diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f7a52e17aca7..a0deed473c4a 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -77,5 +77,3 @@ packages/cli/.git-data.json
 dictionary.dic
 
 temp/
-
-checkpoint_states/
diff --git a/packages/beacon-node/src/chain/chain.ts b/packages/beacon-node/src/chain/chain.ts
index f2ea3d45a376..cbb4b59af041 100644
--- a/packages/beacon-node/src/chain/chain.ts
+++ b/packages/beacon-node/src/chain/chain.ts
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ import {InMemoryCheckpointStateCache} from "./stateCache/stateContextCheckpoints
 import {FIFOBlockStateCache} from "./stateCache/fifoBlockStateCache.js";
 import {PersistentCheckpointStateCache} from "./stateCache/persistentCheckpointsCache.js";
 import {CHECKPOINT_STATES_FOLDER, FileCPStateDatastore} from "./stateCache/datastore/file.js";
+import {DbCPStateDatastore} from "./stateCache/datastore/db.js";
 
 /**
  * Arbitrary constants, blobs and payloads should be consumed immediately in the same slot
@@ -242,6 +243,7 @@ export class BeaconChain implements IBeaconChain {
     this.pubkey2index = cachedState.epochCtx.pubkey2index;
     this.index2pubkey = cachedState.epochCtx.index2pubkey;
 
+    const fileDataStore = opts.nHistoricalStatesFileDataStore ?? false;
     const stateCache = this.opts.nHistoricalStates
       ? new FIFOBlockStateCache(this.opts, {metrics})
       : new StateContextCache({metrics});
@@ -254,9 +256,9 @@ export class BeaconChain implements IBeaconChain {
             shufflingCache: this.shufflingCache,
             getHeadState: this.getHeadState.bind(this),
             bufferPool: new BufferPool(anchorState.type.tree_serializedSize(anchorState.node), metrics),
-            // datastore: new DbCPStateDatastore(this.db),
-            // TODO: add new flag
-            datastore: new FileCPStateDatastore(CHECKPOINT_STATES_FOLDER),
+            datastore: fileDataStore
+              ? new FileCPStateDatastore(CHECKPOINT_STATES_FOLDER)
+              : new DbCPStateDatastore(this.db),
           },
           this.opts
         )
diff --git a/packages/beacon-node/src/chain/options.ts b/packages/beacon-node/src/chain/options.ts
index de38f0d0f4ce..53aef52a19ad 100644
--- a/packages/beacon-node/src/chain/options.ts
+++ b/packages/beacon-node/src/chain/options.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ export type IChainOptions = BlockProcessOpts &
     broadcastValidationStrictness?: string;
     minSameMessageSignatureSetsToBatch: number;
     nHistoricalStates?: boolean;
+    nHistoricalStatesFileDataStore?: boolean;
   };
 
 export type BlockProcessOpts = {
@@ -109,6 +110,7 @@ export const defaultChainOptions: IChainOptions = {
   // since this batch attestation work is designed to work with useWorker=true, make this the lowest value
   minSameMessageSignatureSetsToBatch: 2,
   nHistoricalStates: false,
+  nHistoricalStatesFileDataStore: false,
   maxBlockStates: DEFAULT_MAX_BLOCK_STATES,
   maxCPStateEpochsInMemory: DEFAULT_MAX_CP_STATE_EPOCHS_IN_MEMORY,
 };
diff --git a/packages/beacon-node/test/e2e/chain/stateCache/nHistoricalStates.test.ts b/packages/beacon-node/test/e2e/chain/stateCache/nHistoricalStates.test.ts
index 368d70b05a4f..96f688facfcf 100644
--- a/packages/beacon-node/test/e2e/chain/stateCache/nHistoricalStates.test.ts
+++ b/packages/beacon-node/test/e2e/chain/stateCache/nHistoricalStates.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-import fs from "node:fs";
-import {describe, it, afterEach, beforeEach, expect} from "vitest";
+import {describe, it, afterEach, expect} from "vitest";
 import {Gauge, Histogram} from "prom-client";
 import {ChainConfig} from "@lodestar/config";
 import {Slot, phase0} from "@lodestar/types";
@@ -14,7 +13,6 @@ import {ChainEvent, ReorgEventData} from "../../../../src/chain/emitter.js";
 import {ReorgedForkChoice} from "../../../utils/mocks/forkchoice.js";
 import {connect} from "../../../utils/network.js";
 import {CacheItemType} from "../../../../src/chain/stateCache/types.js";
-import {CHECKPOINT_STATES_FOLDER} from "../../../../src/chain/stateCache/datastore/file.js";
 
