diff --git a/src/main/java/org/qora/ApplyUpdate.java b/src/main/java/org/qora/ApplyUpdate.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b43426a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/qora/ApplyUpdate.java
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+package org.qora;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.nio.file.Paths;
+import java.nio.file.StandardCopyOption;
+import java.security.Security;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
+import org.bouncycastle.jce.provider.BouncyCastleProvider;
+import org.bouncycastle.jsse.provider.BouncyCastleJsseProvider;
+import org.qora.api.ApiRequest;
+import org.qora.controller.AutoUpdate;
+import org.qora.settings.Settings;
+
+public class ApplyUpdate {
+
+	static {
+		// This static block will be called before others if using ApplyUpdate.main()
+
+		// Log into different files for auto-update - this has to be before LogManger.getLogger() calls
+		System.setProperty("log4j2.filenameTemplate", "log-apply-update.txt");
+
+		// This must go before any calls to LogManager/Logger
+		System.setProperty("java.util.logging.manager", "org.apache.logging.log4j.jul.LogManager");
+	}
+
+	private static final Logger LOGGER = LogManager.getLogger(ApplyUpdate.class);
+	private static final String JAR_FILENAME = AutoUpdate.JAR_FILENAME;
+	private static final String NEW_JAR_FILENAME = AutoUpdate.NEW_JAR_FILENAME;
+
+	private static final long CHECK_INTERVAL = 5 * 1000; // ms
+	private static final int MAX_ATTEMPTS = 5;
+
+	public static void main(String args[]) {
+		Security.insertProviderAt(new BouncyCastleProvider(), 0);
+		Security.insertProviderAt(new BouncyCastleJsseProvider(), 1);
+
+		// Load/check settings, which potentially sets up blockchain config, etc.
+		Settings.getInstance();
+
+		LOGGER.info("Applying update...");
+
+		// Shutdown node using API
+		if (!shutdownNode())
+			return;
+
+		// Replace JAR
+		replaceJar();
+
+		// Restart node
+		restartNode();
+	}
+
+	private static boolean shutdownNode() {
+		String BASE_URI = "http://localhost:" + Settings.getInstance().getApiPort() + "/";
+		LOGGER.info(String.format("Shutting down node using API via %s", BASE_URI));
+
+		int attempt;
+		for (attempt = 0; attempt < MAX_ATTEMPTS; ++attempt) {
+			LOGGER.debug(String.format("Attempt #%d out of %d to shutdown node", attempt + 1, MAX_ATTEMPTS));
+			String response = ApiRequest.perform(BASE_URI + "admin/stop", null);
+			if (response != null)
+				break;
+
+			try {
+				Thread.sleep(CHECK_INTERVAL);
+			} catch (InterruptedException e) {
+				// We still need to check...
+				break;
+			}
+		}
+
+		if (attempt == MAX_ATTEMPTS) {
+			LOGGER.error("Failed to shutdown node - giving up");
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		return true;
+	}
+
+	private static void replaceJar() {
+		// Assuming current working directory contains the JAR files
+		Path realJar = Paths.get(JAR_FILENAME);
+		Path newJar = Paths.get(NEW_JAR_FILENAME);
+
+		try {
+			Files.copy(newJar, realJar, StandardCopyOption.REPLACE_EXISTING);
+		} catch (IOException e) {
+			LOGGER.warn(String.format("Failed to copy %s to %s", newJar.toString(), realJar.toString()), e.getMessage());
+			// Fall-through to restarting node...
+		}
+	}
+
+	private static void restartNode() {
+		String javaHome = System.getProperty("java.home");
+		LOGGER.debug(String.format("Java home: %s", javaHome));
+
+		Path javaBinary = Paths.get(javaHome, "bin", "java");
+		LOGGER.debug(String.format("Java binary: %s", javaBinary));
+
+		try {
+			List<String> javaCmd = Arrays.asList(javaBinary.toString(), "-jar", JAR_FILENAME);
+			LOGGER.info(String.format("Restarting node with: %s", String.join(" ", javaCmd)));
+			
+			new ProcessBuilder(javaCmd).start();
+		} catch (IOException e) {
+			LOGGER.error(String.format("Failed to restart node (BAD): %s", e.getMessage()));
+		}
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/qora/controller/AutoUpdate.java b/src/main/java/org/qora/controller/AutoUpdate.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6e67107a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/qora/controller/AutoUpdate.java
@@ -0,0 +1,171 @@
+package org.qora.controller;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.nio.file.Paths;
+import java.nio.file.StandardCopyOption;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
+import org.qora.ApplyUpdate;
+import org.qora.api.ApiRequest;
+import org.qora.api.resource.TransactionsResource.ConfirmationStatus;
+import org.qora.data.transaction.ArbitraryTransactionData;
+import org.qora.data.transaction.TransactionData;
+import org.qora.repository.DataException;
+import org.qora.repository.Repository;
+import org.qora.repository.RepositoryManager;
+import org.qora.settings.Settings;
+import org.qora.transaction.ArbitraryTransaction;
+import org.qora.transaction.Transaction.TransactionType;
+import org.qora.utils.NTP;
+
+import com.google.common.hash.HashCode;
+
+public class AutoUpdate extends Thread {
+
+	public static final String JAR_FILENAME = "qora-core.jar";
