diff --git a/client/electrum b/client/electrum
index 07352244b..7b3060b97 100755
--- a/client/electrum
+++ b/client/electrum
@@ -40,12 +40,26 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
     parser.add_option("-f", "--fee", dest="tx_fee", default="0.005", help="set tx fee")
     parser.add_option("-s", "--fromaddr", dest="from_addr", default=None, help="set source address for payto/mktx. if it isn't in the wallet, it will ask for the private key unless supplied in the format public_key:private_key. It's not saved in the wallet.")
     parser.add_option("-c", "--changeaddr", dest="change_addr", default=None, help="set the change address for payto/mktx. default is a spare address, or the source address if it's not in the wallet")
+    parser.add_option("-r", "--remote", dest="remote_url", default=None, help="URL of a remote wallet")
     options, args = parser.parse_args()
 
     interface = Interface()
     wallet = Wallet(interface)
     wallet.set_path(options.wallet_path)
 
+    if options.remote_url:
+        m = re.match('^(.*?)@(.*?)$', options.remote_url)
+        # header authentication is not supported
+        if m:
+            wallet.remote_url = 'http://'+m.group(2)
+            wallet.remote_password = m.group(1)
+        else:
+            print "bad url"
+            sys.exit(1)
+    else:
+        wallet.remote_url = None
+    
+
     if len(args)==0:
         url = None
         cmd = 'gui'
diff --git a/client/interface.py b/client/interface.py
index 336256730..bbd8232e1 100644
--- a/client/interface.py
+++ b/client/interface.py
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ class Interface:
                 wallet.status[addr] = blk_hash
                 is_new = True
 
-        if is_new:
+        if is_new or wallet.remote_url:
             wallet.synchronize()
             wallet.update_tx_history()
             wallet.save()
diff --git a/client/wallet.py b/client/wallet.py
index 32664a654..f8ac74e49 100644
--- a/client/wallet.py
+++ b/client/wallet.py
@@ -262,8 +262,8 @@ class Wallet:
         self.tx_history = {}
 
         self.imported_keys = {}
-
         self.interface = interface
+        self.remote_url = None
 
 
     def set_path(self, wallet_path):
@@ -456,6 +456,7 @@ class Wallet:
 
 
     def synchronize(self):
+
         is_new = False
         while True:
             if self.change_addresses == []:
@@ -481,6 +482,23 @@ class Wallet:
                 self.create_new_address(False)
                 is_new = True
 
+        if self.remote_url:
+            num = self.get_remote_number()
+            print num
+            while len(self.addresses)<num:
+                self.create_new_address(False)
+
+    def get_remote_number(self):
+        import jsonrpclib
+        server = jsonrpclib.Server(self.remote_url)
+        out = server.getnum(self.remote_password)
+        return out
+
+    def get_remote_mpk(self):
+        import jsonrpclib
+        server = jsonrpclib.Server(self.remote_url)
+        out = server.getkey(self.remote_password)
+        return out
 
     def is_found(self):
         return (len(self.change_addresses) > 1 ) or ( len(self.addresses) > self.gap_limit )
@@ -556,6 +574,8 @@ class Wallet:
         if self.seed_version != SEED_VERSION:
             raise BaseException(upgrade_msg)
 
+        if self.remote_url: assert self.master_public_key.encode('hex') == self.get_remote_mpk()
+
         return True
         
     def get_new_address(self):