diff --git a/.changelog/unreleased/improvements/1278-opt_tx_index.md b/.changelog/unreleased/improvements/1278-opt_tx_index.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..efbb2905ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/unreleased/improvements/1278-opt_tx_index.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+- Disable Tendermint tx_index as default
+  ([#1278](https://github.com/anoma/namada/issues/1278))
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/apps/src/bin/namada-node/cli.rs b/apps/src/bin/namada-node/cli.rs
index 1c5520671d..240e81f90c 100644
--- a/apps/src/bin/namada-node/cli.rs
+++ b/apps/src/bin/namada-node/cli.rs
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ pub fn main() -> Result<()> {
         cmds::NamadaNode::Ledger(sub) => match sub {
             cmds::Ledger::Run(cmds::LedgerRun(args)) => {
                 let wasm_dir = ctx.wasm_dir();
-                sleep_until(args.0);
+                sleep_until(args.start_time);
+                ctx.config.ledger.tendermint.tx_index = args.tx_index;
                 ledger::run(ctx.config.ledger, wasm_dir);
             }
             cmds::Ledger::RunUntil(cmds::LedgerRunUntil(args)) => {
diff --git a/apps/src/lib/cli.rs b/apps/src/lib/cli.rs
index cdff4bd8b3..b5dd83b4aa 100644
--- a/apps/src/lib/cli.rs
+++ b/apps/src/lib/cli.rs
@@ -780,7 +780,10 @@ pub mod cmds {
                     .or(rollback)
                     .or(run_until)
                     // The `run` command is the default if no sub-command given
-                    .or(Some(Self::Run(LedgerRun(args::LedgerRun(None)))))
+                    .or(Some(Self::Run(LedgerRun(args::LedgerRun {
+                        start_time: None,
+                        tx_index: false,
+                    }))))
             })
         }
 
@@ -1732,6 +1735,7 @@ pub mod args {
     const STORAGE_KEY: Arg<storage::Key> = arg("storage-key");
     const SUB_PREFIX: ArgOpt<String> = arg_opt("sub-prefix");
     const SUSPEND_ACTION: ArgFlag = flag("suspend");
+    const TENDERMINT_TX_INDEX: ArgFlag = flag("tx-index");
     const TIMEOUT_HEIGHT: ArgOpt<u64> = arg_opt("timeout-height");
     const TIMEOUT_SEC_OFFSET: ArgOpt<u64> = arg_opt("timeout-sec-offset");
     const TOKEN_OPT: ArgOpt<WalletAddress> = TOKEN.opt();
@@ -1802,12 +1806,19 @@ pub mod args {
     }
 
     #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
-    pub struct LedgerRun(pub Option<DateTimeUtc>);
+    pub struct LedgerRun {
+        pub start_time: Option<DateTimeUtc>,
+        pub tx_index: bool,
+    }
 
     impl Args for LedgerRun {
         fn parse(matches: &ArgMatches) -> Self {
-            let time = NAMADA_START_TIME.parse(matches);
-            Self(time)
+            let start_time = NAMADA_START_TIME.parse(matches);
+            let tx_index = TENDERMINT_TX_INDEX.parse(matches);
+            Self {
+                start_time,
+                tx_index,
+            }
         }
 
         fn def(app: App) -> App {
@@ -1819,6 +1830,11 @@ pub mod args {
                  equivalent:\n2023-01-20T12:12:12Z\n2023-01-20 \
                  12:12:12Z\n2023-  01-20T12:  12:12Z",
             ))
+            .arg(
+                TENDERMINT_TX_INDEX
+                    .def()
+                    .about("Enable Tendermint tx indexing."),
+            )
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/apps/src/lib/config/mod.rs b/apps/src/lib/config/mod.rs
index 8c1275718f..15ff0b395f 100644
--- a/apps/src/lib/config/mod.rs
+++ b/apps/src/lib/config/mod.rs
@@ -142,6 +142,8 @@ pub struct Tendermint {
     pub instrumentation_prometheus: bool,
     pub instrumentation_prometheus_listen_addr: SocketAddr,
     pub instrumentation_namespace: String,
+    /// Toggle to enable tx indexing
+    pub tx_index: bool,
 }
 
 impl Ledger {
@@ -189,6 +191,7 @@ impl Ledger {
                     26661,
                 ),
                 instrumentation_namespace: "namadan_tm".to_string(),
+                tx_index: false,
             },
         }
     }
diff --git a/apps/src/lib/node/ledger/tendermint_node.rs b/apps/src/lib/node/ledger/tendermint_node.rs
index 62eba26cba..63c9cd40c2 100644
--- a/apps/src/lib/node/ledger/tendermint_node.rs
+++ b/apps/src/lib/node/ledger/tendermint_node.rs
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ use crate::config;
 use crate::facade::tendermint::{block, Genesis};
 use crate::facade::tendermint_config::net::Address as TendermintAddress;
 use crate::facade::tendermint_config::{
-    Error as TendermintError, TendermintConfig,
+    Error as TendermintError, TendermintConfig, TxIndexConfig, TxIndexer,
 };
 
 /// Env. var to output Tendermint log to stdout
@@ -396,6 +396,15 @@ async fn update_tendermint_config(
             tendermint_config.consensus_timeout_commit;
     }
 
+    let indexer = if tendermint_config.tx_index {
+        TxIndexer::Kv
+    } else {
+        TxIndexer::Null
+    };
+    #[cfg(feature = "abcipp")]
+    let indexer = [indexer];
+    config.tx_index = TxIndexConfig { indexer };
+
     let mut file = OpenOptions::new()
         .write(true)
         .truncate(true)
diff --git a/tests/src/e2e/ibc_tests.rs b/tests/src/e2e/ibc_tests.rs
index 2fa2d4dafd..896a5fff9a 100644
--- a/tests/src/e2e/ibc_tests.rs
+++ b/tests/src/e2e/ibc_tests.rs
@@ -92,12 +92,22 @@ fn run_ledger_ibc() -> Result<()> {
     let (test_a, test_b) = setup::two_single_node_nets()?;
 
     // Run Chain A
-    let mut ledger_a =
-        run_as!(test_a, Who::Validator(0), Bin::Node, &["ledger"], Some(40))?;
+    let mut ledger_a = run_as!(
+        test_a,
+        Who::Validator(0),
+        Bin::Node,
+        &["ledger", "run", "--tx-index"],
+        Some(40)
+    )?;
     ledger_a.exp_string("Namada ledger node started")?;
     // Run Chain B
-    let mut ledger_b =
-        run_as!(test_b, Who::Validator(0), Bin::Node, &["ledger"], Some(40))?;
+    let mut ledger_b = run_as!(
+        test_b,
+        Who::Validator(0),
+        Bin::Node,
+        &["ledger", "run", "--tx-index"],
+        Some(40)
+    )?;
     ledger_b.exp_string("Namada ledger node started")?;
     ledger_a.exp_string("This node is a validator")?;
     ledger_b.exp_string("This node is a validator")?;