Incentive Testnet: The Key Driver of Successful PoS Blockchain

In recent years, the popularity of Proof of Stake (PoS) Blockchains has been on the rise. This trend is reflected in Ethereum's transition from Proof of Work to PoS, the flourishing of the Cosmos ecosystem, and the emergence of new PoS L1 public chains such as Aptos and Sui.

The PoS mechanism relies on a network of validators, which brings two main challenges to the project: first, the value of internal testing is limited because the network depends on decentralized external parties to execute consensus; second, the operating costs of nodes are high, requiring specialized skills and effort.

These factors contributed to the rise of the incentivized Testnet. Cosmos was the first to launch this mechanism through its Game of Stakes project, providing a decentralized way to test the blockchain before its official launch.

The Essence of Incentive Testnet

Incentive testnets are typically gamified program projects that encourage external validators, developers, and users to participate in blockchain network testing for rewards. This mechanism is primarily used to test PoS infrastructure and helps protocols establish a strong network of node operators, ensuring stability and decentralization at launch while simulating real environments to identify potential issues.

To attract participants to invest time and resources, project teams often provide native tokens or stablecoins as incentives. Recently, the application scope of incentivizing the Testnet has expanded to multiple areas such as smart contract deployment, governance voting, trading, and cross-chain infrastructure.

Key Considerations for Building an Incentive Testnet

Clearly define the goal

The project team needs to determine the focus, scale, admission criteria, and success metrics for testing. In addition to common node infrastructure testing, some projects also use the testnet to educate early users and test specific functions. For example, a certain exchange project successfully recruited over 11,000 traders, which not only validated its market efficiency and liquidity but also identified and fixed significant vulnerabilities before the official launch.

Set access threshold

Admission requirements ensure that participants meet minimum standards. The requirements for validators may include hardware specifications, operational experience, and geographical diversity. At the same time, ensuring sufficient participation is crucial for achieving network decentralization. The number of validators for certain projects varies from 100 to over 2800, while there is no upper limit for other types of participants.

For testing exchange functions and lending protocols, the threshold is usually low to attract more users to participate. KYC is almost a standard requirement for all incentivized testnets, used for compliant reward distribution and to prevent potential attacks.

Incentive Design

The core of the incentive Testnet lies in ensuring comprehensive testing and community experience accumulation through project design and reward mechanisms. Testing is usually conducted in phases, gradually covering various aspects of the network. The reward is mostly in the form of project native tokens, with some projects allocating about 1% of the token supply to the Testnet.

The reward methods are mainly divided into two categories: task completion-based and performance-based. The former helps with targeted functional testing, while the latter is beneficial for enhancing community experience. The project also needs to consider whether to create a competitive atmosphere or encourage cooperation, in order to test the resilience and attack resistance of the network.

Promote mainnet development using testnet results.

The Testnet is not only a platform for technical validation but also an important tool for community building. Through the Testnet, validators gain operational experience, developers become familiar with tools and documentation, and community contributors create supportive content. Project teams should continuously interact with Testnet participants to maintain community vitality until the mainnet goes live.

Some projects encourage tool development by distributing grants or offering token authorization opportunities to outstanding validators. There are also projects that launch multiple rounds of Testnet activities to continuously stimulate community participation enthusiasm. These measures all help to lay a solid community foundation for the mainnet launch.