diff --git a/app/app.go b/app/app.go
index 570a310975..f48cdf2655 100644
--- a/app/app.go
+++ b/app/app.go
@@ -148,10 +148,10 @@ var (
 		newGovModule(),
 		params.AppModuleBasic{},
 		crisisModule{},
-		slashing.AppModuleBasic{},
+		slashingModule{},
 		authzmodule.AppModuleBasic{},
 		feegrantmodule.AppModuleBasic{},
-		ibc.AppModuleBasic{},
+		ibcModule{},
 		evidence.AppModuleBasic{},
 		transfer.AppModuleBasic{},
 		vesting.AppModuleBasic{},
diff --git a/app/default_overrides.go b/app/default_overrides.go
index de6076b6cb..0468ba94ce 100644
--- a/app/default_overrides.go
+++ b/app/default_overrides.go
@@ -2,11 +2,14 @@ package app
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/celestiaorg/celestia-app/pkg/appconsts"
 	"github.com/celestiaorg/celestia-app/x/mint"
 	minttypes "github.com/celestiaorg/celestia-app/x/mint/types"
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/codec"
+	serverconfig "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/server/config"
 	sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types"
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/bank"
 	banktypes "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/bank/types"
@@ -17,9 +20,14 @@ import (
 	govclient "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/gov/client"
 	govtypes "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/gov/types/v1"
 	paramsclient "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/params/client"
+	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/slashing"
+	slashingtypes "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/slashing/types"
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/staking"
 	stakingtypes "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/staking/types"
+	ibc "github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v6/modules/core"
 	ibcclientclient "github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v6/modules/core/02-client/client"
+	ibctypes "github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v6/modules/core/types"
+	tmcfg "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/config"
 	tmproto "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/proto/tendermint/types"
 	coretypes "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/types"
 )
@@ -71,12 +79,33 @@ func (stakingModule) DefaultGenesis(cdc codec.JSONCodec) json.RawMessage {
 	params := stakingtypes.DefaultParams()
 	params.UnbondingTime = appconsts.DefaultUnbondingTime
 	params.BondDenom = BondDenom
+	params.MinCommissionRate = sdk.NewDecWithPrec(5, 2) // 5%
 
 	return cdc.MustMarshalJSON(&stakingtypes.GenesisState{
 		Params: params,
 	})
 }
 
+// stakingModule wraps the x/staking module in order to overwrite specific
+// ModuleManager APIs.
+type slashingModule struct {
+	slashing.AppModuleBasic
+}
+
+// DefaultGenesis returns custom x/staking module genesis state.
+func (slashingModule) DefaultGenesis(cdc codec.JSONCodec) json.RawMessage {
+	params := slashingtypes.DefaultParams()
+	params.MinSignedPerWindow = sdk.NewDecWithPrec(75, 2) // 75%
+	params.SignedBlocksWindow = 5000
+	params.DowntimeJailDuration = time.Minute * 1
+	params.SlashFractionDoubleSign = sdk.NewDecWithPrec(5, 2) // 5%
+	params.SlashFractionDowntime = sdk.ZeroDec()              // 0%
+
+	return cdc.MustMarshalJSON(&slashingtypes.GenesisState{
+		Params: params,
+	})
+}
+
 type crisisModule struct {
 	crisis.AppModuleBasic
 }
@@ -88,6 +117,22 @@ func (crisisModule) DefaultGenesis(cdc codec.JSONCodec) json.RawMessage {
 	})
 }
 
+type ibcModule struct {
+	ibc.AppModuleBasic
+}
+
+// DefaultGenesis returns custom x/ibc module genesis state.
+func (ibcModule) DefaultGenesis(cdc codec.JSONCodec) json.RawMessage {
+	// per ibc documentation, this value should be 3-5 times the expected block
+	// time. The expected block time is 15 seconds, therefore this value is 75
+	// seconds.
+	maxBlockTime := appconsts.GoalBlockTime * 5
+	gs := ibctypes.DefaultGenesisState()
+	gs.ClientGenesis.Params.AllowedClients = []string{"06-solomachine", "07-tendermint"}
+	gs.ConnectionGenesis.Params.MaxExpectedTimePerBlock = uint64(maxBlockTime.Nanoseconds())
+	return cdc.MustMarshalJSON(gs)
+}
+
 type mintModule struct {
 	mint.AppModuleBasic
 }
@@ -113,7 +158,7 @@ type govModule struct {
 // DefaultGenesis returns custom x/gov module genesis state.
 func (govModule) DefaultGenesis(cdc codec.JSONCodec) json.RawMessage {
 	genState := govtypes.DefaultGenesisState()
-	genState.DepositParams.MinDeposit = sdk.NewCoins(sdk.NewCoin(BondDenom, sdk.NewInt(10000000)))
+	genState.DepositParams.MinDeposit = sdk.NewCoins(sdk.NewCoin(BondDenom, sdk.NewInt(1_000_000_000))) // 1000 TIA
 
