Complete Guide: Practical Ways to Obtain Test Network Tokens

During blockchain development, test network tokens are essential resources. Whether you’re debugging smart contracts or testing cross-chain interactions, having sufficient token reserves on various testnets can greatly improve work efficiency. Below is a detailed acquisition plan.

Core Approach to Obtaining Test Tokens

First, acquire ETH on the Sepolia testnet as the basic asset, which is the most cost-effective starting point. Then, use cross-chain bridging tools to distribute tokens from Sepolia to other test networks. This method avoids repetitive operations and ensures process efficiency.

Initial Steps: Starting from Sepolia

Phase One: Accumulate a small amount of ETH on the Sepolia testnet. Due to its fast block times, Sepolia has become the mainstream choice.

Phase Two: Use official cross-chain bridging services (such as ARB Bridge, OP cross-chain solutions, etc.) to distribute ETH from Sepolia to other test environments. One operation can cover multiple chains.

Supported Test Networks List

Layer 1 and Bitcoin Ecosystem

• Bitcoin Fractal Bitcoin Testnet (approx. 0.1 tFB per allocation)
• Ethereum Goerli (uses rapid mining, can purchase directly if faucet runs dry)

Layer 2 Scaling Solutions

• Arbitrum Sepolia (obtained via Sepolia cross-chain bridge)
• Optimism Sepolia (supports rapid mining)
• zkSync Testnet
• Base/Mode Testnet (both support rapid mining)

Other Mainstream Public Chain Testnets

• Polygon Mumbai
• Solana DevNet and Testnet
• Fantom Testnet
• Avalanche Fuji
• StarkNet Testnet
• Gnosis xDai

Goerli Faucet Alternatives

While Ethereum Goerli was widely used in early stages, Sepolia is now the recommended first choice. If you still need to use a Goerli faucet to obtain Goerli test tokens, most official faucets remain operational, but processing speed may slow down.

Efficient Cross-Chain Strategy

For projects that need to test on multiple chains simultaneously, it is recommended to first gather sufficient ETH on Sepolia, then use multiple cross-chain bridging tools to distribute tokens to each test chain in one go. This not only saves time but also reduces operational complexity.

Suggestions and Reminders

Save this comprehensive list of test network faucets locally for quick reference during subsequent project development. Especially for developers frequently switching between different chains for testing, this resource list can be an important part of an efficient workflow.