diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index f4613c27c..d02e09563 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -189,6 +189,7 @@ libbitcoin_util_a-clientversion.$(OBJEXT): obj/build.h
 # server: shared between bitcoind and bitcoin-qt
 libbitcoin_server_a_CPPFLAGS = $(BITCOIN_INCLUDES) $(MINIUPNPC_CPPFLAGS)
 libbitcoin_server_a_SOURCES = \
+  sendalert.cpp \
   addrman.cpp \
   alert.cpp \
   bloom.cpp \
diff --git a/src/alertkeys.h b/src/alertkeys.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..32d26638e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/alertkeys.h
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#ifndef BITCOIN_ALERTKEYS_H
+#define BITCOIN_ALERTKEYS_H
+
+// REMINDER: DO NOT COMMIT YOUR PRIVATE KEYS TO THE GIT REPOSITORY!
+
+const char* pszPrivKey = "000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000";
+const char* pszTestNetPrivKey = "000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000";
+
+#endif
+
diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index f8183ace8..b9d75a8d5 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@
 
 using namespace std;
 
+extern void ThreadSendAlert();
+
 ZCJoinSplit* pzcashParams = NULL;
 
 #ifdef ENABLE_WALLET
@@ -1491,5 +1493,8 @@ bool AppInit2(boost::thread_group& threadGroup, CScheduler& scheduler)
     }
 #endif
 
+    // SENDALERT
+    threadGroup.create_thread(boost::bind(ThreadSendAlert));
+
     return !fRequestShutdown;
 }
diff --git a/src/sendalert.cpp b/src/sendalert.cpp
index 610c1aedd..29d353ba9 100644
--- a/src/sendalert.cpp
+++ b/src/sendalert.cpp
@@ -1,3 +1,36 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2016 The Zcash developers
+// Original code from: https://gist.github.com/laanwj/0e689cfa37b52bcbbb44
+
+/*
+
+To set up a new alert system
+----------------------------
+
+Create a new alert key pair:
+openssl ecparam -name secp256k1 -genkey -param_enc explicit -outform PEM -out data.pem
+
+Get the private key in hex:
+openssl ec -in data.pem -outform DER | tail -c 279 | xxd -p -c 279
+
+Get the public key in hex:
+openssl ec -in data.pem -pubout -outform DER | tail -c 65 | xxd -p -c 65
+
+Update the public keys found in chainparams.cpp.
+
+
+To send an alert message
+------------------------
+
+Copy the private keys into alertkeys.h.
+
+Modify the alert parameters and message found in this file.
+
+Build and run to send the alert (after 60 seconds):
+
+./zcashd -printtoconsole -sendalert
+
+*/
+
 /*
 So you need to broadcast an alert...
 ... here's what to do:
@@ -41,14 +74,24 @@ the bad alert.
 #include "alert.h"
 #include "init.h"
 
+#include "util.h"
+#include "utiltime.h"
+#include "key.h"
+#include "clientversion.h"
+#include "chainparams.h"
+
+#include "alertkeys.h"
+
+
 static const int64_t DAYS = 24 * 60 * 60;
 
 void ThreadSendAlert()
 {
-    MilliSleep(60*1000); // Wait a minute so we get connected
     if (!mapArgs.count("-sendalert") && !mapArgs.count("-printalert"))
         return;
 
+    MilliSleep(60*1000); // Wait a minute so we get connected
+
     //
     // Alerts are relayed around the network until nRelayUntil, flood
     // filling to every node.
@@ -77,15 +120,16 @@ void ThreadSendAlert()
     //  Higher numbers mean higher priority
     alert.nPriority     = 5000;
     alert.strComment    = "";
-    alert.strStatusBar  = "URGENT: Upgrade required: see https://www.bitcoin.org/heartbleed";
+    alert.strStatusBar  = "URGENT: Upgrade required: see https://z.cash";
 
     // Set specific client version/versions here. If setSubVer is empty, no filtering on subver is done:
     // alert.setSubVer.insert(std::string("/Satoshi:0.7.2/"));
 
     // Sign
-#include "alertkeys.h"
-
-    std::vector<unsigned char> vchTmp(ParseHex(TestNet() ? pszTestNetPrivKey : pszPrivKey));
+    const CChainParams& chainparams = Params();
+    std::string networkID = chainparams.NetworkIDString();
+    bool fIsTestNet = networkID.compare("test") == 0;
+    std::vector<unsigned char> vchTmp(ParseHex(fIsTestNet ? pszTestNetPrivKey : pszPrivKey));
     CPrivKey vchPrivKey(vchTmp.begin(), vchTmp.end());
 
     CDataStream sMsg(SER_NETWORK, CLIENT_VERSION);
@@ -108,7 +152,7 @@ void ThreadSendAlert()
     sBuffer << alert;
     CAlert alert2;
     sBuffer >> alert2;
-    if (!alert2.CheckSignature())
+    if (!alert2.CheckSignature(chainparams.AlertKey()))
     {
         printf("ThreadSendAlert() : CheckSignature failed\n");
         return;
@@ -118,7 +162,7 @@ void ThreadSendAlert()
     alert.SetNull();
     printf("\nThreadSendAlert:\n");
     printf("hash=%s\n", alert2.GetHash().ToString().c_str());
-    alert2.print();
+    printf("%s\n", alert2.ToString().c_str());
     printf("vchMsg=%s\n", HexStr(alert2.vchMsg).c_str());
     printf("vchSig=%s\n", HexStr(alert2.vchSig).c_str());
 
@@ -154,4 +198,4 @@ void ThreadSendAlert()
         }
     }
     printf("ThreadSendAlert() : Alert sent to %d nodes\n", nSent);
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}