diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 5a7ddc2122..f13603f54a 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -623,6 +623,27 @@ version = "0.5.6"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "0e4cec68f03f32e44924783795810fa50a7035d8c8ebe78580ad7e6c703fba38"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "bzip2"
+version = "0.3.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "42b7c3cbf0fa9c1b82308d57191728ca0256cb821220f4e2fd410a72ade26e3b"
+dependencies = [
+ "bzip2-sys",
+ "libc",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "bzip2-sys"
+version = "0.1.9+1.0.8"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ad3b39a260062fca31f7b0b12f207e8f2590a67d32ec7d59c20484b07ea7285e"
+dependencies = [
+ "cc",
+ "libc",
+ "pkg-config",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "c_linked_list"
 version = "1.1.1"
@@ -1579,13 +1600,11 @@ dependencies = [
  "enr",
  "eth2_config",
  "eth2_ssz",
- "handlebars",
- "reqwest",
  "serde",
- "serde_json",
  "serde_yaml",
  "tempdir",
  "types",
+ "zip",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1997,9 +2016,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "getrandom"
-version = "0.1.14"
+version = "0.1.15"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "7abc8dd8451921606d809ba32e95b6111925cd2906060d2dcc29c070220503eb"
+checksum = "fc587bc0ec293155d5bfa6b9891ec18a1e330c234f896ea47fbada4cadbe47e6"
 dependencies = [
  "cfg-if",
  "libc",
@@ -2092,20 +2111,6 @@ version = "1.6.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d36fab90f82edc3c747f9d438e06cf0a491055896f2a279638bb5beed6c40177"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "handlebars"
-version = "3.4.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "5deefd4816fb852b1ff3cb48f6c41da67be2d0e1d20b26a7a3b076da11f064b1"
-dependencies = [
- "log 0.4.11",
- "pest",
- "pest_derive",
- "quick-error 2.0.0",
- "serde",
- "serde_json",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "hashbrown"
 version = "0.6.3"
@@ -2263,7 +2268,7 @@ version = "1.3.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "df004cfca50ef23c36850aaaa59ad52cc70d0e90243c3c7737a4dd32dc7a3c4f"
 dependencies = [
- "quick-error 1.2.3",
+ "quick-error",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2441,9 +2446,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "integer-sqrt"
-version = "0.1.4"
+version = "0.1.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "1d3038ef3da477fd70e6161006ef37f919c24bfe7244062f67a69defe72c02aa"
+checksum = "276ec31bcb4a9ee45f58bec6f9ec700ae4cf4f4f8f2fa7e06cb406bd5ffdd770"
 dependencies = [
  "num-traits",
 ]
@@ -2601,9 +2606,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "libc"
-version = "0.2.76"
+version = "0.2.77"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "755456fae044e6fa1ebbbd1b3e902ae19e73097ed4ed87bb79934a867c007bc3"
+checksum = "f2f96b10ec2560088a8e76961b00d47107b3a625fecb76dedb29ee7ccbf98235"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "libflate"
@@ -3676,49 +3681,6 @@ version = "2.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d4fd5641d01c8f18a23da7b6fe29298ff4b55afcccdf78973b24cf3175fee32e"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "pest"
-version = "2.1.3"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "10f4872ae94d7b90ae48754df22fd42ad52ce740b8f370b03da4835417403e53"
-dependencies = [
- "ucd-trie",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "pest_derive"
-version = "2.1.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "833d1ae558dc601e9a60366421196a8d94bc0ac980476d0b67e1d0988d72b2d0"
-dependencies = [
- "pest",
- "pest_generator",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "pest_generator"
-version = "2.1.3"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "99b8db626e31e5b81787b9783425769681b347011cc59471e33ea46d2ea0cf55"
-dependencies = [
- "pest",
- "pest_meta",
- "proc-macro2",
- "quote",
- "syn",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "pest_meta"
-version = "2.1.3"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "54be6e404f5317079812fc8f9f5279de376d8856929e21c184ecf6bbd692a11d"
-dependencies = [
- "maplit",
- "pest",
- "sha-1 0.8.2",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "petgraph"
 version = "0.5.1"
@@ -3785,6 +3747,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "web-sys",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "podio"
+version = "0.1.7"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b18befed8bc2b61abc79a457295e7e838417326da1586050b919414073977f19"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "poly1305"
 version = "0.6.0"
@@ -3837,9 +3805,9 @@ checksum = "eba180dafb9038b050a4c280019bbedf9f2467b61e5d892dcad585bb57aadc5a"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "proc-macro2"
-version = "1.0.20"
+version = "1.0.21"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "175c513d55719db99da20232b06cda8bab6b83ec2d04e3283edf0213c37c1a29"
+checksum = "36e28516df94f3dd551a587da5357459d9b36d945a7c37c3557928c1c2ff2a2c"
 dependencies = [
  "unicode-xid",
 ]
@@ -3964,12 +3932,6 @@ version = "1.2.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "a1d01941d82fa2ab50be1e79e6714289dd7cde78eba4c074bc5a4374f650dfe0"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "quick-error"
-version = "2.0.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "3ac73b1112776fc109b2e61909bc46c7e1bf0d7f690ffb1676553acce16d5cda"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "quickcheck"
 version = "0.9.2"
@@ -4997,9 +4959,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "socket2"
-version = "0.3.12"
+version = "0.3.15"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "03088793f677dce356f3ccc2edb1b314ad191ab702a5de3faf49304f7e104918"
+checksum = "b1fa70dc5c8104ec096f4fe7ede7a221d35ae13dcd19ba1ad9a81d2cab9a1c44"
 dependencies = [
  "cfg-if",
  "libc",
@@ -5905,12 +5867,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "tree_hash_derive",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "ucd-trie"
-version = "0.1.3"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "56dee185309b50d1f11bfedef0fe6d036842e3fb77413abef29f8f8d1c5d4c1c"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "uhttp_sse"
 version = "0.5.1"
@@ -6542,3 +6498,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn",
  "synstructure",
 ]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "zip"
+version = "0.5.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "58287c28d78507f5f91f2a4cf1e8310e2c76fd4c6932f93ac60fd1ceb402db7d"
+dependencies = [
+ "bzip2",
+ "crc32fast",
+ "flate2",
+ "podio",
+ "time 0.1.44",
+]
diff --git a/common/eth2_config/src/lib.rs b/common/eth2_config/src/lib.rs
index 4a393c14b1..ee3898ecff 100644
--- a/common/eth2_config/src/lib.rs
+++ b/common/eth2_config/src/lib.rs
@@ -48,22 +48,29 @@ impl Eth2Config {
 /// Used by the `eth2_testnet_config` crate to initialize testnet directories during build and
 /// access them at runtime.
 #[derive(Copy, Clone, Debug, PartialEq)]
-pub struct Eth2NetDirectory<'a> {
+pub struct Eth2NetArchiveAndDirectory<'a> {
     pub name: &'a str,
     pub unique_id: &'a str,
+    pub archive_name: &'a str,
     pub commit: &'a str,
-    pub url_template: &'a str,
     pub genesis_is_known: bool,
 }
 
