diff --git a/simd/cmd/root.go b/simd/cmd/root.go
index a6cbda031419..b33a660c87e3 100644
--- a/simd/cmd/root.go
+++ b/simd/cmd/root.go
@@ -98,8 +98,25 @@ func initAppConfig() (string, interface{}) {
 		WASM WASMConfig `mapstructure:"wasm"`
 	}
 
+	// Optionally allow the chain developer to overwrite the SDK's default
+	// server config.
+	srvCfg := serverconfig.DefaultConfig()
+	// The SDK's default minimum gas price is set to "" (empty value) inside
+	// app.toml. If left empty by validators, the node will halt on startup.
+	// However, the chain developer can set a default app.toml value for their
+	// validators here.
+	//
+	// In summary:
+	// - if you leave srvCfg.MinGasPrices = "", all validators MUST tweak their
+	//   own app.toml config,
+	// - if you set srvCfg.MinGasPrices non-empty, validators CAN tweak their
+	//   own app.toml to override, or use this default value.
+	//
+	// In simapp, we set the min gas prices to 0.
+	srvCfg.MinGasPrices = "0stake"
+
 	customAppConfig := CustomAppConfig{
-		Config: *serverconfig.DefaultConfig(),
+		Config: *srvCfg,
 		WASM: WASMConfig{
 			LruSize:       1,
 			QueryGasLimit: 300000,
@@ -207,7 +224,7 @@ type appCreator struct {
 	encCfg params.EncodingConfig
 }
 
-// newApp is an AppCreator
+// newApp is an appCreator
 func (a appCreator) newApp(logger log.Logger, db dbm.DB, traceStore io.Writer, appOpts servertypes.AppOptions) servertypes.Application {
 	var cache sdk.MultiStorePersistentCache