No Premine in Testnet 5? What's the Deal

So it looks like no premine for the new Testnet 5... or at least that’s the word as of today.

Right, I mean check out this proposed premine block over the current Genesis Block. It could look a bit different in practice, but it seems like some address will hold a huge amount in a single UTXO. It's still a work in progress, but you can keep an eye on how the code develops.

But who’s gonna hold that address? Feels like there’s a small group creating something that resembles Bitcoin out of thin air. Like, are they just gonna hand it out through faucets or sell it? Seems sketchy, right? I’m curious to see how this code evolves, though.

The developer who writes the code will hold it. You can see which repo has the source code, so it’s not completely hidden. Anyone can fork it, change that address, and launch their testnet without waiting on anyone else. This is a P2P space. There's no single authority deciding what's better.

Glad to hear I wasn’t totally lost on this the other day. But let’s be real here, your thinking is kinda off: value is subjective, and if my team stays alive, Testnet 5 will focus on POW and be permissionless. I’ve been at this for ages, just trying to keep things open.

Check out this IRC chat I found, it’s pretty relevant.

Not to burst your bubble, but Testnet exists mainly for developers to test their software. It’s not designed to be a currency or anything. If it doesn’t work for testing, it’ll just be replaced. Think of it like a tool that needs to be functional.

Man, that sounds a bit too opinionated for my taste. You’ve got the tech down but your views might be a bit off. And who are you to critique how I test things? Companies don’t need your blessing to run tests, right?

If someone sells, there are buyers and sellers. If the premine creator sells the coins, it only shifts ownership. Just look at what happened with some altcoins that did premine.

Totally agree. I think I’ve put in some work here. Should’ve played with the AI stuff... people want something new to listen to, right?

So let me get this straight, we’re making another testnet because testnet4 is being traded for real coins?

Yep, that’s the gist of it. They initially thought of hard-forking the existing testnet4, but with trading happening, starting fresh could simplify things. Testnet 5 might even have premined coins that could be sold too.

Nah, not really. The guy above is just speculating. Things could change in unexpected ways.

The reason for Testnet 5 isn’t just trading; it’s because the current coin just isn’t working well for most users. Lopp hasn’t called out this attack yet, but I’m waiting for that blog post.

Testnet 5 is not gonna have premine. It’ll function like Bitcoin with a solid mining setup and no weird difficulty resets. I’m really glad to see it heading this way.