diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index 57807574d16d7..40dc1c38ac1bc 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ BITCOIN_CORE_H = \
   addrdb.h \
   addrman.h \
   asset.h \
+  assetsdir.h \
   base58.h \
   bech32.h \
   blech32.h \
@@ -292,6 +293,7 @@ endif
 libbitcoin_wallet_a_CPPFLAGS = $(AM_CPPFLAGS) $(BITCOIN_INCLUDES)
 libbitcoin_wallet_a_CXXFLAGS = $(AM_CXXFLAGS) $(PIE_FLAGS)
 libbitcoin_wallet_a_SOURCES = \
+  assetsdir.cpp \
   interfaces/wallet.cpp \
   wallet/coincontrol.cpp \
   wallet/crypter.cpp \
diff --git a/src/assetsdir.cpp b/src/assetsdir.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..0b897828a3542
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/assetsdir.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2017-2017 The Elements Core developers
+// Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
+// file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
+
+#include <assetsdir.h>
+#include <chainparams.h>
+
+#include <tinyformat.h>
+#include <utilstrencodings.h>
+
+#include <boost/algorithm/string/classification.hpp>
+#include <boost/algorithm/string/split.hpp>
+
+void CAssetsDir::Set(const CAsset& asset, const AssetMetadata& metadata)
+{
+    // No asset or label repetition
+    if (GetLabel(asset) != "")
+        throw std::runtime_error(strprintf("duplicated asset '%s'", asset.GetHex()));
+    if (GetAsset(metadata.GetLabel()) != CAsset())
+        throw std::runtime_error(strprintf("duplicated label '%s'", metadata.GetLabel()));
+
+    mapAssetMetadata[asset] = metadata;
+    mapAssets[metadata.GetLabel()] = asset;
+}
+
+void CAssetsDir::SetHex(const std::string& assetHex, const std::string& label)
+{
+    if (!IsHex(assetHex) || assetHex.size() != 64)
+        throw std::runtime_error("The asset must be hex string of length 64");
+
+    const std::vector<std::string> protectedLabels = {"", "*", "bitcoin", "Bitcoin", "btc"};
+    for (std::string proLabel : protectedLabels) {
+        if (label == proLabel) {
+            throw std::runtime_error(strprintf("'%s' label is protected", proLabel));
+        }
+    }
+    Set(CAsset(uint256S(assetHex)), AssetMetadata(label));
+}
+
+void CAssetsDir::InitFromStrings(const std::vector<std::string>& assetsToInit, const std::string& pegged_asset_name)
+{
+    for (std::string strToSplit : assetsToInit) {
+        std::vector<std::string> vAssets;
+        boost::split(vAssets, strToSplit, boost::is_any_of(":"));
+        if (vAssets.size() != 2) {
+            throw std::runtime_error("-assetdir parameters malformed, expecting asset:label");
+        }
+        SetHex(vAssets[0], vAssets[1]);
+    }
+    // Set "bitcoin" to the pegged asset for tests
+    Set(Params().GetConsensus().pegged_asset, AssetMetadata(pegged_asset_name));
+}
+
+CAsset CAssetsDir::GetAsset(const std::string& label) const
+{
+    auto it = mapAssets.find(label);
+    if (it != mapAssets.end())
+        return it->second;
+    return CAsset();
+}
+
+AssetMetadata CAssetsDir::GetMetadata(const CAsset& asset) const
+{
+    auto it = mapAssetMetadata.find(asset);
+    if (it != mapAssetMetadata.end())
+        return it->second;
+    return AssetMetadata("");
+}
+
+std::string CAssetsDir::GetLabel(const CAsset& asset) const
+{
+    return GetMetadata(asset).GetLabel();
+}
+
+std::vector<CAsset> CAssetsDir::GetKnownAssets() const
+{
+    std::vector<CAsset> knownAssets;
+    for (auto it = mapAssets.begin(); it != mapAssets.end(); it++) {
+        knownAssets.push_back(it->second);
+    }
+    return knownAssets;
+}
+
+CAsset GetAssetFromString(const std::string& strasset) {
+    CAsset asset = gAssetsDir.GetAsset(strasset);
+    if (asset.IsNull() && strasset.size() == 64 && IsHex(strasset)) {
+        asset = CAsset(uint256S(strasset));
+    }
+    return asset;
+}
+
+// GLOBAL:
+CAssetsDir _gAssetsDir;
+const CAssetsDir& gAssetsDir = _gAssetsDir;
+
+void InitGlobalAssetDir(const std::vector<std::string>& assetsToInit, const std::string& pegged_asset_name)
+{
+    _gAssetsDir.InitFromStrings(assetsToInit, pegged_asset_name);
+}
diff --git a/src/assetsdir.h b/src/assetsdir.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..0c6e6814ca78b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/assetsdir.h
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+
+#ifndef BITCOIN_ASSETSDIR_H
+#define BITCOIN_ASSETSDIR_H
+
+#include <asset.h>
+
+#include <map>
+
+class AssetMetadata
+{
+    std::string label;
+public:
+    AssetMetadata() : label("") {};
+    AssetMetadata(std::string _label) : label(_label) {};
+
+    const std::string& GetLabel() const
+    {
+        return label;
+    }
+};
+
+class CAssetsDir
+{
+    std::map<CAsset, AssetMetadata> mapAssetMetadata;
+    std::map<std::string, CAsset> mapAssets;
+
+    void Set(const CAsset& asset, const AssetMetadata& metadata);
+    void SetHex(const std::string& assetHex, const std::string& label);
+public:
+    void InitFromStrings(const std::vector<std::string>& assetsToInit, const std::string& pegged_asset_name);
+
+    /**
+     * @param  label A label string
+     * @return asset id corresponding to the asset label
+     */
+    CAsset GetAsset(const std::string& label) const;
+
+    AssetMetadata GetMetadata(const CAsset& asset) const;
+
+    /** @return the label associated to the asset id */
+    std::string GetLabel(const CAsset& asset) const;
+
+    std::vector<CAsset> GetKnownAssets() const;
+};
+
+/**
+ * Returns asset id corresponding to the given asset expression, which is either an asset label or a hex value.
+ * @param  strasset A label string or a hex value corresponding to an asset
+ * @return       The asset ID for the given expression
+ */
+CAsset GetAssetFromString(const std::string& strasset);
+
+// GLOBAL:
+class CAssetsDir;
+
+extern const CAssetsDir& gAssetsDir;
+
+void InitGlobalAssetDir(const std::vector<std::string>& assetsToInit, const std::string& pegged_asset_name);
+
+#endif // BITCOIN_ASSETSDIR_H
diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index 382bdc7840ab4..f28b95b6764bc 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@
 #include <openssl/crypto.h>
 
