diff --git a/counterparty-cli/counterpartycli/client.py b/counterparty-cli/counterpartycli/client.py
index b287eddd8f..596e9dff2f 100755
--- a/counterparty-cli/counterpartycli/client.py
+++ b/counterparty-cli/counterpartycli/client.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
     [('--wallet-name',), {'default': 'bitcoincore', 'help': 'the wallet name to connect to'}],
     [('--wallet-connect',), {'default': 'localhost', 'help': 'the hostname or IP of the wallet server'}],
     [('--wallet-port',), {'type': int, 'help': 'the wallet port to connect to'}],
-    [('--wallet-user',), {'default': 'bitcoinrpc', 'help': 'the username used to communicate with wallet'}],
+    [('--wallet-user',), {'default': 'rpc', 'help': 'the username used to communicate with wallet'}],
     [('--wallet-password',), {'help': 'the password used to communicate with wallet'}],
     [('--wallet-ssl',), {'action': 'store_true', 'default': False, 'help': 'use SSL to connect to wallet (default: false)'}],
     [('--wallet-ssl-verify',), {'action': 'store_true', 'default': False, 'help': 'verify SSL certificate of wallet; disallow use of self‐signed certificates (default: false)'}],
diff --git a/counterparty-cli/counterpartycli/clientapi.py b/counterparty-cli/counterpartycli/clientapi.py
index bf3014b7fe..cf1a85fa60 100755
--- a/counterparty-cli/counterpartycli/clientapi.py
+++ b/counterparty-cli/counterpartycli/clientapi.py
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ def handle_exception(exc_type, exc_value, exc_traceback):
         raise ConfigurationError("Please specific a valid port number wallet-port configuration parameter")
 
     # BTC Wallet user
-    config.WALLET_USER = wallet_user or 'bitcoinrpc'
+    config.WALLET_USER = wallet_user or 'rpc'
 
     # BTC Wallet password
     if wallet_password:
diff --git a/counterparty-cli/counterpartycli/server.py b/counterparty-cli/counterpartycli/server.py
index 6f0949e555..f49a0d1811 100755
--- a/counterparty-cli/counterpartycli/server.py
+++ b/counterparty-cli/counterpartycli/server.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
     [('--backend-name',), {'default': 'addrindex', 'help': 'the backend name to connect to'}],
     [('--backend-connect',), {'default': 'localhost', 'help': 'the hostname or IP of the backend server'}],
     [('--backend-port',), {'type': int, 'help': 'the backend port to connect to'}],
-    [('--backend-user',), {'default': 'bitcoinrpc', 'help': 'the username used to communicate with backend'}],
+    [('--backend-user',), {'default': 'rpc', 'help': 'the username used to communicate with backend'}],
     [('--backend-password',), {'default': 'rpc', 'help': 'the password used to communicate with backend'}],
     [('--backend-ssl',), {'action': 'store_true', 'default': False, 'help': 'use SSL to connect to backend (default: false)'}],
     [('--backend-ssl-no-verify',), {'action': 'store_true', 'default': False, 'help': 'verify SSL certificate of backend; disallow use of self‐signed certificates (default: true)'}],
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
     [('--rpc-host',), {'default': 'localhost', 'help': 'the IP of the interface to bind to for providing JSON-RPC API access (0.0.0.0 for all interfaces)'}],
     [('--rpc-port',), {'type': int, 'help': f'port on which to provide the {config.APP_NAME} JSON-RPC API'}],
     [('--rpc-user',), {'default': 'rpc', 'help': f'required username to use the {config.APP_NAME} JSON-RPC API (via HTTP basic auth)'}],
-    [('--rpc-password',), {'help':f'required password (for rpc-user) to use the {config.APP_NAME} JSON-RPC API (via HTTP basic auth)'}],
+    [('--rpc-password',), {'default': 'rpc', 'help':f'required password (for rpc-user) to use the {config.APP_NAME} JSON-RPC API (via HTTP basic auth)'}],
     [('--rpc-no-allow-cors',), {'action': 'store_true', 'default': False, 'help': 'allow ajax cross domain request'}],
     [('--rpc-batch-size',), {'type': int, 'default': config.DEFAULT_RPC_BATCH_SIZE, 'help': f'number of RPC queries by batch (default: {config.DEFAULT_RPC_BATCH_SIZE})'}],
     [('--requests-timeout',), {'type': int, 'default': config.DEFAULT_REQUESTS_TIMEOUT, 'help': 'timeout value (in seconds) used for all HTTP requests (default: 5)'}],
diff --git a/simplenode/compose.yml b/simplenode/compose.yml
index 958440b339..0a331be5b1 100644
--- a/simplenode/compose.yml
+++ b/simplenode/compose.yml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ services:
       # - "-chain=test"                       # testnet
       - "-rpcallowip=0.0.0.0/0"
       - "-rpcbind=0.0.0.0"
-      - "-rpcuser=bitcoinrpc"
+      - "-rpcuser=rpc"
       - "-rpcpassword=rpc"
       - "-listen=1"
       - "-server=1"
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ services:
       # - "--network=testnet"                 # testnet
       - "--indexer-rpc-host=0.0.0.0"
       - "--daemon-rpc-host=0.0.0.0"
-      - "--cookie=bitcoinrpc:rpc"
+      - "--cookie=rpc:rpc"
       - "--daemon-dir=/bitcoin/.bitcoin"
       - "-vvv"
       - "--db-dir=/data/addrindexrs/db"
@@ -60,7 +60,6 @@ services:
       - "--backend-connect=bitcoind"
       - "--indexd-connect=addrindexrs"
       - "--rpc-host=0.0.0.0"
-      - "--rpc-password=rpc"                  # optional
       - "--catch-up=bootstrap"
     environment:
       - "XDG_DATA_HOME=/data/"