diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 5fe193c..f0f8dba 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ RUN cd ~; \
     pip3 install .; \
     pip3 install pyzmq plyvel protobuf;
 
-RUN PARTICL_VERSION=0.18.0.12 PARTICL_VERSION_TAG= PARTICL_ARCH=x86_64-linux-gnu_nousb.tar.gz coldstakepool-prepare --update_core && \
+RUN PARTICL_VERSION=0.18.1.0 PARTICL_VERSION_TAG= PARTICL_ARCH=x86_64-linux-gnu_nousb.tar.gz coldstakepool-prepare --update_core && \
     mkdir -p ${LITECOIN_BINDIR} && cd ${LITECOIN_BINDIR} && \
     wget https://download.litecoin.org/litecoin-${LITECOIN_VERSION}/linux/litecoin-${LITECOIN_VERSION}-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz && \
     wget -O build.assert https://github.com/litecoin-project/gitian.sigs.ltc/raw/master/${LITECOIN_VERSION}-linux/thrasher/litecoin-linux-0.17-build.assert && \
diff --git a/bin/basicswap_prepare.py b/bin/basicswap_prepare.py
index fcac3b0..d9bc48c 100644
--- a/bin/basicswap_prepare.py
+++ b/bin/basicswap_prepare.py
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ def main():
         json.dump(settings, fp, indent=4)
 
     cores = [
-        ('particl', '0.18.0.12'),
+        ('particl', '0.18.1.0'),
         ('litecoin', '0.17.1')
     ]
     for c in cores:
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@ def main():
 
     particl_settings = settings['chainclients']['particl']
     partRpc = make_rpc_func(particl_settings['bindir'], particl_settings['datadir'], chain)
-    d = startDaemon(particl_settings['datadir'], particl_settings['bindir'], cfg.PARTICLD)
+    d = startDaemon(particl_settings['datadir'], particl_settings['bindir'], cfg.PARTICLD, ['-noconnect', '-nofindpeers', '-nostaking', '-nodnsseed', '-nolisten'])
     try:
         waitForRPC(partRpc)
 
diff --git a/bin/basicswap_run.py b/bin/basicswap_run.py
index 2762452..ef78da4 100644
--- a/bin/basicswap_run.py
+++ b/bin/basicswap_run.py
@@ -43,10 +43,10 @@ def signal_handler(sig, frame):
         swap_client.stopRunning()
 
 
-def startDaemon(node_dir, bin_dir, daemon_bin):
+def startDaemon(node_dir, bin_dir, daemon_bin, opts=[]):
     daemon_bin = os.path.join(bin_dir, daemon_bin)
 
-    args = [daemon_bin, '-datadir=' + node_dir]
+    args = [daemon_bin, '-datadir=' + node_dir] + opts
     logger.info('Starting node ' + daemon_bin + ' ' + '-datadir=' + node_dir)
     return subprocess.Popen(args, stdin=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)