{"id":4,"slug":"blockchain-mainnet","name":"Blockchain Mainnet","alternate_names":["mainnet","main network","메인넷"],"aliases":[],"locale":"en","available_locales":["en"],"localized":false,"type":"concept","description":"A blockchain mainnet is the live, production network of a blockchain where real transactions are processed and permanently recorded.","overview":"Mainnet is the production stage of a blockchain network, as opposed to testnets used for development and testing. Assets on mainnet carry real economic value, and protocol changes require coordinated upgrades across node operators.","official_url":null,"image_url":null,"country":null,"region":null,"wikidata_id":null,"wikipedia_url":null,"verified":false,"scores":{"authority":70,"trust":0,"citation":0},"topic":{"slug":"blockchain-mainnet-development","name":"Blockchain"},"url":"https://worldwiki.io/entity/blockchain-mainnet","facts":[{"id":101,"predicate":"definition","label":"Definition (Ethereum documentation)","value":"The primary public production blockchain, where actual-value transactions occur on the distributed ledger","unit":null,"confidence":80,"valid_from":"2026-09-18","valid_until":null,"verified_at":"2026-09-18 06:38:19","source_ids":[172]},{"id":102,"predicate":"testnet_asset_value","label":"Value of testnet tokens","value":"ETH on testnets is meant to have no real value and is usually handed out free by faucets; markets have sometimes formed for scarce testnet ETH","unit":null,"confidence":80,"valid_from":"2026-09-18","valid_until":null,"verified_at":"2026-09-18 06:38:19","source_ids":[172]},{"id":103,"predicate":"recommended_testnets_ethereum","label":"Recommended Ethereum testnets","value":"Sepolia (default for application development); Hoodi (validator and staking tests, open validator set)","unit":null,"confidence":80,"valid_from":"2026-09-18","valid_until":null,"verified_at":"2026-09-18 06:38:19","source_ids":[172]},{"id":104,"predicate":"genesis_date_bitcoin","label":"Bitcoin mainnet genesis block date","value":"2009-01-03 (block 0; hash 000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f)","unit":null,"confidence":80,"valid_from":null,"valid_until":null,"verified_at":"2026-09-18 06:38:19","source_ids":[178]},{"id":105,"predicate":"genesis_date_ethereum","label":"Ethereum mainnet launch (genesis block mined)","value":"2015-07-30","unit":null,"confidence":80,"valid_from":null,"valid_until":null,"verified_at":"2026-09-18 06:38:19","source_ids":[204]},{"id":106,"predicate":"network_identifier","label":"Ethereum mainnet chain ID","value":"1 (EIP-155 chain IDs separate networks to prevent transactions being replayed on another chain)","unit":null,"confidence":80,"valid_from":null,"valid_until":null,"verified_at":"2026-09-18 06:38:19","source_ids":[180]},{"id":107,"predicate":"upgrade_example","label":"Example of a major mainnet upgrade","value":"Ethereum's Merge (switch to proof-of-stake) ran on mainnet on 2022-09-15, after testnet merges such as Ropsten","unit":null,"confidence":80,"valid_from":"2022-09-15","valid_until":null,"verified_at":"2026-09-18 06:38:19","source_ids":[160]},{"id":9,"predicate":"release_stage","label":"Release stage","value":"Production (after devnet and testnet)","unit":null,"confidence":100,"valid_from":null,"valid_until":null,"verified_at":"2026-09-14 12:40:21","source_ids":[4]},{"id":108,"predicate":"bitcoin_testnet_replacement","label":"Bitcoin testnet4 (BIP 94)","value":"Genesis block dated 2024-05-03. Replaced testnet3, which suffered difficulty-reset 'block storms' and whose coins had gained trading value. Same rules as mainnet with three exceptions","unit":null,"confidence":80,"valid_from":"2024-05-27","valid_until":null,"verified_at":"2026-09-18 06:38:19","source_ids":[205]},{"id":109,"predicate":"upgrade_mechanism","label":"How protocol changes happen","value":"Through soft forks and hard forks, which NIST IR 8202 covers among blockchain concepts","unit":null,"confidence":80,"valid_from":"2018-10-03","valid_until":null,"verified_at":"2026-09-18 06:38:19","source_ids":[153]}],"relations":[{"type":"part_of","confidence":100,"target":{"id":3,"slug":"blockchain","name":"Blockchain","type":"technology","description":"A blockchain is a distributed ledger that records transactions in linked, cryptographically secured blocks maintained by a network of nodes.","url":"https://worldwiki.io/entity/blockchain"}}],"questions":[{"slug":"what-is-a-blockchain-mainnet","question":"What is a blockchain mainnet?","intent":"informational","language":"en","short_answer":"A blockchain mainnet is the live, production network of a blockchain where real transactions are processed, validated and permanently recorded. Unlike a testnet, mainnet assets have real economic value. Launching a mainnet requires its own consensus mechanism, validator or node infrastructure, native token economics and network rules.","url":"https://worldwiki.io/q/what-is-a-blockchain-mainnet"},{"slug":"what-is-the-difference-between-mainnet-and-testnet","question":"What is the difference between mainnet and testnet?","intent":"informational","language":"en","short_answer":"A mainnet is a blockchain's live production network, where tokens and transactions have real economic value. A testnet is a separate network with the same or similar software, used to test applications and protocol upgrades \"in a production-like environment before deployment to Mainnet.