diff --git a/gno.land/cmd/gnoland/main.go b/gno.land/cmd/gnoland/main.go
index dc31c6d5dba..0ebc3d7058a 100644
--- a/gno.land/cmd/gnoland/main.go
+++ b/gno.land/cmd/gnoland/main.go
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/peterbourgon/ff/v3"
+	"github.com/peterbourgon/ff/v3/fftoml"
+
 	"github.com/gnolang/gno/gno.land/pkg/gnoland"
 	gno "github.com/gnolang/gno/gnovm/pkg/gnolang"
 	"github.com/gnolang/gno/tm2/pkg/amino"
@@ -33,6 +36,8 @@ type gnolandCfg struct {
 	chainID               string
 	genesisRemote         string
 	rootDir               string
+	genesisMaxVMCycles    int64
+	config                string
 }
 
 func main() {
@@ -42,6 +47,10 @@ func main() {
 		commands.Metadata{
 			ShortUsage: "[flags] [<arg>...]",
 			LongHelp:   "Starts the gnoland blockchain node",
+			Options: []ff.Option{
+				ff.WithConfigFileFlag("config"),
+				ff.WithConfigFileParser(fftoml.Parser),
+			},
 		},
 		cfg,
 		func(_ context.Context, _ []string) error {
@@ -105,6 +114,20 @@ func (c *gnolandCfg) RegisterFlags(fs *flag.FlagSet) {
 		"localhost:26657",
 		"replacement for '%%REMOTE%%' in genesis",
 	)
+
+	fs.Int64Var(
+		&c.genesisMaxVMCycles,
+		"genesis-max-vm-cycles",
+		10_000_000,
+		"set maximum allowed vm cycles per operation. Zero means no limit.",
+	)
+
+	fs.StringVar(
+		&c.config,
+		"config",
+		"",
+		"config file (optional)",
+	)
 }
 
 func exec(c *gnolandCfg) error {
@@ -135,7 +158,7 @@ func exec(c *gnolandCfg) error {
 	}
 
 	// create application and node.
-	gnoApp, err := gnoland.NewApp(rootDir, c.skipFailingGenesisTxs, logger)
+	gnoApp, err := gnoland.NewApp(rootDir, c.skipFailingGenesisTxs, logger, c.genesisMaxVMCycles)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error in creating new app: %w", err)
 	}
diff --git a/gno.land/pkg/gnoland/app.go b/gno.land/pkg/gnoland/app.go
index 95fe9d2df8d..e33be9c04fe 100644
--- a/gno.land/pkg/gnoland/app.go
+++ b/gno.land/pkg/gnoland/app.go
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 // NewApp creates the GnoLand application.
-func NewApp(rootDir string, skipFailingGenesisTxs bool, logger log.Logger) (abci.Application, error) {
+func NewApp(rootDir string, skipFailingGenesisTxs bool, logger log.Logger, maxCycles int64) (abci.Application, error) {
 	// Get main DB.
 	db, err := dbm.NewDB("gnolang", dbm.GoLevelDBBackend, filepath.Join(rootDir, "data"))
 	if err != nil {
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ func NewApp(rootDir string, skipFailingGenesisTxs bool, logger log.Logger) (abci
 	acctKpr := auth.NewAccountKeeper(mainKey, ProtoGnoAccount)
 	bankKpr := bank.NewBankKeeper(acctKpr)
 	stdlibsDir := filepath.Join("..", "gnovm", "stdlibs")
-	vmKpr := vm.NewVMKeeper(baseKey, mainKey, acctKpr, bankKpr, stdlibsDir)
+	vmKpr := vm.NewVMKeeper(baseKey, mainKey, acctKpr, bankKpr, stdlibsDir, maxCycles)
 
