In the thrilling but occasionally baffling world of blockchain development, testnets are our digital playgrounds.
They're where we build, where we break, and (hopefully) where we rebuild our dApps before unleashing them on the unsuspecting mainnet. When I say we, I don't mean MMO oh no we just break them, we don't rebuild them!
But to play in this digital playground we need toys! No, not barbie dolls or lego no, no , these toys are testnet tokens.
Welcome to the glorious often misunderstood world of testnet faucets.
What Are Testnet Faucets? (Or, Why You Won't Retire on Testnet Coins)
If you read our previous post about Testnets which if you didn't you can do here What are Testnets and are they worth doing? we introduced the notion of faucets.
Imagine a leaky digital tap or faucet as those Americans want to call it, but instead of water, it dispenses "pretend" cryptocurrency. These aren't your golden tickets to Lambo-land; they're more like Monopoly money for blockchain developers. Testnet faucets are the generous (or perhaps just bored) souls who hand out these tokens for the sole purpose of testing.
Let's put it like this ... if the mainnet is a high-stakes poker game, then the testnet is where you practice your bluffs with chips that taste suspiciously like cardboard.
These chips are actually crucial for making sure your smart contracts don't explode when real money is involved. Because as we will explain in a later post on Monad testnet, the more you interact with smart contracts the bigger your potential airdrop for interacting on that testnet could be!
How does a testnet faucet work?
- Pick your digital playground! Tell the faucet which testnet you're diving into.
- Drop your wallet address like a digital mailbox.
- Poof! The faucet does its stuff.
- It whips up a tiny transaction, sending those testnet tokens straight to your door!
If you want to see the magic happen - Then all you need to do is grab your digital binoculars (a blockchain explorer or RPC endpoint) and watch the delivery truck zoom across the network!
The beauty about blockchains is that we can follow the transactions!
Where Can I Get Testnet Faucets? (And Avoid the Dodgy Back-Alley Faucets)
Finding these digital dispensaries is easier than you might think:
- Official Blockchain Projects: These are like the friendly neighborhood ice cream truck of faucets. Reliable, and usually delicious (metaphorically speaking).
- Developer Documentation: The blockchain's instruction manual, often with helpful links to free tokens.
- Online Search: Be careful here! DYOR!!!!!! Some "faucets" might just be digital snake oil salesmen. Stick to reputable sources, or you might end up with more ads than tokens.
- Community Forums and Discords: The local watering holes for developers, where you can often find the best (and safest) faucet recommendations.
Some of our favourite faucets for common chains
Ethereum Testnets
Sepolia
Sepolia is currently the most active Ethereum testnet, widely used for development and testing. You can obtain Sepolia ETH from:
- Chainlink Sepolia Faucet
- Alchemy Sepolia Faucet note to stop bots and abuse etc this faucet requires a minimum Ethereum mainnet balance of 0.001 ETH on the wallet address being used.
- Google Faucet (Yes Google!)
Holesky
Holesky is the newest Ethereum testnet, designed as a long-term replacement for older networks. You can obtain Holesky ETH from:
- Chainlink Holesky Faucet
- Alchemy Holesky Faucet note to stop bots and abuse etc this faucet requires a minimum Ethereum mainnet balance of 0.001 ETH on the wallet address being used.
- Google Faucet
Binance Smart Chain (BSC) Testnet
The BSC testnet provides a perfect environment for testing Binance Smart Chain applications. You can obtain test BNB from::
- Chainlink Holesky Faucet
- Official BNB Chain Faucet note 0.002 BNB on BSC Mainnet is needed for test funding.
Polygon Amoy
Polygon's Amoy testnet provides a perfect environment for testing Polygon Chain applications. You can obtain test POL from::
- Chainlink Polygon Faucet
- Alchemy Polygon Faucet note 0.001 POL on BSC Mainnet is needed for test funding.
Avalanche Fuji
Avalanche's Fuji testnet provides a perfect environment for testing Binance Smart Chain applications. You can obtain test AVAX from::
- Chainlink Avalanche Fuji Faucet
- Core App Avalanche Faucet - Official and the most reliable Avalanche faucet ... Must either enter a valid coupon code or have an AVAX balance greater than zero on mainnet C-Chain.
Fantom Testnet
Fantom's testnet provides a perfect environment for testing Fantom applications. You can obtain test FTMs from::
- Chainlink Avalanche Fuji Faucet
- Official Fantom Faucet - Official and the most reliable faucet from the Fantom team
Unichain Sepolia
The easiest and fastest way we found to get Testnet ETH on Unichain Sepolia is b bridging! First you need to get Ethereum Sepolia and then bridge it. You can bridge ETH using:
Solana
Solana's testnet provides a perfect environment for testing Fantom applications. You can obtain test SOL from:
- Official Solana Faucets - Official faucets from Solana team
- QuickNode Solana Faucet Note A user's wallet must hold at least 0.05 SOL on Solana Mainnet to use the Solana faucets.
Sui
Solana's testnet provides a perfect environment for testing Fantom applications. You can obtain test SUI from:
- Blockbolt Faucet
MMO top tips
- Even if you don't need a token for a testnet, keep claiming so you can stockpile them for when you need them!
- Use a testnet wallet, not your main wallet. Beware of wallet drainers!
- Be wary of shady faucets promising "free crypto riches." If it sounds too good to be true, it probably involves a dancing hamster and a request for your private keys.
Just remember that testnet tokens are for testing and not trading. So please, don't try to buy a pizza with them.
So go forth and get those drips!
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