\" Testnet tokens usually come free from faucets and are meant to have no value. Testnets can also be retired or reset, while a mainnet is meant to run indefinitely.","url":"https://worldwiki.io/q/what-is-the-difference-between-mainnet-and-testnet"},{"slug":"what-does-mainnet-launch-mean-in-crypto","question":"What does mainnet launch mean in crypto?","intent":"informational","language":"en","short_answer":"A mainnet launch is when a blockchain project starts its production network. This usually means creating a genesis block, and from that point transactions carry real value. Some projects that first issued tokens on another chain, such as EOS with ERC-20 tokens on Ethereum, asked holders to swap or register before launch. A mainnet launch is a technical milestone. It does not show that a project is secure or financially sound.","url":"https://worldwiki.io/q/what-does-mainnet-launch-mean-in-crypto"},{"slug":"are-testnet-tokens-worth-real-money","question":"Are testnet tokens worth real money?","intent":"informational","language":"en","short_answer":"Testnet tokens are meant to have no real value. They are handed out free through faucets so developers can test without financial risk. Ethereum's documentation notes, though, that markets have formed for some testnet ETH that became scarce or hard to get. Testnets can also be deprecated or reset. Holešky, for example, was deprecated in September 2025. So testnet tokens should not be treated as a store of value.","url":"https://worldwiki.io/q/are-testnet-tokens-worth-real-money"},{"slug":"how-are-blockchain-mainnet-upgrades-done","question":"How are blockchain mainnet upgrades done?","intent":"informational","language":"en","short_answer":"Mainnet upgrades are coordinated. Developers specify the change, activate it on one or more testnets, and then schedule mainnet activation at a set block height or epoch. Node operators have to install compatible client software before that point. Ethereum's Pectra upgrade, for example, ran on the Sepolia, Holešky and Hoodi testnets before mainnet activation on 7 May 2025. Nodes that do not upgrade can end up on an incompatible fork.","url":"https://worldwiki.io/q/how-are-blockchain-mainnet-upgrades-done"},{"slug":"what-is-ethereum-mainnet-chain-id","question":"What is Ethereum mainnet chain ID?","intent":"informational","language":"en","short_answer":"Ethereum mainnet uses chain ID 1. Chain IDs were introduced by EIP-155, created on 14 October 2016. The proposal builds a chain identifier into transaction signatures, so a transaction signed for one network cannot be replayed on another, such as Ethereum Classic or a testnet. Older Ethereum testnets had their own IDs, for example 3 for Ropsten and 5 for Goerli.","url":"https://worldwiki.io/q/what-is-ethereum-mainnet-chain-id"}],"sources":[{"id":4,"title":"Ethereum networks","url":"https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/networks/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","publication_date":null,"accessed_at":"2026-11-11 18:00:00"},{"id":172,"title":"Networks","url":"https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/networks/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","publication_date":null,"accessed_at":"2026-11-09 18:01:23"},{"id":178,"title":"Genesis block","url":"https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Genesis_block","publisher":"Bitcoin Wiki","type":"official","publication_date":null,"accessed_at":"2026-11-10 18:00:04"},{"id":204,"title":"History of Ethereum: founder, launch and ownership","url":"https://ethereum.org/ethereum-history-founder-and-ownership/","publisher":"ethereum.org (Ethereum Foundation)","type":"official","publication_date":null,"accessed_at":"2026-11-10 18:00:55"},{"id":180,"title":"EIP-155: Simple replay attack protection","url":"https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-155","publisher":"Ethereum Improvement Proposals","type":"official","publication_date":"2016-10-14","accessed_at":"2026-11-10 18:00:03"},{"id":160,"title":"The Merge","url":"https://ethereum.org/roadmap/merge/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","publication_date":null,"accessed_at":"2026-11-09 18:01:21"},{"id":205,"title":"BIP 94: Testnet 4","url":"https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0094.mediawiki","publisher":"Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (bitcoin/bips)","type":"official","publication_date":"2024-05-27","accessed_at":"2026-11-10 18:01:03"},{"id":153,"title":"IR 8202, Blockchain Technology Overview","url":"https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/ir/8202/final","publisher":"National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)","type":"government","publication_date":null,"accessed_at":"2026-10-06 18:00:47"}],"providers":[],"published_at":"2026-09-14 12:40:21","updated_at":"2026-11-12 05:20:00","verified_at":null}