-impl<'a> Eth2NetDirectory<'a> {
+impl<'a> Eth2NetArchiveAndDirectory<'a> {
     /// The directory that should be used to store files downloaded for this net.
-    pub fn dir(&self) -> PathBuf {
+    fn pwd(&self) -> PathBuf {
         env::var("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR")
             .expect("should know manifest dir")
             .parse::<PathBuf>()
             .expect("should parse manifest dir as path")
-            .join(self.unique_id)
+    }
+
+    pub fn dir(&self) -> PathBuf {
+        self.pwd().join(self.unique_id)
+    }
+
+    pub fn archive_fullpath(&self) -> PathBuf {
+        self.pwd().join(self.archive_name)
     }
 }
 
@@ -72,19 +79,23 @@ macro_rules! unique_id {
     ($name: tt, $commit: tt, $genesis_is_known: tt) => {
         concat!("testnet_", $name, "_", $commit, "_", $genesis_is_known);
     };
+
+    ($name: tt, $commit: tt) => {
+        concat!("testnet_", $name, "_", $commit, ".zip");
+    };
 }
 
 macro_rules! define_net {
-    ($title: ident, $macro_title: tt, $name: tt, $commit: tt, $url_template: tt, $genesis_is_known: tt) => {
+    ($title: ident, $macro_title: tt, $name: tt, $commit: tt, $genesis_is_known: tt) => {
         #[macro_use]
         pub mod $title {
             use super::*;
 
