Testnet - Bitcoin Wiki (2024)

The testnet is an alternative Bitcoin block chain to be used for testing. Testnet coins are separate and distinct from actual bitcoins, and are never supposed to have any value. This allows application developers or bitcoin testers to experiment, without having to use real bitcoins or worrying about breaking the main bitcoin chain.

Run bitcoin-qt or bitcoind with the -testnet flag to use the testnet (or put testnet=1 in the bitcoin.conf file).

There have been three generations of testnet. Testnet2 was just the first testnet reset with a different genesis block, because people were starting to trade testnet coins for real money. Testnet3 is the current test network. It was introduced with the 0.7 release, introduced a third genesis block, a new rule to avoid the "difficulty was too high, is now too low, and transactions take too long to verify" problem, and contains blocks with edge-case transactions designed to test implementation compatibility. On 21 December 2015, SegNet was deployed to test the Wuille's Segregated Witness proposal.

Contents

  • 1 Differences
  • 2 Genesis Block
  • 3 Size
  • 4 External links
    • 4.1 Wallets
    • 4.2 Faucets
    • 4.3 Block explorers

Differences

  • Default Bitcoin network protocol listen port is 18333 (instead of 8333)
  • Default RPC connection port is 18332 (instead of 8332)
  • Bootstrapping uses different DNS seeds.
  • A different value of ADDRESSVERSION field ensures no testnet Bitcoin addresses will work on the production network. (0x6F rather than 0x00)
  • The protocol message header bytes are 0x0B110907 (instead of 0xF9BEB4D9)
  • Minimum difficulty of 1.0 on testnet is equal to difficulty of 0.5 on mainnet. This means that the mainnet-equivalent of any testnet difficulty is half the testnet difficulty. In addition, if no block has been found in 20 minutes, the difficulty automatically resets back to the minimum for a single block, after which it returns to its previous value.
  • A new genesis block
  • The IsStandard() check is disabled so that non-standard transactions can be experimented with.

Genesis Block

Testnet uses a different genesis block to the main network. You can find it here.The testnet was reset with a new genesis block for the 0.7 Bitcoin release.

Size

Testnet receives less transactions than the main block chain and is typically much smaller in size. As of January 2018, the size of the data on disk was 14GB containing data for about 6 years worth of testnet activity. Downloading this data required about 12GB of network activity peaking at 2MB/s rate of transfer.

External links

Wallets

Online testnet wallets to help you test your application.

  • CoPay.io wallet supports TestNet accounts

Faucets

Once you're done with your test coins, it is a nice gesture to send them back to the faucets, so they become available to other developers.

Offline (2023-07-27):

Offline (2018-09-06):

Offline (2016-08-07):

Block explorers

Testnet - Bitcoin Wiki (2024)

FAQs

Is testnet Bitcoin worth anything? ›

Testnet coins are separate and distinct from actual bitcoins and they do not hold any value. This allows developers and users to experiment without worrying about losing valuable assets.

Is testnet money real? ›

Testnet bitcoins carry no value, and cannot be used to pay monetary transactions. They are solely for testing transactions and implementations. First, you will need to get the receiving address for your testnet wallet.

Do testnet tokens have value? ›

Testnet coins are distinct from actual coins, and testnet coins do not have any monetary value. This allows application developers or testers to experiment without having to use valuable coins. In a few words, testnet is a parallel network intended for testing purposes.

How to test Bitcoin testnet? ›

Getting Testnet Bitcoin
  1. Open your BitPay wallet and click on the "Receive" tab. Scroll through your wallets to find your testnet wallet. ...
  2. Find a testnet faucet and paste your testnet wallet address into the request form provided. We recommend the following testnet faucets:

Can testnet be withdrawn? ›

Withdrawing on Ropsten

Most faucets allow you to send testnet ETH back to them, and they will recycle it for other users. Alternatively, you can simply abandon your testnet ETH as it holds no real value.

Can I make money from testnet? ›

For this work, the platform often allocates a certain remuneration to users, but sometimes it does without it. That is, in the first case, if you take part in Testnet, then upon completion of the project, you are guaranteed to receive tokens, real money or discounts on the purchase of virtual coins.

How do I convert testnet coins to real coins? ›

You cannot convert testnet coins to real coins. They are two separate currencies.

Can I sell testnet token? ›

You can't sell any testnet tokens.

Do testnet assets hold no actual value? ›

Testnet Tokens: A Starter's Guide

In simple terms, testnet tokens mimic the functionality of coins on a blockchain network, but they hold no real economic value. Why? Because they're used for testing! Developers use these tokens on a test network to ensure everything works as expected before going live.

Has Satoshi testnet launched? ›

Satoshi Protocol is officially live on @BTCLayer2 Testnet, offering you the chance to be among the first to experience a revolutionary DeFi on the Bitcoin Ecosystem.

How big is Bitcoin testnet? ›

What is total amount of data stored within a blockchain network?
ProtocolNetworkData stored, GB
BitcoinMainnet full920
Testnet full150
BNB ChainMainnet full3300
Mainnet archive12400
56 more rows

How to mine testnet bitcoins? ›

Running a Bitcoin Testnet Full Node
  1. Update the Bitcoin Configuration File.
  2. Start Bitcoin.
  3. Generate a keychain.
  4. Update the Stacks Blockchain Configuration File.
  5. Start the Stacks Blockchain.
  6. Enable Debug Logging.
  7. Generate a Keychain and Get Some Tokens.
  8. Update Stacks Blockchain Docker Configuration File.
Jul 10, 2024

How to convert testnet coin to real coin? ›

You cannot convert testnet coins to real coins. They are two separate currencies.

What can I do with a testnet token? ›

Using a Testnet Crypto Wallet

Users can then obtain testnet tokens and use them to test transactions, smart contracts, and other features. This process helps developers gather feedback and make necessary adjustments to improve the wallet's functionality and security.

What is a testnet in Bitcoin? ›

A Testnet is the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) of a blockchain project. It is built for developers to experiment with new ideas without disturbing or breaking the core features of the product.

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