diff --git a/backend/script/bitcoin_rpc.py b/backend/script/bitcoin_rpc.py
index 7a0b328..0e06552 100644
--- a/backend/script/bitcoin_rpc.py
+++ b/backend/script/bitcoin_rpc.py
@@ -22,6 +22,13 @@ def _build_base_args(section):
 
     args = [cli_bin]
 
+    # Datadir — resolve relative paths from this file's directory
+    datadir = section.get("datadir", "").strip()
+    if datadir:
+        if not os.path.isabs(datadir):
+            datadir = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)), datadir)
+        args.append(f"-datadir={datadir}")
+
     network_flags = {
         "regtest": "-regtest",
         "testnet": "-testnet",
diff --git a/backend/script/config.ini b/backend/script/config.ini
index 7bb6162..f863e5f 100644
--- a/backend/script/config.ini
+++ b/backend/script/config.ini
@@ -5,8 +5,12 @@ network = regtest
 # Path to the bitcoin-cli binary (use full path if not on PATH)
 cli = bitcoin-cli
 
+# Data directory for bitcoind (matches setup.sh).
+# Relative paths are resolved from the directory containing this file.
+datadir = bitcoin-data
+
 # Optional: override RPC connection details.
-# Leave these blank to use the defaults from ~/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf.
+# Leave these blank to use cookie auth from the datadir.
 rpchost =
 rpcport =
 rpcuser =