-            pub const ETH2_NET_DIR: Eth2NetDirectory = Eth2NetDirectory {
+            pub const ETH2_NET_DIR: Eth2NetArchiveAndDirectory = Eth2NetArchiveAndDirectory {
                 name: $name,
                 unique_id: unique_id!($name, $commit, $genesis_is_known),
+                archive_name: unique_id!($name, $commit),
                 commit: $commit,
-                url_template: $url_template,
                 genesis_is_known: $genesis_is_known,
             };
 
@@ -110,7 +121,6 @@ define_net!(
     include_altona_file,
     "altona",
     "a94e00c1a03df851f960fcf44a79f2a6b1d29af1",
-    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sigp/witti/{{ commit }}/altona/lighthouse/{{ file }}",
     true
 );
 
@@ -119,7 +129,6 @@ define_net!(
     include_medalla_file,
     "medalla",
     "09bbf2c9d108944ac934f94ec6a1d0684ca062a5",
-    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sigp/witti/{{ commit }}/medalla/{{ file }}",
     true
 );
 
diff --git a/common/eth2_testnet_config/.gitignore b/common/eth2_testnet_config/.gitignore
index e3b2b30d11..eddff80821 100644
--- a/common/eth2_testnet_config/.gitignore
+++ b/common/eth2_testnet_config/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-testnet*
+testnet*/*
 schlesi-*
 witti-*
 altona*
diff --git a/common/eth2_testnet_config/Cargo.toml b/common/eth2_testnet_config/Cargo.toml
index f8cd65380d..e8b7bd842b 100644
--- a/common/eth2_testnet_config/Cargo.toml
+++ b/common/eth2_testnet_config/Cargo.toml
@@ -7,10 +7,8 @@ edition = "2018"
 build = "build.rs"
 
 [build-dependencies]
-reqwest = { version = "0.10.4", features = ["blocking", "native-tls-vendored"] }
+zip = "0.5"
 eth2_config = { path = "../eth2_config"}
-handlebars = "3.3.0"
-serde_json = "1.0.56"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 tempdir = "0.3.7"
@@ -21,4 +19,4 @@ serde_yaml = "0.8.11"
 types = { path = "../../consensus/types"}
 enr = { version = "0.1.0", features = ["libsecp256k1", "ed25519"] }
 eth2_ssz = "0.1.2"
-eth2_config = { path = "../eth2_config"}
+eth2_config = { path = "../eth2_config"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/common/eth2_testnet_config/build.rs b/common/eth2_testnet_config/build.rs
index 9eb110197f..eeda318073 100644
--- a/common/eth2_testnet_config/build.rs
+++ b/common/eth2_testnet_config/build.rs
@@ -1,80 +1,68 @@
 //! Downloads a testnet configuration from Github.
 
-use eth2_config::{altona, medalla, Eth2NetDirectory};
-use handlebars::Handlebars;
-use serde_json::json;
+use eth2_config::{altona, medalla, Eth2NetArchiveAndDirectory};
+use std::fs;
 use std::fs::File;
-use std::io::Write;
+use std::io;
+use zip::ZipArchive;
 
-const ETH2_NET_DIRS: &[Eth2NetDirectory<'static>] = &[altona::ETH2_NET_DIR, medalla::ETH2_NET_DIR];
+const ETH2_NET_DIRS: &[Eth2NetArchiveAndDirectory<'static>] =
+    &[altona::ETH2_NET_DIR, medalla::ETH2_NET_DIR];
 
 fn main() {
     for testnet in ETH2_NET_DIRS {
         let testnet_dir = testnet.dir();
-
+        let archive_fullpath = testnet.archive_fullpath();
+        //no need to do anything if archives have already been uncompressed before
         if !testnet_dir.exists() {
-            std::fs::create_dir_all(&testnet_dir)
-                .unwrap_or_else(|_| panic!("Unable to create {:?}", testnet_dir));
+            if archive_fullpath.exists() {
+                //uncompress archive and continue
+                let archive_file = match File::open(&archive_fullpath) {
+                    Ok(f) => f,
+                    Err(e) => panic!("Problem opening archive file: {}", e),
+                };
 
