_shared_vals.go
index 95c347281..33828f954 100644
--- a/build/params_shared_vals.go
+++ b/build/params_shared_vals.go
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ package build
 
 import (
 	"math/big"
+	"os"
+
+	"github.com/filecoin-project/go-address"
 
 	"github.com/filecoin-project/go-state-types/network"
 
@@ -60,6 +63,11 @@ const TicketRandomnessLookback = abi.ChainEpoch(1)
 
 const WinningPoStSectorSetLookback = abi.ChainEpoch(10)
 
+// /////
+// Address
+
+const AddressMainnetEnvVar = "_mainnet_"
+
 // /////
 // Devnet settings
 
@@ -77,6 +85,10 @@ var InitialRewardBalance *big.Int
 func init() {
 	InitialRewardBalance = big.NewInt(int64(FilAllocStorageMining))
 	InitialRewardBalance = InitialRewardBalance.Mul(InitialRewardBalance, big.NewInt(int64(FilecoinPrecision)))
+
+	if os.Getenv("LOTUS_ADDRESS_TYPE") == AddressMainnetEnvVar {
+		SetAddressNetwork(address.Mainnet)
+	}
 }
 
 // Sync
diff --git a/chain/types_test.go b/chain/types_test.go
index 7d68da68d..b47471c9d 100644
--- a/chain/types_test.go
+++ b/chain/types_test.go
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 package chain
 
 import (
+	"crypto/rand"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/build"
+
 	"github.com/filecoin-project/go-address"
 	"github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/chain/types"
 )
@@ -35,3 +38,40 @@ func TestSignedMessageJsonRoundtrip(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestAddressType(t *testing.T) {
+	build.SetAddressNetwork(address.Testnet)
+	addr, err := makeRandomAddress()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if string(addr[0]) != address.TestnetPrefix {
+		t.Fatalf("address should start with %s", address.TestnetPrefix)
+	}
+
+	build.SetAddressNetwork(address.Mainnet)
+	addr, err = makeRandomAddress()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if string(addr[0]) != address.MainnetPrefix {
+		t.Fatalf("address should start with %s", address.MainnetPrefix)
+	}
+}
+
+func makeRandomAddress() (string, error) {
+	bytes := make([]byte, 32)
+	_, err := rand.Read(bytes)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	addr, err := address.NewActorAddress(bytes)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	return addr.String(), nil
+}
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index b0de7dfd6..67d87347f 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/elastic/go-sysinfo v1.3.0
 	github.com/fatih/color v1.8.0
 	github.com/filecoin-project/filecoin-ffi v0.30.4-0.20200716204036-cddc56607e1d
-	github.com/filecoin-project/go-address v0.0.3
+	github.com/filecoin-project/go-address v0.0.4
 	github.com/filecoin-project/go-bitfield v0.2.0
 	github.com/filecoin-project/go-cbor-util v0.0.0-20191219014500-08c40a1e63a2
 	github.com/filecoin-project/go-crypto v0.0.0-20191218222705-effae4ea9f03
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 6412fe743..05e643708 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -214,6 +214,8 @@ github.com/fatih/color v1.8.0/go.mod h1:3l45GVGkyrnYNl9HoIjnp2NnNWvh6hLAqD8yTfGj
 github.com/fd/go-nat v1.0.0/go.mod h1:BTBu/CKvMmOMUPkKVef1pngt2WFH/lg7E6yQnulfp6E=
 github.com/filecoin-project/go-address v0.0.3 h1:eVfbdjEbpbzIrbiSa+PiGUY+oDK9HnUn+M1R/ggoHf8=
 github.com/filecoin-project/go-address v0.0.3/go.mod h1:jr8JxKsYx+lQlQZmF5i2U0Z+cGQ59wMIps/8YW/lDj8=
+github.com/filecoin-project/go-address v0.0.4 h1:gSNMv0qWwH16fGQs7ycOUrDjY6YCSsgLUl0I0KLjo8w=
+github.com/filecoin-project/go-address v0.0.4/go.mod h1:jr8JxKsYx+lQlQZmF5i2U0Z+cGQ59wMIps/8YW/lDj8=
 github.com/filecoin-project/go-amt-ipld/v2 v2.1.0 h1:t6qDiuGYYngDqaLc2ZUvdtAg4UNxPeOYaXhBWSNsVaM=
 github.com/filecoin-project/go-amt-ipld/v2 v2.1.0/go.mod h1:nfFPoGyX0CU9SkXX8EoCcSuHN1XcbN0c6KBh7yvP5fs=
 github.com/filecoin-project/go-bitfield v0.2.0 h1:gCtLcjskIPtdg4NfN7gQZSQF9yrBQ7mkT0qCJxzGI2Q=