 	// Set InitChainer
 	baseApp.SetInitChainer(InitChainer(baseApp, acctKpr, bankKpr, skipFailingGenesisTxs))
diff --git a/tm2/pkg/sdk/vm/common_test.go b/tm2/pkg/sdk/vm/common_test.go
index 62f83e94c8c..60a92906cb6 100644
--- a/tm2/pkg/sdk/vm/common_test.go
+++ b/tm2/pkg/sdk/vm/common_test.go
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import (
 	bft "github.com/gnolang/gno/tm2/pkg/bft/types"
 	dbm "github.com/gnolang/gno/tm2/pkg/db"
 	"github.com/gnolang/gno/tm2/pkg/log"
-
 	"github.com/gnolang/gno/tm2/pkg/sdk"
 	authm "github.com/gnolang/gno/tm2/pkg/sdk/auth"
 	bankm "github.com/gnolang/gno/tm2/pkg/sdk/bank"
@@ -40,7 +39,7 @@ func setupTestEnv() testEnv {
 	acck := authm.NewAccountKeeper(iavlCapKey, std.ProtoBaseAccount)
 	bank := bankm.NewBankKeeper(acck)
 	stdlibsDir := filepath.Join("..", "..", "..", "..", "gnovm", "stdlibs")
-	vmk := NewVMKeeper(baseCapKey, iavlCapKey, acck, bank, stdlibsDir)
+	vmk := NewVMKeeper(baseCapKey, iavlCapKey, acck, bank, stdlibsDir, 10_000_000)
 
 	vmk.Initialize(ms.MultiCacheWrap())
 
diff --git a/tm2/pkg/sdk/vm/keeper.go b/tm2/pkg/sdk/vm/keeper.go
index 8cff3e4c239..74cae60a0a3 100644
--- a/tm2/pkg/sdk/vm/keeper.go
+++ b/tm2/pkg/sdk/vm/keeper.go
@@ -41,16 +41,27 @@ type VMKeeper struct {
 
 	// cached, the DeliverTx persistent state.
 	gnoStore gno.Store
+
+	maxCycles int64 // max allowed cylces on VM executions
 }
 
 // NewVMKeeper returns a new VMKeeper.
-func NewVMKeeper(baseKey store.StoreKey, iavlKey store.StoreKey, acck auth.AccountKeeper, bank bank.BankKeeper, stdlibsDir string) *VMKeeper {
+func NewVMKeeper(
+	baseKey store.StoreKey,
+	iavlKey store.StoreKey,
+	acck auth.AccountKeeper,
+	bank bank.BankKeeper,
+	stdlibsDir string,
+	maxCycles int64,
+) *VMKeeper {
+	// TODO: create an Options struct to avoid too many constructor parameters
 	vmk := &VMKeeper{
 		baseKey:    baseKey,
 		iavlKey:    iavlKey,
 		acck:       acck,
 		bank:       bank,
 		stdlibsDir: stdlibsDir,
+		maxCycles:  maxCycles,
 	}
 	return vmk
 }
@@ -174,7 +185,7 @@ func (vm *VMKeeper) AddPackage(ctx sdk.Context, msg MsgAddPackage) error {
 			Store:     store,
 			Alloc:     store.GetAllocator(),
 			Context:   msgCtx,
-			MaxCycles: 10 * 1000 * 1000, // 10M cycles // XXX
+			MaxCycles: vm.maxCycles,
 		})
 	defer m2.Release()
 	m2.RunMemPackage(memPkg, true)
@@ -248,7 +259,7 @@ func (vm *VMKeeper) Call(ctx sdk.Context, msg MsgCall) (res string, err error) {
 			Store:     store,
 			Context:   msgCtx,
 			Alloc:     store.GetAllocator(),
-			MaxCycles: 10 * 1000 * 1000, // 10M cycles // XXX
+			MaxCycles: vm.maxCycles,
 		})
 	m.SetActivePackage(mpv)
 	defer func() {
@@ -369,7 +380,7 @@ func (vm *VMKeeper) QueryEval(ctx sdk.Context, pkgPath string, expr string) (res
 			Store:     store,
 			Context:   msgCtx,
 			Alloc:     alloc,
-			MaxCycles: 10 * 1000 * 1000, // 10M cycles // XXX
+			MaxCycles: vm.maxCycles,
 		})
 	defer func() {
 		if r := recover(); r != nil {
@@ -429,7 +440,7 @@ func (vm *VMKeeper) QueryEvalString(ctx sdk.Context, pkgPath string, expr string
 			Store:     store,
 			Context:   msgCtx,
 			Alloc:     alloc,
-			MaxCycles: 10 * 1000 * 1000, // 10M cycles // XXX
+			MaxCycles: vm.maxCycles,
 		})
 	defer func() {
 		if r := recover(); r != nil {