 	return cdc.MustMarshalJSON(genState)
 }
@@ -134,7 +179,7 @@ func getLegacyProposalHandlers() (result []govclient.ProposalHandler) {
 func DefaultConsensusParams() *tmproto.ConsensusParams {
 	return &tmproto.ConsensusParams{
 		Block:     DefaultBlockParams(),
-		Evidence:  coretypes.DefaultEvidenceParams(),
+		Evidence:  DefaultEvidenceParams(),
 		Validator: coretypes.DefaultValidatorParams(),
 		Version: tmproto.VersionParams{
 			AppVersion: appconsts.LatestVersion,
@@ -151,3 +196,48 @@ func DefaultBlockParams() tmproto.BlockParams {
 		TimeIotaMs: 1, // 1ms
 	}
 }
+
+// DefaultEvidenceParams returns a default EvidenceParams with a MaxAge
+// determined using a goal block time.
+func DefaultEvidenceParams() tmproto.EvidenceParams {
+	evdParams := coretypes.DefaultEvidenceParams()
+	evdParams.MaxAgeDuration = appconsts.DefaultUnbondingTime
+	evdParams.MaxAgeNumBlocks = int64(appconsts.DefaultUnbondingTime.Seconds())/int64(appconsts.GoalBlockTime.Seconds()) + 1
+	return evdParams
+}
+
+func DefaultConsensusConfig() *tmcfg.Config {
+	cfg := tmcfg.DefaultConfig()
+	// Set broadcast timeout to be 50 seconds in order to avoid timeouts for long block times
+	// TODO: make TimeoutBroadcastTx configurable per https://github.com/celestiaorg/celestia-app/issues/1034
+	cfg.RPC.TimeoutBroadcastTxCommit = 50 * time.Second
+	cfg.RPC.MaxBodyBytes = int64(8388608) // 8 MiB
+	cfg.Mempool.TTLNumBlocks = 10
+	// Given that there is a stateful transaction size check in CheckTx,
+	// We set a loose upper bound on what we expect the transaction to
+	// be based on the upper bound size of the entire block for the given
+	// version. This acts as a first line of DoS protection
+	upperBoundBytes := appconsts.DefaultSquareSizeUpperBound * appconsts.DefaultSquareSizeUpperBound * appconsts.ContinuationSparseShareContentSize
+	cfg.Mempool.MaxTxBytes = upperBoundBytes
+
+	cfg.Mempool.Version = "v1" // prioritized mempool
+	cfg.Consensus.TimeoutPropose = appconsts.TimeoutPropose
+	cfg.Consensus.TimeoutCommit = appconsts.TimeoutCommit
+	cfg.Consensus.SkipTimeoutCommit = false
+	cfg.TxIndex.Indexer = "null"
+	return cfg
+}
+
+func DefaultAppConfig() *serverconfig.Config {
+	cfg := serverconfig.DefaultConfig()
+	cfg.API.Enable = true
+
+	// the default snapshot interval was determined by picking a large enough
+	// value as to not dramatically increase resource requirements while also
+	// being greater than zero so that there are more nodes that will serve
+	// snapshots to nodes that state sync
+	cfg.StateSync.SnapshotInterval = 1500
+	cfg.StateSync.SnapshotKeepRecent = 2
+	cfg.MinGasPrices = fmt.Sprintf("%v%s", appconsts.DefaultMinGasPrice, BondDenom)
+	return cfg
+}
diff --git a/app/default_overrides_test.go b/app/default_overrides_test.go
index 3dc8b81eb9..b4c97fcb83 100644
--- a/app/default_overrides_test.go
+++ b/app/default_overrides_test.go
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ func Test_newGovModule(t *testing.T) {
 
 	want := []types.Coin{{
 		Denom:  BondDenom,
-		Amount: types.NewInt(10000000),
+		Amount: types.NewInt(1000000000),
 	}}
 
