diff --git a/src/cosmoscodec.ts b/src/cosmoscodec.ts
index 920211a9ce..ebfffabeb8 100644
--- a/src/cosmoscodec.ts
+++ b/src/cosmoscodec.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import {
   SignableBytes,
   SignedTransaction,
   SigningJob,
+  TokenTicker,
   TransactionId,
   TxCodec,
   UnsignedTransaction,
@@ -17,10 +18,11 @@ import { Sha256 } from "@iov/crypto";
 import { Encoding } from "@iov/encoding";
 import { marshalTx, unmarshalTx } from "@tendermint/amino-js";
 
-import { isValidAddress, pubkeyToAddress } from "./address";
+import { isValidAddress, pubkeyToAddress, CosmosBech32Prefix } from "./address";
 import { Caip5 } from "./caip5";
 import { parseTx } from "./decode";
 import { buildSignedTx, buildUnsignedTx } from "./encode";
+import { TokenInfos } from "./types";
 
 const { toHex, toUtf8 } = Encoding;
 
@@ -43,6 +45,14 @@ function sortJson(json: any): any {
 }
 
 export class CosmosCodec implements TxCodec {
+  private readonly prefix: CosmosBech32Prefix;
+  private readonly tokens: TokenInfos;
+
+  public constructor(prefix: CosmosBech32Prefix, tokens: TokenInfos) {
+    this.prefix = prefix;
+    this.tokens = tokens;
+  }
+
   public bytesToSign(unsigned: UnsignedTransaction, nonce: Nonce): SigningJob {
     const accountNumber = 0;
     const memo = (unsigned as any).memo;
@@ -86,8 +96,7 @@ export class CosmosCodec implements TxCodec {
   }
 
   public identityToAddress(identity: Identity): Address {
-    const prefix = "cosmos";
-    return pubkeyToAddress(identity.pubkey, prefix);
+    return pubkeyToAddress(identity.pubkey, this.prefix);
   }
 
   public isValidAddress(address: string): boolean {
@@ -95,4 +104,15 @@ export class CosmosCodec implements TxCodec {
   }
 }
 
-export const cosmosCodec = new CosmosCodec();
+const defaultPrefix = "cosmos" as CosmosBech32Prefix;
+
+const defaultTokens: TokenInfos = [
+  {
+    fractionalDigits: 6,
+    tokenName: "Atom (Cosmos Hub)",
+    tokenTicker: "ATOM" as TokenTicker,
+    denom: "uatom",
+  },
+];
+
+export const cosmosCodec = new CosmosCodec(defaultPrefix, defaultTokens);
diff --git a/src/decode.ts b/src/decode.ts
index 46f00d0b57..46c60b1434 100644
--- a/src/decode.ts
+++ b/src/decode.ts
@@ -45,9 +45,9 @@ export function decodeFullSignature(signature: amino.StdSignature, nonce: number
   };
 }
 
-  // TODO: this needs access to token list - we need something more like amountToCoin and coinToAmount here
-  // and wire that info all the way from both connection and codec.
-  export function decodeAmount(amount: amino.Coin): Amount {
+// TODO: this needs access to token list - we need something more like amountToCoin and coinToAmount here
+// and wire that info all the way from both connection and codec.
+export function decodeAmount(amount: amino.Coin): Amount {
   // TODO: more uglyness here (breaks unit tests)
   if (amount.denom !== "uatom") {
     throw new Error("Only ATOM amounts are supported");
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index 415c37edd6..dabdc85154 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ export interface TokenInfo extends Token {
   readonly denom: string;
 }
 
+export type TokenInfos = ReadonlyArray<TokenInfo>;
+
 // TODO: alias amino types
 export function amountToCoin(lookup: ReadonlyArray<TokenInfo>, amount: Amount): amino.Coin {
   const match = lookup.find(({ tokenTicker }) => tokenTicker === amount.tokenTicker);