 #include <primitives/pak.h> // CPAKList
+#include <assetsdir.h> // InitGlobalAssetDir
 
 #if ENABLE_ZMQ
 #include <zmq/zmqnotificationinterface.h>
@@ -509,6 +510,8 @@ void SetupServerArgs()
     gArgs.AddArg("-extprvkeyprefix", strprintf("The 4-byte prefix, in hex, of the chain's base58 extended private key encoding. (default: %s)", HexStr(defaultChainParams->Base58Prefix(CChainParams::EXT_SECRET_KEY))), false, OptionsCategory::CHAINPARAMS);
     gArgs.AddArg("-bech32_hrp", strprintf("The human-readable part of the chain's bech32 encoding. (default: %s)", defaultChainParams->Bech32HRP()), false, OptionsCategory::CHAINPARAMS);
     gArgs.AddArg("-blech32_hrp", strprintf("The human-readable part of the chain's blech32 encoding. Used in confidential addresses.(default: %s)", defaultChainParams->Blech32HRP()), false, OptionsCategory::CHAINPARAMS);
+    gArgs.AddArg("-assetdir", "Entries of pet names of assets, in this format:asset=<hex>:<label>. There can be any number of entries.", false, OptionsCategory::ELEMENTS);
+    gArgs.AddArg("-defaultpeggedassetname", "Default name of the pegged asset. (default: bitcoin)", false, OptionsCategory::ELEMENTS);
 
 #if HAVE_DECL_DAEMON
     gArgs.AddArg("-daemon", "Run in the background as a daemon and accept commands", false, OptionsCategory::OPTIONS);
@@ -1163,6 +1166,13 @@ bool AppInitParameterInteraction()
         }
     }
 
+    try {
+        const std::string default_asset_name = gArgs.GetArg("-defaultpeggedassetname", "bitcoin");
+        InitGlobalAssetDir(gArgs.GetArgs("-assetdir"), default_asset_name);
+    } catch (const std::exception& e) {
+        return InitError(strprintf("Error in -assetdir: %s\n", e.what()));
+    }
+
     return true;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/rpc/misc.cpp b/src/rpc/misc.cpp
index 5be2b342fb706..c9072bdaa6e06 100644
--- a/src/rpc/misc.cpp
+++ b/src/rpc/misc.cpp
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@
 
 #include <univalue.h>
 
+#include <assetsdir.h>
+
 static UniValue validateaddress(const JSONRPCRequest& request)
 {
     if (request.fHelp || request.params.size() != 1)
@@ -542,6 +544,21 @@ UniValue calcfastmerkleroot(const JSONRPCRequest& request)
     return ret;
 }
 
+UniValue dumpassetlabels(const JSONRPCRequest& request)
+{
+    if (request.fHelp || request.params.size() != 0)
+        throw std::runtime_error(
+            "dumpassetlabels\n"
+            "\nLists all known asset id/label pairs in this wallet. This list can be modified with `-assetdir` configuration argument.\n"
+            + HelpExampleCli("dumpassetlabels", "" )
+            + HelpExampleRpc("dumpassetlabels", "" )
+        );
+    UniValue obj(UniValue::VOBJ);
+    for (const auto& as : gAssetsDir.GetKnownAssets()) {
+        obj.pushKV(gAssetsDir.GetLabel(as), as.GetHex());
+    }
+    return obj;
+}
 
 class BlindingPubkeyAdderVisitor : public boost::static_visitor<>
 {
@@ -643,6 +660,7 @@ static const CRPCCommand commands[] =
     { "util",               "getpakinfo",             &getpakinfo,             {}},
     { "util",               "tweakfedpegscript",      &tweakfedpegscript,      {"claim_script"} },
     { "util",               "createblindedaddress",   &createblindedaddress,   {"address", "blinding_key"}},
+    { "util",               "dumpassetlabels",        &dumpassetlabels,        {}},
     { "hidden",             "calcfastmerkleroot",     &calcfastmerkleroot,     {"leaves"} },
 
     /* Not shown in help */
diff --git a/test/functional/test_runner.py b/test/functional/test_runner.py
index 275a438679f34..b75a63b5c59bb 100755
--- a/test/functional/test_runner.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_runner.py
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@
     'rpc_calcfastmerkleroot.py',
     'feature_txwitness.py',
     'rpc_tweakfedpeg.py',
+    'feature_assetsdir.py',
     # Longest test should go first, to favor running tests in parallel
     'feature_fee_estimation.py',
     'wallet_hd.py',