diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 054249d9..c4ee66aa 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -130,13 +130,13 @@ btcd: $(GLIDE_BIN) $(BTCD_DIR)
 
 build:
 	@$(call print, "Building debug lnd and lncli.")
-	$(GOBUILD) -tags=$(TEST_TAGS) -o lnd-debug $(LDFLAGS) $(PKG)
-	$(GOBUILD) -tags=$(TEST_TAGS) -o lncli-debug $(LDFLAGS) $(PKG)/cmd/lncli
+	$(GOBUILD) -tags="$(TEST_TAGS) ${tags}" -o lnd-debug $(LDFLAGS) $(PKG)
+	$(GOBUILD) -tags="$(TEST_TAGS) ${tags}" -o lncli-debug $(LDFLAGS) $(PKG)/cmd/lncli
 
 install:
 	@$(call print, "Installing lnd and lncli.")
-	go install -v $(LDFLAGS) $(PKG)
-	go install -v $(LDFLAGS) $(PKG)/cmd/lncli
+	go install -v -tags="${tags}" $(LDFLAGS) $(PKG)
+	go install -v -tags="${tags}" $(LDFLAGS) $(PKG)/cmd/lncli
 
 scratch: dep build
 
diff --git a/config.go b/config.go
index 32a5403d..4eadcf80 100644
--- a/config.go
+++ b/config.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/htlcswitch/hodl"
 	"github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/lncfg"
 	"github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/lnwire"
+	"github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/routing"
 	"github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/tor"
 )
 
@@ -234,6 +235,8 @@ type config struct {
 	NoChanUpdates bool `long:"nochanupdates" description:"If specified, lnd will not request real-time channel updates from connected peers. This option should be used by routing nodes to save bandwidth."`
 
 	net tor.Net
+
+	Routing *routing.Conf `group:"routing" namespace:"routing"`
 }
 
 // loadConfig initializes and parses the config using a config file and command
@@ -692,6 +695,7 @@ func loadConfig() (*config, error) {
 			}
 		case "neutrino":
 			// No need to get RPC parameters.
+
 		default:
 			str := "%s: only btcd, bitcoind, and neutrino mode " +
 				"supported for bitcoin at this time"
diff --git a/routing/conf.go b/routing/conf.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ccce7c38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/routing/conf.go
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+// +build !experimental
+
+package routing
+
+// Conf provides the command line routing configuration. There are no fields in
+// the production build so that this section is hidden by default.
+type Conf struct{}
+
+// UseAssumeChannelValid always returns false when not in experimental builds.
+func (c *Conf) UseAssumeChannelValid() bool {
+	return false
+}
diff --git a/routing/conf_experimental.go b/routing/conf_experimental.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5c11c9cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/routing/conf_experimental.go
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+// +build experimental
+
+package routing
+
+// Conf exposes the experimental command line routing configurations.
+type Conf struct {
+	AssumeChannelValid bool `long:"assumechanvalid" description:"Skip checking channel spentness during graph validation. (default: false)"`
+}
+
+// UseAssumeChannelValid returns true if the router should skip checking for
+// spentness when processing channel updates and announcements.
+func (c *Conf) UseAssumeChannelValid() bool {
+	return c.AssumeChannelValid
+}
diff --git a/routing/router.go b/routing/router.go
index e275843a..075dcdea 100644
--- a/routing/router.go
+++ b/routing/router.go
@@ -177,6 +177,12 @@ type Config struct {
 	// date knowledge of the available bandwidth of the link should be
 	// returned.
 	QueryBandwidth func(edge *channeldb.ChannelEdgeInfo) lnwire.MilliSatoshi
+
+	// AssumeChannelValid toggles whether or not the router will check for
+	// spentness of channel outpoints. For neutrino, this saves long rescans
+	// from blocking initial usage of the wallet. This should only be
+	// enabled on testnet.
+	AssumeChannelValid bool
 }
 
 // routeTuple is an entry within the ChannelRouter's route cache. We cache
@@ -966,7 +972,7 @@ func (r *ChannelRouter) processUpdate(msg interface{}) error {
 		// to obtain the full funding outpoint that's encoded within
 		// the channel ID.
 		channelID := lnwire.NewShortChanIDFromInt(msg.ChannelID)
-		fundingPoint, _, err := r.fetchChanPoint(&channelID)
+		fundingPoint, fundingTxOut, err := r.fetchChanPoint(&channelID)
 		if err != nil {
 			r.rejectMtx.Lock()
 			r.rejectCache[msg.ChannelID] = struct{}{}
@@ -990,20 +996,28 @@ func (r *ChannelRouter) processUpdate(msg interface{}) error {
 			return err
 		}
 
