diff --git a/lib/contracts/provider.js b/lib/contracts/provider.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a485b09a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/contracts/provider.js
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+const ProviderEngine = require('embark-web3-provider-engine');
+const RpcSubprovider = require('embark-web3-provider-engine/subproviders/rpc');
+const WsSubprovider = require('embark-web3-provider-engine/subproviders/websocket');
+const CacheSubprovider = require('embark-web3-provider-engine/subproviders/cache.js');
+const FixtureSubprovider = require('embark-web3-provider-engine/subproviders/fixture.js');
+const FilterSubprovider = require('embark-web3-provider-engine/subproviders/filters.js');
+const VmSubprovider = require('embark-web3-provider-engine/subproviders/vm.js');
+const NonceSubprovider = require('embark-web3-provider-engine/subproviders/nonce-tracker.js');
+const SubscriptionSubprovider = require('embark-web3-provider-engine/subproviders/subscriptions');
+const async = require('async');
+const AccountParser = require('./accountParser');
+const fundAccount = require('./fundAccount');
+
+const NO_ACCOUNTS = 'noAccounts';
+
+class Provider {
+  constructor(options) {
+    this.web3 = options.web3;
+    this.accountsConfig = options.accountsConfig;
+    this.blockchainConfig = options.blockchainConfig;
+    this.type = options.type;
+    this.web3Endpoint = options.web3Endpoint;
+    this.logger = options.logger;
+    this.isDev = options.isDev;
+    this.engine = new ProviderEngine();
+    this.asyncMethods = {};
+  }
+
+  startWeb3Provider(callback) {
+    const self = this;
+
+// cache layer
+//     self.addProvider(new CacheSubprovider())
+
+    // self.addProvider(new NonceSubprovider())
+
+    if (this.type === 'rpc') {
+      self.engine.addProvider(new RpcSubprovider({
+        rpcUrl: self.web3Endpoint
+      }));
+    } else if (this.type === 'ws') {
+      //self.engine.addProvider(new WsSubprovider({
+      console.log('USing ws');
+      self.addProvider(new SubscriptionSubprovider());
+      self.addProvider(new WsSubprovider({
+        rpcUrl: self.web3Endpoint,
+        origin: this.blockchainConfig.wsOrigins.split(',')[0]
+      }));
+    } else {
+      return callback(__("contracts config error: unknown deployment type %s", this.type));
+    }
+
+
+
+    // network connectivity error
+    self.engine.on('error', (err) => {
+      // report connectivity errors
+      self.logger.error(err);
+    });
+
+    self.engine.start();
+    //self.on('error', (err) => {
+    //  console.log('ERR', JSON.stringify(err));
+    //  // report connectivity errors as trace due to polling
+    //  self.logger.trace('web3 provider error: ', err);
+    //  self.logger.trace('stopping web3 provider due to error');
+
+    //  // prevent continuous polling errors
+    //  self.stop();
+    //});
+
+    //self.web3.setProvider(self);
+    //self.start();
+
+    self.accounts = AccountParser.parseAccountsConfig(self.accountsConfig, self.web3, self.logger);
+    self.addresses = [];
+    async.waterfall([
+      function populateWeb3Wallet(next) {
+        if (!self.accounts.length) {
+          return next(NO_ACCOUNTS);
+        }
+        self.accounts.forEach(account => {
+          self.addresses.push(account.address);
+          self.web3.eth.accounts.wallet.add(account);
+        });
+        self.asyncMethods = {
+          eth_accounts: self.eth_accounts.bind(self)
+        };
+        next();
+      }
+    ], function (err) {
+      if (err && err !== NO_ACCOUNTS) {
+        self.logger.error((err));
+      }
+      callback();
+    });
+  }
+
+  fundAccounts(callback) {
+    const self = this;
+    if (!self.accounts.length) {
+      return callback();
+    }
+    if (!self.isDev) {
+      return callback();
+    }
+    async.each(self.accounts, (account, eachCb) => {
+      fundAccount(self.web3, account.address, account.hexBalance, eachCb);
+    }, callback);
+  }
+
+  stop() {
+    this.engine.stop();
+  }
+
+  eth_accounts(payload, cb) {
+    return cb(null, this.addresses);
+  }
+
+  sendAsync(payload, callback) {
+    let method = this.asyncMethods[payload.method];
+    if (method) {
+      return method.call(method, payload, (err, result) => {
+        if (err) {
+          return callback(err);
+        }
+        let response = {'id': payload.id, 'jsonrpc': '2.0', 'result': result};
+        callback(null, response);
+      });
+    }
+    this.engine.sendAsync.apply(this.engine, arguments);
+  }
+
+  send() {
+    return this.engine.send.apply(this.engine, arguments);
+  }
+}
+
+module.exports = Provider;
diff --git a/test_apps/test_app/config/blockchain.json b/test_apps/test_app/config/blockchain.json
index e2638b6e..9051682d 100644
--- a/test_apps/test_app/config/blockchain.json
+++ b/test_apps/test_app/config/blockchain.json
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{
+
   "default": {
     "enabled": true,
     "rpcHost": "localhost",
diff --git a/test_apps/test_app/test/simple_storage_spec.js b/test_apps/test_app/test/simple_storage_spec.js
index 3ee31b10..d723cb52 100644
--- a/test_apps/test_app/test/simple_storage_spec.js
+++ b/test_apps/test_app/test/simple_storage_spec.js
@@ -4,6 +4,11 @@ let accounts;
 const Utils = require('embarkjs').Utils;
 
 config({
+  deployment: {
+    type: 'ws',
+    host: 'localhost',
+    port: '8546'
+  },
   contracts: {
     "SimpleStorage": {
       args: [100],