diff --git a/shared/featureconfig/config.go b/shared/featureconfig/config.go
index fb127475cd..2242dfe940 100644
--- a/shared/featureconfig/config.go
+++ b/shared/featureconfig/config.go
@@ -192,9 +192,10 @@ func ConfigureBeaconChain(ctx *cli.Context) {
 		log.WithField(disableProposerAttsSelectionUsingMaxCover.Name, disableProposerAttsSelectionUsingMaxCover.Usage).Warn(enabledFeatureFlag)
 		cfg.ProposerAttsSelectionUsingMaxCover = false
 	}
-	if ctx.Bool(enableOptimizedBalanceUpdate.Name) {
-		log.WithField(enableOptimizedBalanceUpdate.Name, enableOptimizedBalanceUpdate.Usage).Warn(enabledFeatureFlag)
-		cfg.EnableOptimizedBalanceUpdate = true
+	cfg.EnableOptimizedBalanceUpdate = true
+	if ctx.Bool(disableOptimizedBalanceUpdate.Name) {
+		log.WithField(disableOptimizedBalanceUpdate.Name, disableOptimizedBalanceUpdate.Usage).Warn(enabledFeatureFlag)
+		cfg.EnableOptimizedBalanceUpdate = false
 	}
 	Init(cfg)
 }
diff --git a/shared/featureconfig/deprecated_flags.go b/shared/featureconfig/deprecated_flags.go
index c9ba22100f..ba7479aa1c 100644
--- a/shared/featureconfig/deprecated_flags.go
+++ b/shared/featureconfig/deprecated_flags.go
@@ -42,6 +42,11 @@ var (
 		Usage:  deprecatedUsage,
 		Hidden: true,
 	}
+	deprecatedEnableOptimizedBalanceUpdate = &cli.BoolFlag{
+		Name:   "enable-optimized-balance-update",
+		Usage:  deprecatedUsage,
+		Hidden: true,
+	}
 )
 
 var deprecatedFlags = []cli.Flag{
@@ -52,4 +57,5 @@ var deprecatedFlags = []cli.Flag{
 	deprecatedDisableEth1DataMajorityVote,
 	deprecatedDisableBlst,
 	deprecatedProposerAttsSelectionUsingMaxCover,
+	deprecatedEnableOptimizedBalanceUpdate,
 }
diff --git a/shared/featureconfig/flags.go b/shared/featureconfig/flags.go
index 7c2c842496..7401419c34 100644
--- a/shared/featureconfig/flags.go
+++ b/shared/featureconfig/flags.go
@@ -118,9 +118,9 @@ var (
 		Name:  "enable-slashing-protection-pruning",
 		Usage: "Enables the pruning of the validator client's slashing protectin database",
 	}
-	enableOptimizedBalanceUpdate = &cli.BoolFlag{
-		Name:  "enable-optimized-balance-update",
-		Usage: "Enables the optimized method of updating validator balances.",
+	disableOptimizedBalanceUpdate = &cli.BoolFlag{
+		Name:  "disable-optimized-balance-update",
+		Usage: "Disable the optimized method of updating validator balances.",
 	}
 	enableDoppelGangerProtection = &cli.BoolFlag{
 		Name: "enable-doppelganger",
@@ -136,7 +136,6 @@ var devModeFlags = []cli.Flag{
 	enableNextSlotStateCache,
 	forceOptMaxCoverAggregationStategy,
 	updateHeadTimely,
-	enableOptimizedBalanceUpdate,
 }
 
 // ValidatorFlags contains a list of all the feature flags that apply to the validator client.
@@ -188,7 +187,7 @@ var BeaconChainFlags = append(deprecatedFlags, []cli.Flag{
 	forceOptMaxCoverAggregationStategy,
 	updateHeadTimely,
 	disableProposerAttsSelectionUsingMaxCover,
-	enableOptimizedBalanceUpdate,
+	disableOptimizedBalanceUpdate,
 }...)
 
 // E2EBeaconChainFlags contains a list of the beacon chain feature flags to be tested in E2E.