-            match get_all_files(testnet) {
-                Ok(()) => (),
-                Err(e) => {
-                    std::fs::remove_dir_all(&testnet_dir).unwrap_or_else(|_| panic!(
-                        "{}. Failed to remove {:?}, please remove the directory manually because it may contains incomplete testnet data.",
-                        e,
-                        testnet_dir,
-                    ));
-                    panic!(e);
-                }
+                match uncompress(archive_file) {
+                    Ok(_) => (),
+                    Err(e) => panic!(e),
+                };
+            } else {
+                panic!(
+                    "Couldn't find testnet archive at this location: {:?}",
+                    archive_fullpath
+                );
             }
         }
     }
 }
 
-fn get_all_files(testnet: &Eth2NetDirectory<'static>) -> Result<(), String> {
-    get_file(testnet, "boot_enr.yaml")?;
-    get_file(testnet, "config.yaml")?;
-    get_file(testnet, "deploy_block.txt")?;
-    get_file(testnet, "deposit_contract.txt")?;
+fn uncompress(archive_file: File) -> Result<(), String> {
+    let mut archive =
+        ZipArchive::new(archive_file).map_err(|e| format!("Error with zip file: {}", e))?;
+    for i in 0..archive.len() {
+        let mut file = archive
+            .by_index(i)
+            .map_err(|e| format!("Error retrieving file {} inside zip: {}", i, e))?;
 
-    if testnet.genesis_is_known {
-        get_file(testnet, "genesis.ssz")?;
-    } else {
-        File::create(testnet.dir().join("genesis.ssz")).unwrap();
+        let outpath = file.sanitized_name();
+
+        if file.name().ends_with('/') {
+            fs::create_dir_all(&outpath)
+                .map_err(|e| format!("Error creating testnet directories: {}", e))?;
+        } else {
+            if let Some(p) = outpath.parent() {
+                if !p.exists() {
+                    fs::create_dir_all(&p)
+                        .map_err(|e| format!("Error creating testnet directories: {}", e))?;
+                }
+            }
+
+            let mut outfile = File::create(&outpath)
+                .map_err(|e| format!("Error while creating file {:?}: {}", outpath, e))?;
+            io::copy(&mut file, &mut outfile)
+                .map_err(|e| format!("Error writing file {:?}: {}", outpath, e))?;
+        }
     }
 
     Ok(())
 }
-
-fn get_file(testnet: &Eth2NetDirectory, filename: &str) -> Result<(), String> {
-    let url = Handlebars::new()
-        .render_template(
-            testnet.url_template,
-            &json!({"commit": testnet.commit, "file": filename}),
-        )
-        .unwrap();
-
-    let path = testnet.dir().join(filename);
-
-    let mut file =
-        File::create(path).map_err(|e| format!("Failed to create {}: {:?}", filename, e))?;
-
-    let request = reqwest::blocking::Client::builder()
-        .build()
-        .map_err(|_| "Could not build request client".to_string())?
-        .get(&url)
-        .timeout(std::time::Duration::from_secs(120));
-
-    let contents = request
-        .send()
-        .map_err(|e| format!("Failed to download {}: {}", filename, e))?
-        .error_for_status()
-        .map_err(|e| format!("Error downloading {}: {}", filename, e))?
-        .bytes()
-        .map_err(|e| format!("Failed to read {} response bytes: {}", filename, e))?;
-
-    file.write(&contents)
-        .map_err(|e| format!("Failed to write to {}: {:?}", filename, e))?;
-
-    Ok(())
-}
diff --git a/common/eth2_testnet_config/testnet_altona_a94e00c1a03df851f960fcf44a79f2a6b1d29af1.zip b/common/eth2_testnet_config/testnet_altona_a94e00c1a03df851f960fcf44a79f2a6b1d29af1.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..29b9cd0cef
Binary files /dev/null and b/common/eth2_testnet_config/testnet_altona_a94e00c1a03df851f960fcf44a79f2a6b1d29af1.zip differ
diff --git a/common/eth2_testnet_config/testnet_medalla_09bbf2c9d108944ac934f94ec6a1d0684ca062a5.zip b/common/eth2_testnet_config/testnet_medalla_09bbf2c9d108944ac934f94ec6a1d0684ca062a5.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a6cd0a8430
Binary files /dev/null and b/common/eth2_testnet_config/testnet_medalla_09bbf2c9d108944ac934f94ec6a1d0684ca062a5.zip differ