diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9bf30c6c1b23..feef3d8ef041 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -154,6 +154,7 @@ Ref: https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/
 
 ### CLI Breaking Changes
 
+* (x/genutil) [#13535](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/13535) Replace in `simd init`, the `--staking-bond-denom` flag with `--default-denom` which is used for all default denomination in the genesis, instead of only staking.
 * (tx) [#12659](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/12659) Remove broadcast mode `block`.
 
 ### Bug Fixes
diff --git a/types/staking.go b/types/staking.go
index 2f17bb1dd85f..66a01a29b381 100644
--- a/types/staking.go
+++ b/types/staking.go
@@ -1,26 +1,25 @@
 package types
 
-// staking constants
-const (
+// Delay, in blocks, between when validator updates are returned to the
+// consensus-engine and when they are applied. For example, if
+// ValidatorUpdateDelay is set to X, and if a validator set update is
+// returned with new validators at the end of block 10, then the new
+// validators are expected to sign blocks beginning at block 11+X.
+//
+// This value is constant as this should not change without a hard fork.
+// For Tendermint this should be set to 1 block, for more details see:
+// https://tendermint.com/docs/spec/abci/apps.html#endblock
+const ValidatorUpdateDelay int64 = 1
 
-	// default bond denomination
+var (
+	// DefaultBondDenom is the default bondable coin denomination (defaults to stake)
+	// Overwriting this value has the side effect of changing the default denomination in genesis
 	DefaultBondDenom = "stake"
 
-	// Delay, in blocks, between when validator updates are returned to the
-	// consensus-engine and when they are applied. For example, if
-	// ValidatorUpdateDelay is set to X, and if a validator set update is
-	// returned with new validators at the end of block 10, then the new
-	// validators are expected to sign blocks beginning at block 11+X.
-	//
-	// This value is constant as this should not change without a hard fork.
-	// For Tendermint this should be set to 1 block, for more details see:
-	// https://tendermint.com/docs/spec/abci/apps.html#endblock
-	ValidatorUpdateDelay int64 = 1
+	// DefaultPowerReduction is the default amount of staking tokens required for 1 unit of consensus-engine power
+	DefaultPowerReduction = NewIntFromUint64(1000000)
 )
 
-// DefaultPowerReduction is the default amount of staking tokens required for 1 unit of consensus-engine power
-var DefaultPowerReduction = NewIntFromUint64(1000000)
-
 // TokensToConsensusPower - convert input tokens to potential consensus-engine power
 func TokensToConsensusPower(tokens Int, powerReduction Int) int64 {
 	return (tokens.Quo(powerReduction)).Int64()
diff --git a/x/genutil/client/cli/init.go b/x/genutil/client/cli/init.go
index 77b763aeb734..e7e3e91ab0c4 100644
--- a/x/genutil/client/cli/init.go
+++ b/x/genutil/client/cli/init.go
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import (
 	sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types"
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types/module"
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/genutil"
-	stakingtypes "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/staking/types"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -32,8 +31,8 @@ const (
 	// FlagSeed defines a flag to initialize the private validator key from a specific seed.
 	FlagRecover = "recover"
 
-	// FlagStakingBondDenom defines a flag to specify the staking token in the genesis file.
-	FlagStakingBondDenom = "staking-bond-denom"
+	// FlagDefaultBondDenom defines the default denom to use in the genesis file.
+	FlagDefaultBondDenom = "default-denom"
 )
 
 type printInfo struct {
@@ -115,7 +114,7 @@ func InitCmd(mbm module.BasicManager, defaultNodeHome string) *cobra.Command {
 
 			genFile := config.GenesisFile()
 			overwrite, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool(FlagOverwrite)
-			stakingBondDenom, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString(FlagStakingBondDenom)
+			defaultDenom, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString(FlagDefaultBondDenom)
 
 			// use os.Stat to check if the file exists
 			_, err = os.Stat(genFile)
@@ -123,25 +122,11 @@ func InitCmd(mbm module.BasicManager, defaultNodeHome string) *cobra.Command {
 				return fmt.Errorf("genesis.json file already exists: %v", genFile)
 			}
 
-			appGenState := mbm.DefaultGenesis(cdc)
-
-			if stakingBondDenom != "" {
-				var stakingGenesis stakingtypes.GenesisState
-
-				stakingRaw := appGenState[stakingtypes.ModuleName]
-				err := clientCtx.Codec.UnmarshalJSON(stakingRaw, &stakingGenesis)
-				if err != nil {
-					return err
-				}
-
-				stakingGenesis.Params.BondDenom = stakingBondDenom
-				modifiedStakingStr, err := clientCtx.Codec.MarshalJSON(&stakingGenesis)
-				if err != nil {
-					return err
-				}
-
-				appGenState[stakingtypes.ModuleName] = modifiedStakingStr
+			// Overwrites the SDK default denom for side-effects
+			if defaultDenom != "" {
+				sdk.DefaultBondDenom = defaultDenom
 			}
+			appGenState := mbm.DefaultGenesis(cdc)
 
 			appState, err := json.MarshalIndent(appGenState, "", " ")
 			if err != nil {
@@ -179,7 +164,7 @@ func InitCmd(mbm module.BasicManager, defaultNodeHome string) *cobra.Command {
 	cmd.Flags().BoolP(FlagOverwrite, "o", false, "overwrite the genesis.json file")
 	cmd.Flags().Bool(FlagRecover, false, "provide seed phrase to recover existing key instead of creating")
 	cmd.Flags().String(flags.FlagChainID, "", "genesis file chain-id, if left blank will be randomly created")
-	cmd.Flags().String(FlagStakingBondDenom, "", "genesis file staking bond denomination, if left blank default value is 'stake'")
+	cmd.Flags().String(FlagDefaultBondDenom, "", "genesis file default denomination, if left blank default value is 'stake'")
 
 	return cmd
 }
diff --git a/x/genutil/client/cli/init_test.go b/x/genutil/client/cli/init_test.go
index 705af61cace3..e836f5a9e99f 100644
--- a/x/genutil/client/cli/init_test.go
+++ b/x/genutil/client/cli/init_test.go
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ func TestInitRecover(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, cmd.ExecuteContext(ctx))
 }
 
-func TestInitStakingBondDenom(t *testing.T) {
+func TestInitDefaultBondDenom(t *testing.T) {
 	home := t.TempDir()
 	logger := log.NewNopLogger()
 	cfg, err := genutiltest.CreateDefaultTendermintConfig(home)
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ func TestInitStakingBondDenom(t *testing.T) {
 	cmd.SetArgs([]string{
 		"appnode-test",
 		fmt.Sprintf("--%s=%s", cli.HomeFlag, home),
-		fmt.Sprintf("--%s=testtoken", genutilcli.FlagStakingBondDenom),
+		fmt.Sprintf("--%s=testtoken", genutilcli.FlagDefaultBondDenom),
 	})
 	require.NoError(t, cmd.ExecuteContext(ctx))
 }