+	public static final String NEW_JAR_FILENAME = "new-" + JAR_FILENAME;
+
+	private static final Logger LOGGER = LogManager.getLogger(AutoUpdate.class);
+	private static final long CHECK_INTERVAL = 5 * 1000; // ms
+
+	private static final int DEV_GROUP_ID = 1;
+	private static final int UPDATE_SERVICE = 1;
+	private static final List<TransactionType> ARBITRARY_TX_TYPE = Arrays.asList(TransactionType.ARBITRARY);
+
+	private static AutoUpdate instance;
+
+	private boolean isStopping = false;
+
+	private AutoUpdate() {
+	}
+
+	public static AutoUpdate getInstance() {
+		if (instance == null)
+			instance = new AutoUpdate();
+
+		return instance;
+	}
+
+	public void run() {
+		long buildTimestamp = Controller.getInstance().getBuildTimestamp() * 1000L;
+		boolean attemptedUpdate = false;
+
+		while (!isStopping) {
+			try {
+				Thread.sleep(CHECK_INTERVAL);
+			} catch (InterruptedException e) {
+				return;
+			}
+
+			// Try to clean up any leftover downloads (but if we are/have attempted update then don't delete new JAR)
+			if (!attemptedUpdate)
+				try {
+					Path newJar = Paths.get(NEW_JAR_FILENAME);
+					Files.deleteIfExists(newJar);
+				} catch (IOException de) {
+					// Whatever
+				}
+
+			// Look for "update" tx which is arbitrary tx in dev-group with service 1 and timestamp later than buildTimestamp
+			try (final Repository repository = RepositoryManager.getRepository()) {
+				List<byte[]> signatures = repository.getTransactionRepository().getSignaturesMatchingCriteria(null, null, DEV_GROUP_ID, ARBITRARY_TX_TYPE, UPDATE_SERVICE, null, ConfirmationStatus.CONFIRMED, 1, null, true);
+				if (signatures == null || signatures.isEmpty())
+					continue;
+
+				TransactionData transactionData = repository.getTransactionRepository().fromSignature(signatures.get(0));
+				if (transactionData == null || !(transactionData instanceof ArbitraryTransactionData))
+					continue;
+
+				// Transaction needs to be newer than this build
+				if (transactionData.getTimestamp() <= buildTimestamp)
+					continue;
+
+				ArbitraryTransaction arbitraryTransaction = new ArbitraryTransaction(repository, transactionData);
+				if (!arbitraryTransaction.isDataLocal())
+					continue; // We can't access data
+
+				// TODO: check arbitrary data length (pre-fetch) matches git commit length (20) + sha256 hash length (32) = 52 bytes
+
+				byte[] commitHash = arbitraryTransaction.fetchData();
+				LOGGER.info(String.format("Update's git commit hash: %s", HashCode.fromBytes(commitHash).toString()));
+
+				String[] autoUpdateRepos = Settings.getInstance().getAutoUpdateRepos();
+				for (String repo : autoUpdateRepos)
+					if (attemptUpdate(commitHash, repo)) {
+						// Consider ourselves updated so don't re-re-re-download
+						buildTimestamp = NTP.getTime();
+						attemptedUpdate = true;
+						break;
+					}
+			} catch (DataException e) {
+				LOGGER.warn("Repository issue to find updates", e);
+				// Keep going I guess...
+			}
+		}
+
+		LOGGER.info("Stopping auto-update service");
+	}
+
+	public void shutdown() {
+		isStopping = true;
+	}
+
+	private static boolean attemptUpdate(byte[] commitHash, String repoBaseUri) {
+		LOGGER.info(String.format("Fetching update from %s", repoBaseUri));
+		InputStream in = ApiRequest.fetchStream(repoBaseUri + "/raw/" + HashCode.fromBytes(commitHash).toString() + "/" + JAR_FILENAME);
+		if (in == null) {
+			LOGGER.warn(String.format("Failed to fetch update from %s", repoBaseUri));
+			return false; // failed - try another repo
+		}
+
+		Path newJar = Paths.get(NEW_JAR_FILENAME);
+		try {
+			// Save input stream into new JAR
+			LOGGER.debug(String.format("Saving update from %s into %s", repoBaseUri, newJar.toString()));
+			Files.copy(in, newJar, StandardCopyOption.REPLACE_EXISTING);
+		} catch (IOException e) {
+			LOGGER.warn(String.format("Failed to save update from %s into %s", repoBaseUri, newJar.toString()));
+
+			try {
+				Files.deleteIfExists(newJar);
+			} catch (IOException de) {
+				LOGGER.warn(String.format("Failed to delete partial download: %s", de.getMessage()));
+			}
+
+			return false; // failed - try another repo
+		}
+
+		// Call ApplyUpdate to end this process (unlocking current JAR so it can be replaced)
+		String javaHome = System.getProperty("java.home");
+		LOGGER.debug(String.format("Java home: %s", javaHome));
+
+		Path javaBinary = Paths.get(javaHome, "bin", "java");
+		LOGGER.debug(String.format("Java binary: %s", javaBinary));
+
+		try {
+			List<String> javaCmd = Arrays.asList(javaBinary.toString(), "-cp", NEW_JAR_FILENAME, ApplyUpdate.class.getCanonicalName());
+			LOGGER.info(String.format("Applying update with: %s", String.join(" ", javaCmd)));
+
+			new ProcessBuilder(javaCmd).start();
+
+			return true; // applying update OK
+		} catch (IOException e) {
+			LOGGER.error(String.format("Failed to apply update: %s", e.getMessage()));
+
+			try {
+				Files.deleteIfExists(newJar);
+			} catch (IOException de) {
+				LOGGER.warn(String.format("Failed to delete update download: %s", de.getMessage()));
+			}
+
+			return true; // repo was okay, even if applying update failed
+		}
+	}
+
+}