Newbies are being forced to pay IQ tax, some people actually buy test coins, things about Ethereum test network

With the emergence of the crypto bull market over the past year, a large number of novice participants have also joined the blockchain wave. At the same time, there are many opportunities here, but the emergence of novices has also led to a large number of low-level scams in the circle. Recently, it is quite puzzling that someone actually sold Ethereum test coins online, and many novices really took the bait and bought a lot. After further investigation, many novices mainly misunderstood some information because they did not understand the gameplay of blockchain and there were few related popular science articles. For this reason, we will conduct popular science for novices this time, mainly to introduce the Ethereum test network.

As the name implies, the test network is the function and performance testing process before the official product or program is launched. Different public chains have their own test networks, such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, etc. Test networks are generally divided into private test networks and public test networks. Private test networks are the test environments built on our local area network or local machine, and public test networks refer to the test network environments that everyone can access. We can generally see that Ethereum public test networks are mainly divided into several types in the Ethereum Metamask wallet, namely:

Ropsten: A proof-of-work blockchain, very similar to the current Ethereum mainnet

Kovan: A POA blockchain

Rinkeby: A POA blockchain

Goerli: A POS blockchain, benchmarking ETH2.0

In addition to the differences in block generation mode and consensus mechanism, the above-mentioned different test networks also differ in the types of software clients supported and the mechanisms for handling spam transactions. The others all support the use of the EVM virtual machine. In other words, unless they are testing the underlying functions of Ethereum or certain performance parameters of DApp, other aspects are the same for ecological project parties.

Before the bull market, most Ethereum DApp developers actually used the Ropsten test network. Since the Ropsten test network uses POW mining, which is the same as the main network mining we see, it requires certain graphics cards and other equipment. The biggest feature of this part of the test network is that the network computing power is low, so the acquisition cost is quite low. At the same time, with the funding of the Ethereum Foundation, it is actually very easy for the public to obtain the corresponding test coins for free through public channels. Other test networks are not generated by mining, so the cost of test coins is even lower. Of course, no matter what the acquisition cost is, test networks in the industry do not have much commercial value, and test coins have no value. They can all be obtained for free. People can get them for free through the test network's faucet website.

After entering the Ethereum 2.0 era, the main process of the main network is the official launch of the beacon chain, the verification node staking ETH, and running the node software, and then the POW chain is transformed into the POS chain. The smart contracts deployed on the original POW network are still valid, but the mining method has changed. The emergence of this process requires multiple test networks with different mechanisms to run before the function is launched, so as to ensure that the official launch can be as smooth as possible.

On the mainnet, the Ethereum beacon chain has been launched, the POW chain is still running, and other shard chains are not yet running. The testnet also needs to conduct this kind of testing. The current mainstream 2.0 client testnet is the Goerli testnet initiated by Prysmatic Labs, which has been running since 2019. The testnet tapoz used by Ethereum 2.0 will start running in 2021. Other public test shard chains are still not publicly running. Now, the Goerli testnet should be benchmarked against the testnet after the Ethereum 2.0 merger. Because of this, the Goerli testnet is also called the Ethereum 2.0 testnet by many people.

Since it is the Ethereum 2.0 test network, as the focus of blockchain technology development in the next few years, the Goerli test network is actually quite popular. First of all, you need to participate in the block production and operation of the test network verification node, so you must have 32 test coins of the Goerli test network. Previously, Prysmatic Labs provided 32 Goerli test coins on its official website for operators who intend to participate in the verification of test nodes. This part fully meets the needs of test nodes.

After obtaining 32 test coins, the validator needs to stake the Goerli test coins on the Goerli test network, just like the current main network, so that he can obtain the qualification to run the test node, and then run the test network client software on the server to complete the subsequent test network participation process. After completing the construction of the test network verification node, the test network validator can try to deploy various smart contracts or conduct other test experiments on it.

The corresponding process on the main network is the transition from the POW main network to the POS process that we will see later. In other words, if the project party wants to deploy the project on Ethereum in the next few years, then the test network with the closest environment should be the Goerli test network. Of course, since both use the EVM virtual machine to deploy contracts, many project parties will still choose the Rinkeby test network for testing. The Rinkeby test network uses the POA consensus mechanism (authoritative proof) and unifies the state of the ledger through validators. This can effectively prevent the occurrence of double spending. Because of this, the Rinkeby test network actually has a good network experience when developers test, and it has also attracted many developers.

The Goerli test network is currently running in a POS mode. There are actually quite a few test coins produced every day, but due to the current shortage, some test coin faucets provide relatively few test coins to the public. From the above, we can see that the main purpose of the Goerli test coins is to deploy the corresponding 2.0 validator test nodes with 32 test coins. Of course, the test nodes will not generate real income.

Another major user of Goerli test coins is DApp ecosystem project parties. As Ethereum gradually plans to enter the 2.0 phase, some project parties will also deploy their test DApps on the Goerli network. Therefore, there are actually quite a few smart contracts deployed on the Goerli test network. Since the bull market, the Goerli test network has also ushered in a relatively active period. Part of this is that the test network activities of DApp project parties have attracted a large number of wool parties.

Simply put, before the DApp development team officially launches the project on the mainnet, they will generally deploy the contract on the public testnet and then make it public so that users and some bounty hunters can test the DApp and discover some bugs that were not found in the internal test to ensure the security of the project.

Ecological project parties generally offer corresponding bonuses for conducting such test network activities. At the same time, some project parties will publicly announce some test activities in order to stress test the access traffic of DApp applications, such as following the official social account and experiencing the test network. When the project is officially launched on the main network, you will receive the project party's airdrop tokens.

Since this type of test network activity has almost zero cost and can obtain valuable tokens, it has attracted many ordinary users, who use a large number of accounts to "take advantage of the situation". The prerequisite for using the test network is to have eth as gas for testing. Because of this, many test coin collection faucets have been dried up in most cases in this bull market (the test coins have been collected and no test coins can be collected), resulting in the situation of buying and selling test coins.

For most investors who have been in the cryptocurrency circle for a long time, they naturally know that test coins have no value. Therefore, the main reason for buying and selling test coins is that some unscrupulous businessmen take advantage of the fact that novices and newbies do not understand the details of Ethereum 2.0 and the Ethereum 2.0 test network, and some articles do not clearly describe the situation of the test network, which causes some newbies to misunderstand. The purpose of test coins has always been the test network. After the main network is launched, the test network will continue to exist and play a role in testing subsequent key functions. This is not the false statement made by some unscrupulous businessmen that "the test network and the main network are merged, and the test coins become the main network coins."