diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d163c156089f..425c2cf14426 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ FEATURES
   * [cli] [\#2569](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/2569) Add commands to query validator unbondings and redelegations
   * [cli] [\#2524](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/issues/2524) Add support offline mode to `gaiacli tx sign`. Lookups are not performed if the flag `--offline` is on.
   * [cli] [\#2558](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/issues/2558) Rename --print-sigs to --validate-signatures. It now performs a complete set of sanity checks and reports to the user. Also added --print-signature-only to print the signature only, not the whole transaction.
+  * [cli] [\#2704](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/2704) New add-genesis-account convenience command to populate genesis.json with genesis accounts.
 
 * SDK
   * [\#1336](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/issues/1336) Mechanism for SDK Users to configure their own Bech32 prefixes instead of using the default cosmos prefixes.
diff --git a/cmd/gaia/cmd/gaiad/main.go b/cmd/gaia/cmd/gaiad/main.go
index ae076571b504..ef7b39d1111e 100644
--- a/cmd/gaia/cmd/gaiad/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gaia/cmd/gaiad/main.go
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ func main() {
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(gaiaInit.CollectGenTxsCmd(ctx, cdc))
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(gaiaInit.TestnetFilesCmd(ctx, cdc, server.AppInit{}))
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(gaiaInit.GenTxCmd(ctx, cdc))
+	rootCmd.AddCommand(gaiaInit.AddGenesisAccountCmd(ctx, cdc))
 
 	server.AddCommands(ctx, cdc, rootCmd, appInit,
 		newApp, exportAppStateAndTMValidators)
diff --git a/cmd/gaia/init/genesis_accts.go b/cmd/gaia/init/genesis_accts.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3d43712fcc71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/gaia/init/genesis_accts.go
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+package init
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/cmd/gaia/app"
+	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/codec"
+	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/server"
+	sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types"
+	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/auth"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"github.com/spf13/viper"
+	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/libs/cli"
+	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/libs/common"
+)
+
+// AddGenesisAccountCmd returns add-genesis-account cobra Command
+func AddGenesisAccountCmd(ctx *server.Context, cdc *codec.Codec) *cobra.Command {
+	cmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:   "add-genesis-account [address] [coin][,[coin]]",
+		Short: "Add genesis account to genesis.json",
+		Args:  cobra.ExactArgs(2),
+		RunE: func(_ *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			config := ctx.Config
+			config.SetRoot(viper.GetString(cli.HomeFlag))
+
+			addr, err := sdk.AccAddressFromBech32(args[0])
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			coins, err := sdk.ParseCoins(args[1])
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			coins.Sort()
+
+			genFile := config.GenesisFile()
+			if !common.FileExists(genFile) {
+				return fmt.Errorf("%s does not exist, run `gaiad init` first", genFile)
+			}
+			genDoc, err := loadGenesisDoc(cdc, genFile)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+
+			var appState app.GenesisState
+			if err = cdc.UnmarshalJSON(genDoc.AppState, &appState); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+
+			acc := auth.NewBaseAccountWithAddress(addr)
+			acc.Coins = coins
+			appState.Accounts = append(appState.Accounts, app.NewGenesisAccount(&acc))
+
+			appStateJSON, err := cdc.MarshalJSON(appState)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+
+			return ExportGenesisFile(genFile, genDoc.ChainID, nil, appStateJSON)
+		},
+	}
+
+	cmd.Flags().String(cli.HomeFlag, app.DefaultNodeHome, "node's home directory")
+	return cmd
+}