-		// Now that we have the funding outpoint of the channel, ensure
-		// that it hasn't yet been spent. If so, then this channel has
-		// been closed so we'll ignore it.
-		chanUtxo, err := r.cfg.Chain.GetUtxo(
-			fundingPoint, fundingPkScript, channelID.BlockHeight,
-		)
-		if err != nil {
-			r.rejectMtx.Lock()
-			r.rejectCache[msg.ChannelID] = struct{}{}
-			r.rejectMtx.Unlock()
+		var chanUtxo *wire.TxOut
+		if r.cfg.AssumeChannelValid {
+			// If AssumeChannelValid is present, we'll just use the
+			// txout returned from fetchChanPoint.
+			chanUtxo = fundingTxOut
+		} else {
+			// Now that we have the funding outpoint of the channel,
+			// ensure that it hasn't yet been spent. If so, then
+			// this channel has been closed so we'll ignore it.
+			chanUtxo, err = r.cfg.Chain.GetUtxo(
+				fundingPoint, fundingPkScript,
+				channelID.BlockHeight,
+			)
+			if err != nil {
+				r.rejectMtx.Lock()
+				r.rejectCache[msg.ChannelID] = struct{}{}
+				r.rejectMtx.Unlock()
 
-			return errors.Errorf("unable to fetch utxo for "+
-				"chan_id=%v, chan_point=%v: %v", msg.ChannelID,
-				fundingPoint, err)
+				return errors.Errorf("unable to fetch utxo "+
+					"for chan_id=%v, chan_point=%v: %v",
+					msg.ChannelID, fundingPoint, err)
+			}
 		}
 
 		// By checking the equality of witness pkscripts we checks that
@@ -1108,11 +1122,11 @@ func (r *ChannelRouter) processUpdate(msg interface{}) error {
 			}
 		}
 
-		if !exists {
+		if !exists && !r.cfg.AssumeChannelValid {
 			// Before we can update the channel information, we'll
 			// ensure that the target channel is still open by
 			// querying the utxo-set for its existence.
-			chanPoint, fundingPkScript, err := r.fetchChanPoint(
+			chanPoint, fundingTxOut, err := r.fetchChanPoint(
 				&channelID,
 			)
 			if err != nil {
@@ -1125,7 +1139,8 @@ func (r *ChannelRouter) processUpdate(msg interface{}) error {
 					msg.ChannelID, err)
 			}
 			_, err = r.cfg.Chain.GetUtxo(
-				chanPoint, fundingPkScript, channelID.BlockHeight,
+				chanPoint, fundingTxOut.PkScript,
+				channelID.BlockHeight,
 			)
 			if err != nil {
 				r.rejectMtx.Lock()
@@ -1171,7 +1186,9 @@ func (r *ChannelRouter) processUpdate(msg interface{}) error {
 //
 // TODO(roasbeef): replace with call to GetBlockTransaction? (would allow to
 // later use getblocktxn)
-func (r *ChannelRouter) fetchChanPoint(chanID *lnwire.ShortChannelID) (*wire.OutPoint, []byte, error) {
+func (r *ChannelRouter) fetchChanPoint(
+	chanID *lnwire.ShortChannelID) (*wire.OutPoint, *wire.TxOut, error) {
+
 	// First fetch the block hash by the block number encoded, then use
 	// that hash to fetch the block itself.
 	blockNum := int64(chanID.BlockHeight)
@@ -1195,12 +1212,15 @@ func (r *ChannelRouter) fetchChanPoint(chanID *lnwire.ShortChannelID) (*wire.Out
 	}
 
 	// Finally once we have the block itself, we seek to the targeted
-	// transaction index to obtain the funding output and txid.
+	// transaction index to obtain the funding output and txout.
 	fundingTx := fundingBlock.Transactions[chanID.TxIndex]
-	return &wire.OutPoint{
+	outPoint := &wire.OutPoint{
 		Hash:  fundingTx.TxHash(),
 		Index: uint32(chanID.TxPosition),
-	}, fundingTx.TxOut[chanID.TxPosition].PkScript, nil
+	}
+	txOut := fundingTx.TxOut[chanID.TxPosition]
+
+	return outPoint, txOut, nil
 }
 
 // routingMsg couples a routing related routing topology update to the
diff --git a/server.go b/server.go
index 213f9312..598cd7c3 100644
--- a/server.go
+++ b/server.go
@@ -549,6 +549,7 @@ func newServer(listenAddrs []net.Addr, chanDB *channeldb.DB, cc *chainControl,
 			// for the available bandwidth for the link.
 			return link.Bandwidth()
 		},
+		AssumeChannelValid: cfg.Routing.UseAssumeChannelValid(),
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("can't create router: %v", err)