diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ef56d2862..2306d0cae 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -9,3 +9,6 @@ build/
 *.la
 *.exe
 *.dll
+
+/scripts/testnet*.sh
+
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 2a33fa060..d82ef5a0f 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ TOOLS := beacon_node validator_keygen bench_bls_sig_agggregation state_sim
 TOOLS_DIRS := beacon_chain benchmarks research
 TOOLS_CSV := $(subst $(SPACE),$(COMMA),$(TOOLS))
 
-.PHONY: all sanity-checks deps nat-libs test $(TOOLS) clean_eth2_network_simulation_files eth2_network_simulation clean-testnet0 testnet0-nocleaning testnet0 clean-testnet1 testnet1-nocleaning testnet1 clean
+.PHONY: all sanity-checks deps nat-libs p2pd test $(TOOLS) clean_eth2_network_simulation_files eth2_network_simulation clean-testnet0 testnet0-nocleaning testnet0 clean-testnet1 testnet1-nocleaning testnet1 clean
 
 all: | $(TOOLS)
 
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ build:
 nat-libs: | deps
 	+ $(MAKE) --silent -C ../../ nat-libs
 
+p2pd: | deps
+	+ $(MAKE) --silent -C ../../ vendor/go/bin/p2pd
+
 # Windows 10 with WSL enabled, but no distro installed, fails if "../../nimble.sh" is executed directly
 # in a Makefile recipe but works when prefixing it with `bash`. No idea how the PATH is overridden.
 test: | build deps nat-libs
@@ -50,8 +53,8 @@ clean_eth2_network_simulation_files:
 eth2_network_simulation: | beacon_node validator_keygen clean_eth2_network_simulation_files
 	SKIP_BUILDS=1 GIT_ROOT="$$PWD" BUILD_OUTPUTS_DIR="./build" tests/simulation/start.sh
 
-testnet0 testnet1: | build deps nat-libs
-	../../env.sh scripts/build_testnet_node.sh $@
+testnet0 testnet1: | build deps nat-libs p2pd
+	NIM_PARAMS="$(NIM_PARAMS)" ../../env.sh scripts/build_testnet_node.sh $@
 
 clean-testnet0:
 	rm -rf ~/.cache/nimbus/BeaconNode/testnet0
diff --git a/beacon_chain/beacon_node.nim b/beacon_chain/beacon_node.nim
index 0a15ba535..90f65b9d1 100644
--- a/beacon_chain/beacon_node.nim
+++ b/beacon_chain/beacon_node.nim
@@ -723,6 +723,15 @@ when isMainModule:
   if config.logLevel != LogLevel.NONE:
     setLogLevel(config.logLevel)
 
+  ## Ctrl+C handling
+  proc controlCHandler() {.noconv.} =
+    when defined(windows):
+      # workaround for https://github.com/nim-lang/Nim/issues/4057
+      setupForeignThreadGc()
+    debug "Shutting down after having received SIGINT"
+    quit(1)
+  setControlCHook(controlCHandler)
+
   case config.cmd
   of createTestnet:
     var deposits: seq[Deposit]
diff --git a/beacon_chain/eth2_network.nim b/beacon_chain/eth2_network.nim
index ee6d9d960..9d7cedb79 100644
--- a/beacon_chain/eth2_network.nim
+++ b/beacon_chain/eth2_network.nim
@@ -166,6 +166,8 @@ else:
   template tcpEndPoint(address, port): auto =
     MultiAddress.init(address, Protocol.IPPROTO_TCP, port)
 
+  var mainDaemon: DaemonAPI
+
   proc createEth2Node*(conf: BeaconNodeConf): Future[Eth2Node] {.async.} =
     var
       (extIp, extTcpPort, extUdpPort) = setupNat(conf)
@@ -174,13 +176,18 @@ else:
                            else: @[tcpEndPoint(extIp, extTcpPort)]
       keyFile = conf.ensureNetworkIdFile
 