 /**
  * Test different reorg scenarios to make sure the StateCache implementations are correct.
@@ -28,10 +26,6 @@ describe(
       SECONDS_PER_SLOT: 2,
     };
 
-    beforeEach(async () => {
-      await fs.promises.rm(CHECKPOINT_STATES_FOLDER, {recursive: true, force: true});
-    });
-
     const afterEachCallbacks: (() => Promise<unknown> | void)[] = [];
     afterEach(async () => {
       while (afterEachCallbacks.length > 0) {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/options/beaconNodeOptions/chain.ts b/packages/cli/src/options/beaconNodeOptions/chain.ts
index 3beb9db2ed2d..331619846b33 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/options/beaconNodeOptions/chain.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/options/beaconNodeOptions/chain.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ export type ChainArgs = {
   "chain.minSameMessageSignatureSetsToBatch"?: number;
   "chain.maxShufflingCacheEpochs"?: number;
   "chain.nHistoricalStates"?: boolean;
+  "chain.nHistoricalStatesFileDataStore"?: boolean;
   "chain.maxBlockStates"?: number;
   "chain.maxCPStateEpochsInMemory"?: number;
 };
@@ -57,6 +58,8 @@ export function parseArgs(args: ChainArgs): IBeaconNodeOptions["chain"] {
       args["chain.minSameMessageSignatureSetsToBatch"] ?? defaultOptions.chain.minSameMessageSignatureSetsToBatch,
     maxShufflingCacheEpochs: args["chain.maxShufflingCacheEpochs"] ?? defaultOptions.chain.maxShufflingCacheEpochs,
     nHistoricalStates: args["chain.nHistoricalStates"] ?? defaultOptions.chain.nHistoricalStates,
+    nHistoricalStatesFileDataStore:
+      args["chain.nHistoricalStatesFileDataStore"] ?? defaultOptions.chain.nHistoricalStatesFileDataStore,
     maxBlockStates: args["chain.maxBlockStates"] ?? defaultOptions.chain.maxBlockStates,
     maxCPStateEpochsInMemory: args["chain.maxCPStateEpochsInMemory"] ?? defaultOptions.chain.maxCPStateEpochsInMemory,
   };
@@ -228,6 +231,14 @@ Will double processing times. Use only for debugging purposes.",
     group: "chain",
   },
 
+  "chain.nHistoricalStatesFileDataStore": {
+    hidden: true,
+    description: "Use fs to store checkpoint state for PersistentCheckpointStateCache or not",
+    type: "boolean",
+    default: defaultOptions.chain.nHistoricalStatesFileDataStore,
+    group: "chain",
+  },
+
   "chain.maxBlockStates": {
     hidden: true,
     description: "Max block states to cache in memory, used for FIFOBlockStateCache",
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/unit/options/beaconNodeOptions.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/unit/options/beaconNodeOptions.test.ts
index 4bc6c99e0d0a..35247d1e165f 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/unit/options/beaconNodeOptions.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/test/unit/options/beaconNodeOptions.test.ts
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ describe("options / beaconNodeOptions", () => {
       "chain.minSameMessageSignatureSetsToBatch": 32,
       "chain.maxShufflingCacheEpochs": 100,
       "chain.nHistoricalStates": true,
+      "chain.nHistoricalStatesFileDataStore": true,
       "chain.maxBlockStates": 100,
       "chain.maxCPStateEpochsInMemory": 100,
       emitPayloadAttributes: false,
@@ -143,6 +144,7 @@ describe("options / beaconNodeOptions", () => {
         minSameMessageSignatureSetsToBatch: 32,
         maxShufflingCacheEpochs: 100,
         nHistoricalStates: true,
+        nHistoricalStatesFileDataStore: true,
         maxBlockStates: 100,
         maxCPStateEpochsInMemory: 100,
       },