diff --git a/arbnode/parent/chain_config.json b/arbnode/parent/chain_config.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0637a088a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/arbnode/parent/chain_config.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+[]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/arbnode/parent/parent.go b/arbnode/parent/parent.go
index 2fa46704f1..6dc8376340 100644
--- a/arbnode/parent/parent.go
+++ b/arbnode/parent/parent.go
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ package parent
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	_ "embed"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
 	"math/big"
 
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/consensus/misc/eip4844"
@@ -15,6 +18,10 @@ import (
 	"github.com/offchainlabs/nitro/util/headerreader"
 )
 
+// knownConfigs maps known Ethereum chain IDs to their chain configurations.
+// Note that this is not exhaustive; users can add more configurations via
+// chain_config.json files or can even override existing known configurations by providing
+// the same chain ID.
 var (
 	knownConfigs = map[uint64]*params.ChainConfig{
 		params.MainnetChainConfig.ChainID.Uint64():         params.MainnetChainConfig,
@@ -24,6 +31,20 @@ var (
 	}
 )
 
+//go:embed chain_config.json
+var DefaultChainsConfigBytes []byte
+
+func init() {
+	var chainsConfig []*params.ChainConfig
+	err := json.Unmarshal(DefaultChainsConfigBytes, &chainsConfig)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(fmt.Errorf("error marshalling default chainsConfig: %w", err))
+	}
+	for _, chainConfig := range chainsConfig {
+		knownConfigs[chainConfig.ChainID.Uint64()] = chainConfig
+	}
+}
+
 type ParentChain struct {
 	ChainID  *big.Int
 	L1Reader *headerreader.HeaderReader