-    info "Starting LibP2P deamon", hostAddress, announcedAddresses, keyFile
-    let daemon = await newDaemonApi({PSGossipSub},
-                                    id = keyFile,
-                                    hostAddresses = @[hostAddress],
-                                    announcedAddresses = announcedAddresses)
+    info "Starting the LibP2P daemon", hostAddress, announcedAddresses, keyFile
+    mainDaemon = await newDaemonApi({PSGossipSub},
+                                        id = keyFile,
+                                        hostAddresses = @[hostAddress],
+                                        announcedAddresses = announcedAddresses)
 
-    return await Eth2Node.init(daemon)
+    proc closeDaemon() {.noconv.} =
+      info "Shutting down the LibP2P daemon"
+      waitFor mainDaemon.close()
+    addQuitProc(closeDaemon)
+
+    return await Eth2Node.init(mainDaemon)
 
   proc getPersistenBootstrapAddr*(conf: BeaconNodeConf,
                                   ip: IpAddress, port: Port): BootstrapAddr =
diff --git a/scripts/build_testnet_node.sh b/scripts/build_testnet_node.sh
index a3b2a84c2..c176e0de2 100755
--- a/scripts/build_testnet_node.sh
+++ b/scripts/build_testnet_node.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 [ -z "$1" ] && { echo "Usage: `basename $0` testnetX"; exit 1; }
 
-set -eu
+set -e
 
 cd $(dirname "$0")
 
@@ -12,11 +12,13 @@ source "$NETWORK_NAME.env"
 
 cd ..
 
-NIM_FLAGS="-d:release --lineTrace:on -d:chronicles_log_level=DEBUG -d:network_type=$NETWORK_TYPE -d:SECONDS_PER_SLOT=$SECONDS_PER_SLOT -d:SHARD_COUNT=$SHARD_COUNT -d:SLOTS_PER_EPOCH=$SLOTS_PER_EPOCH -d:DEFAULT_NETWORK=$NETWORK_NAME --hints:off --verbosity:0"
+# the NIM_PARAMS env var will be set in the Makefile, based on NIMFLAGS passed on the `make` command line
+# (i.e.: make NIMFLAGS="--stackTrace:on" testnet1).
+OUR_NIM_FLAGS="-d:release --lineTrace:on -d:chronicles_log_level=DEBUG -d:network_type=$NETWORK_TYPE -d:SECONDS_PER_SLOT=$SECONDS_PER_SLOT -d:SHARD_COUNT=$SHARD_COUNT -d:SLOTS_PER_EPOCH=$SLOTS_PER_EPOCH -d:DEFAULT_NETWORK=$NETWORK_NAME $NIM_PARAMS"
 
 BEACON_NODE_BIN="build/${NETWORK_NAME}_node"
 
-CMD="nim c $NIM_FLAGS -o:$BEACON_NODE_BIN beacon_chain/beacon_node"
+CMD="nim c $OUR_NIM_FLAGS -o:$BEACON_NODE_BIN beacon_chain/beacon_node"
 echo "$CMD"
 $CMD
 
@@ -24,10 +26,20 @@ if [ ! -d ~/.cache/nimbus/BeaconNode/${NETWORK_NAME}/validators ]; then
   $BEACON_NODE_BIN --network=$NETWORK_NAME importValidator
 fi
 
+# simple wrapper script
+BEACON_NODE_SCRIPT="scripts/${NETWORK_NAME}.sh"
+cat > "$BEACON_NODE_SCRIPT" <<EOF
+#!/bin/bash
+
+cd \$(dirname "\$0")/..
+../../env.sh $BEACON_NODE_BIN "\$@"
+EOF
+chmod 755 "$BEACON_NODE_SCRIPT"
+
 echo
 echo "Done! You're now ready to connect to $NETWORK_NAME by running:"
 echo
-echo "    $BEACON_NODE_BIN"
+echo "    $BEACON_NODE_SCRIPT"
 echo
 echo "Database and configuration files will be placed in:"
 echo