In the world of cryptocurrency, where every transaction can come with notorious gas fees, testnets are often overlooked, but they are where many people are quietly earning money, learning, and even receiving thousands of dollars in airdrops.
If you are a beginner or simply want to optimize your portfolio without paying fees, here is why you should learn about testnets today.
What is a testnet and why is it important?
A testnet is a “sandbox” version of the main blockchain network where developers can experiment with decentralized applications (dApps), smart contracts, and blockchain features without any real financial risk. On a testnet, coins have no real-world value, and transactions are almost completely free.
For example, if you are building a dApp on Ethereum, instead of spending hundreds of dollars in gas fees on the mainnet, you can test it on Goerli, Sepolia, or other testnets for free.
Testnet Coins Are Worthless, But Still “Valued”
Although testnet coins like gETH (Goerli Ethereum) are officially “worthless,” they have proven to be very valuable to the development community. During times of scarcity, many people have traded gETH for over $1, just to continue testing or deploying contracts.
There is even a bridge built in 2024 that allows gETH to be transferred from the testnet to the Ethereum mainnet, making testnet assets temporarily liquid on DEXs like Uniswap.
Why should non-developers use testnets?
Not just for developers, testnets are also a gateway to lucrative airdrops. Many Web3 projects host incentivized testnet programs, where users simply need to:
Connect a wallet and interact with a testnet dApp
Mint a test NFT
Run a node or validate a transaction
Test a token or swap a test
A prime example? Aptos once gave away 150–300 APT tokens to testnet users, worth over $5,000 at its peak. Other projects like Starknet, LayerZero, and zkSync have also airdropped thousands of dollars just to people who have... played with the testnet.
How to get started with testnets?
You don't need to be a technical expert. To participate:
Download Metamask or another EVM-compatible wallet.
Go to Chainlist.org, connect your wallet, and select "Include Testnets".
Add testnets like Goerli, Sepolia (Ethereum), Mumbai (Polygon) with just 1 click.
Find reputable testnet faucets to get free coins, for example: Goerli faucet or zkSync faucet.
Start interacting with the testnet dApps proposed by the project.
You can also follow the testnets running airdrops through channels like Crypto Twitter, Layer3, Zealy or the project's Discord forum.
Some popular blockchains have their own testnets
Blockchains Representative testnets
Ethereum Goerli, Sepolia
Polygon Mumbai
Avalanche Fuji
Arbitrum Arbitrum Testnet
Solana Devnet, Testnet
Cardano PreProd, Preview
Make sure you connect to the right network for each testing phase of the project. Using the wrong testnet can cause you to miss out on rewards or encounter bugs.
Warning: Beware of Scammers
While testnets are free, there are scammers out there who try to take advantage of newbies by asking for real money to get testnet tokens – this is completely false! You should never pay for testnet tokens and never give out your seed phrase to anyone.
Why you should care
Thousands of dollars worth of airdrops from major projects.
Get a hands-on experience of how DeFi, NFTs, and blockchain applications work.
Learn for free, fail for free, and improve your Web3 skills for free.
Contribute to the crypto ecosystem by reporting bugs, errors, and improvements.
Conclusion: Testnets are a forgotten treasure trove
While not a flashy "mainnet" with instant profits, testnets are a place that offers knowledge, opportunity, and even free assets if you know how to take advantage of them. In the Web3 world, users who actively experience testnets today can become crypto millionaires tomorrow.