{"id":733,"slug":"are-testnet-tokens-worth-real-money","question":"Are testnet tokens worth real money?","intent":"informational","language":"en","url":"https://worldwiki.io/q/are-testnet-tokens-worth-real-money","entity":{"slug":"blockchain-mainnet","name":"Blockchain Mainnet","url":"https://worldwiki.io/entity/blockchain-mainnet"},"answer":{"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.","detailed_answer":"<p>Ethereum's Ephemery testnet resets fully about every 28 days <span class=\"ref\">[2]</span>, and the Holešky testnet was shut down after the Fusaka upgrade finalized on it <span class=\"ref\">[5]</span>.</p>","format":"paragraph","confidence":75,"verified_at":"2026-09-18 07:10:23","updated_at":"2026-09-18 16:10:23"},"sources":[{"id":171,"title":"Blockchain Technology Overview (NISTIR 8202)","url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/1906.11078","publisher":"National Institute of Standards and Technology (via arXiv)","type":"academic","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:27"},{"id":172,"title":"Networks","url":"https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/networks/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:28"},{"id":173,"title":"Holesky and Hoodi Testnet Updates","url":"https://blog.ethereum.org/2025/03/18/hoodi-holesky","publisher":"Ethereum Foundation Blog","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:28"},{"id":174,"title":"Pectra Mainnet Announcement","url":"https://blog.ethereum.org/2025/04/23/pectra-mainnet","publisher":"Ethereum Foundation Blog","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:29"},{"id":175,"title":"Holešky Testnet Shutdown Announcement","url":"https://blog.ethereum.org/2025/09/01/holesky-shutdown-announcement","publisher":"Ethereum Foundation Blog","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:29"},{"id":176,"title":"Solana Clusters","url":"https://solana.com/docs/references/clusters","publisher":"Solana Foundation","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:30"},{"id":177,"title":"Using a test network","url":"https://bitcoincore.academy/testnets.html","publisher":"Bitcoin Core Onboarding","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:30"},{"id":178,"title":"Genesis block","url":"https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Genesis_block","publisher":"Bitcoin Wiki","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:31"},{"id":179,"title":"Ethereum Launches Long-Awaited Decentralized App Network","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2015/07/30/ethereum-launches-long-awaited-decentralized-app-network","publisher":"CoinDesk","type":"news","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:33"},{"id":180,"title":"EIP-155: Simple replay attack protection","url":"https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-155","publisher":"Ethereum Improvement Proposals","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:33"},{"id":160,"title":"The Merge","url":"https://ethereum.org/roadmap/merge/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:18"},{"id":181,"title":"Taproot","url":"https://bitcoinops.org/en/topics/taproot/","publisher":"Bitcoin Optech","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:33"}],"published_at":"2026-09-18 07:10:23"}