 	assert.Equal(t, want, govGenesisState.DepositParams.MinDeposit)
diff --git a/pkg/appconsts/consensus_consts.go b/pkg/appconsts/consensus_consts.go
index fd2d2297ee..c26e4078eb 100644
--- a/pkg/appconsts/consensus_consts.go
+++ b/pkg/appconsts/consensus_consts.go
@@ -5,4 +5,9 @@ import "time"
 const (
 	TimeoutPropose = time.Second * 10
 	TimeoutCommit  = time.Second * 11
+	// GoalBlockTime is the target time interval between blocks. Since the block
+	// interval isn't enforced at consensus, the real block interval isn't
+	// guaranteed to exactly match GoalBlockTime. GoalBlockTime is currently targeted
+	// through static timeouts (i.e. TimeoutPropose, TimeoutCommit).
+	GoalBlockTime = time.Second * 15
 )
diff --git a/specs/src/specs/params.md b/specs/src/specs/params.md
index c7a0af3a49..3c347462f2 100644
--- a/specs/src/specs/params.md
+++ b/specs/src/specs/params.md
@@ -22,12 +22,12 @@ are blocked by the `x/paramfilter` module.
 | consensus.block.MaxBytes | 1.88MiB | Governance parameter for the maximum size of the protobuf encoded block. | True |
 | consensus.block.MaxGas | -1 | Maximum gas allowed per block (-1 is infinite). | True |
 | consensus.block.TimeIotaMs | 1000 | Minimum time added to the time in the header each block. | False |
-| consensus.evidence.MaxAgeNumBlocks | 100000 | The maximum number of blocks before evidence is considered invalid. This value will stop CometBFT from pruning block data. | True |
+| consensus.evidence.MaxAgeNumBlocks | 120960 | The maximum number of blocks before evidence is considered invalid. This value will stop CometBFT from pruning block data. | True |
 | consensus.evidence.MaxAgeDuration | 1814400000000000 (21 days) | The maximum age of evidence before it is considered invalid in nanoseconds. This value should be identical to the unbonding period. | True |
 | consensus.evidence.MaxBytes | 1MiB | Maximum size in bytes used by evidence in a given block. | True |
 | consensus.validator.PubKeyTypes | Ed25519 | The type of public key used by validators. | False |
 | consensus.Version.AppVersion | 1 | Determines protocol rules used for a given height. Incremented by the application upon an upgrade. | False |
-| distribution.communitytax | 2.0% | Percentage of the inflation sent to the community pool. | True |
+| distribution.CommunityTax | 2.0% | Percentage of the inflation sent to the community pool. | True |
 | distribution.WithdrawAddrEnabled | true | Enables delegators to withdraw funds to a different address. | True |
 | distribution.BaseProposerReward | 0 | Reward in the mint demonination for proposing a block. | True |
 | distribution.BonusProposerReward | 0 | Extra reward in the mint denomination for proposers based on the voting power included in the commit. | True |
@@ -42,17 +42,17 @@ are blocked by the `x/paramfilter` module.
 | ibc.Transfer.SendEnabled | true | Enable sending tokens via IBC. | True |
 | ibc.Transfer.ReceiveEnabled | true | Enable receiving tokens via IBC. | True |
 | slashing.SignedBlocksWindow | 5000 | The range of blocks used to count for downtime. | True |
-| slashing.MinSignedPerWindow | 5 | Minumum signatures in the block. | True |
-| slashing.DowntimeJailDuration | 10 mins | Duration of time a validator must stay jailed. | True |
-| slashing.SlashFractionDoubleSign | 5.0% | Percentage slashed after a validator is jailed for downtime. | True |
-| slashing.SlashFractionDowntime | 1.0% | Percentage slashed after a validator is jailed for downtime. | True |
+| slashing.MinSignedPerWindow | 75.0% | The percentage of SignedBlocksWindow that must be signed not to get jailed. | True |
+| slashing.DowntimeJailDuration | 1 min | Duration of time a validator must stay jailed. | True |
+| slashing.SlashFractionDoubleSign | 5.0% | Percentage slashed after a validator is jailed for double signing. | True |
+| slashing.SlashFractionDowntime | 0.0% | Percentage slashed after a validator is jailed for downtime. | True |
 | staking.UnbondingTime | 1814400 (21 days) | Duration of time for unbonding in seconds. | False |
 | staking.MaxValidators | 100 | Maximum number of validators. | False |
 | staking.MaxEntries | 7 | Maximum number of entries in the redelegation queue. | True |
 | staking.HistoricalEntries | 10000 | Number of historical entries to persist in store. | True |
 | staking.BondDenom | utia | Bondable coin denomination. | False |
 | staking.MinCommissionRate | 0.05 (5%) | Minimum commission rate used by all validators. | True |
-| mint.BondDenom | utia | Denomination that is inflated and sent to the distribution module account. | True |
+| mint.BondDenom | utia | Denomination that is inflated and sent to the distribution module account. | False |
 | mint.InflationRateChange | 10.0% | The rate at which the annual provisions decrease each year. | False |
 | mint.InflationRate | 8.0% | Initial annual inflation rate used to calculate the annual provisions. | False |
 | qgb.DataCommitmentWindow | 400 | Number of blocks that are included in a signed batch (DataCommitment). | True |