diff --git a/cli/src/commands/start.rs b/cli/src/commands/start.rs
index 8205d35c05..e0b149c6bd 100644
--- a/cli/src/commands/start.rs
+++ b/cli/src/commands/start.rs
@@ -137,6 +137,9 @@ pub struct Start {
     /// If development mode is enabled, specify the number of genesis validators (default: 4)
     #[clap(long)]
     pub dev_num_validators: Option<u16>,
+    /// If developtment mode is enabled, specify whether node 0 should generate traffic to drive the network
+    #[clap(default_value = "false", long = "no-dev-txs")]
+    pub no_dev_txs: bool,
     /// Specify the path to a directory containing the ledger
     #[clap(long = "storage_path")]
     pub storage_path: Option<PathBuf>,
@@ -524,10 +527,22 @@ impl Start {
             None => StorageMode::from(self.dev),
         };
 
+        // Determine whether to generate background transactions in dev mode.
+        let dev_txs = match self.dev {
+            Some(_) => !self.no_dev_txs,
+            None => {
+                // If the `no_dev_txs` flag is set, inform the user that it is ignored.
+                if self.no_dev_txs {
+                    eprintln!("The '--no-dev-txs' flag is ignored because '--dev' is not set");
+                }
+                false
+            }
+        };
+
         // Initialize the node.
         let bft_ip = if self.dev.is_some() { self.bft } else { None };
         match node_type {
-            NodeType::Validator => Node::new_validator(self.node, bft_ip, rest_ip, self.rest_rps, account, &trusted_peers, &trusted_validators, genesis, cdn, storage_mode).await,
+            NodeType::Validator => Node::new_validator(self.node, bft_ip, rest_ip, self.rest_rps, account, &trusted_peers, &trusted_validators, genesis, cdn, storage_mode, dev_txs).await,
             NodeType::Prover => Node::new_prover(self.node, account, &trusted_peers, genesis, storage_mode).await,
             NodeType::Client => Node::new_client(self.node, rest_ip, self.rest_rps, account, &trusted_peers, genesis, cdn, storage_mode).await,
         }
diff --git a/node/src/node.rs b/node/src/node.rs
index e6435d6ef6..d98376d384 100644
--- a/node/src/node.rs
+++ b/node/src/node.rs
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ impl<N: Network> Node<N> {
         genesis: Block<N>,
         cdn: Option<String>,
         storage_mode: StorageMode,
+        dev_txs: bool,
     ) -> Result<Self> {
         Ok(Self::Validator(Arc::new(
             Validator::new(
@@ -63,6 +64,7 @@ impl<N: Network> Node<N> {
                 genesis,
                 cdn,
                 storage_mode,
+                dev_txs,
             )
             .await?,
         )))
diff --git a/node/src/validator/mod.rs b/node/src/validator/mod.rs
index 7ac250f1a3..23b4f76920 100644
--- a/node/src/validator/mod.rs
+++ b/node/src/validator/mod.rs
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ impl<N: Network, C: ConsensusStorage<N>> Validator<N, C> {
         genesis: Block<N>,
         cdn: Option<String>,
         storage_mode: StorageMode,
+        dev_txs: bool,
     ) -> Result<Self> {
         // Prepare the shutdown flag.
         let shutdown: Arc<AtomicBool> = Default::default();
@@ -139,7 +140,7 @@ impl<N: Network, C: ConsensusStorage<N>> Validator<N, C> {
             shutdown,
         };
         // Initialize the transaction pool.
-        node.initialize_transaction_pool(storage_mode)?;
+        node.initialize_transaction_pool(storage_mode, dev_txs)?;
 
         // Initialize the REST server.
         if let Some(rest_ip) = rest_ip {
@@ -339,7 +340,7 @@ impl<N: Network, C: ConsensusStorage<N>> Validator<N, C> {
     // }
 
     /// Initialize the transaction pool.
-    fn initialize_transaction_pool(&self, storage_mode: StorageMode) -> Result<()> {
+    fn initialize_transaction_pool(&self, storage_mode: StorageMode, dev_txs: bool) -> Result<()> {
         use snarkvm::console::{
             program::{Identifier, Literal, ProgramID, Value},
             types::U64,
@@ -353,8 +354,8 @@ impl<N: Network, C: ConsensusStorage<N>> Validator<N, C> {
         match storage_mode {
             // If the node is running in development mode, only generate if you are allowed.
             StorageMode::Development(id) => {
-                // If the node is not the first node, do not start the loop.
-                if id != 0 {
+                // If the node is not the first node, or if we should not create dev traffic, do not start the loop.
+                if id != 0 || !dev_txs {
                     return Ok(());
                 }
             }
@@ -472,6 +473,7 @@ mod tests {
         let node = SocketAddr::from_str("0.0.0.0:4130").unwrap();
         let rest = SocketAddr::from_str("0.0.0.0:3030").unwrap();
         let storage_mode = StorageMode::Development(0);
+        let dev_txs = true;
 
         // Initialize an (insecure) fixed RNG.
         let mut rng = ChaChaRng::seed_from_u64(1234567890u64);
@@ -495,6 +497,7 @@ mod tests {
             genesis,
             None,
             storage_mode,
+            dev_txs,
         )
         .await
         .unwrap();
diff --git a/node/tests/common/node.rs b/node/tests/common/node.rs
index 80c0262903..81630cc9da 100644
--- a/node/tests/common/node.rs
+++ b/node/tests/common/node.rs
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ pub async fn validator() -> Validator<CurrentNetwork, ConsensusMemory<CurrentNet
         sample_genesis_block(), // Should load the current network's genesis block.
         None,                   // No CDN.
         StorageMode::Production,
+        false, // No dev traffic in production mode.
     )
     .await
     .expect("couldn't create validator instance")