Bad actors and ‘block storms’ – Bitcoin dev asks to restart testnet

Bitcoin's most popular testnet is in dire need of “block storms” and projects that can charge users for testnet Bitcoin (TBTC), said James Lopp, founder of Bitcoin watchdog Kasa.

In a May 4 post titled “Bitcoin Testnet Lamenting”, Loup argued that the Bitcoin testnet – TBTC – should be restarted in part due to the ongoing “storm”, which is a special consensus mechanism on the testnet.

While Bitcoin's mainnet produces an average of 144 blocks per day, the testnet — which is subject to “slightly different communication rules” — rarely produces more than 10,000 blocks in a single day.

Loup explained that with these “block storms” the network is currently at 2,811,000 block height, which is equivalent to where the Bitcoin mainnet will be in 2061.

LOOP Due to the massive increase in Testnet's block height, the reward for Testnet's miners has been reduced to zero, making the network useless to developers looking for new tokens.

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In addition, Loop said that the now-minority of Testnet's bitcoins is being pooled by certain projects that want to take advantage of the token's scarcity.

“It's not uncommon for malicious people to prey on people's stupidity and sell them at the premium price of bitcoin,” he said.

He recently pointed to the example of a Bitcoin-based Layer-2 network called SatoshiVM, which has been distributing airdrops to its holders using TBCC.

He called several projects, including a DEX called MotoSwap and a brokerage firm called Buy Tesnet, to sell Tesnet tokens to users.

“The only reason I'm advocating for a testnet reboot is because testnet is supposed to be free for developers to use. Other than that, anyone should be free to use the testnet for any development purpose.

“It is important that every wallet that supports Testnet makes a strong statement on the main screen that Testnet coins are worthless!” Added a loop.

Finally, Loop concluded that the only way to ensure that the testnet does not increase in value is to “develop a culture of regular resets” and advised Bitcoin developers and users to migrate their infrastructure to “testnet4” in the coming months.

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