Cointelegraph
English
News
Indices
In Depth
Learn
Newsletters
Crypto Bonus
Research
Podcasts
About

Mainnet News

Mainnet is the final or public version of a blockchain with its own protocols and crypto tokens. The company develops its own blockchain to run in accordance with its vision and to house the network’s native token. Before these activities are carried out on the mainnet, the plans are first tested on the testnet. The testnet is a trial version of the final platform or mainnet, which is not publicly available and is for testing purposes only. A mainnet, however, can be altered anytime projects or open-source organizations decide that the product needs upgrades and changes, just like a testnet.

Transactions that users send and receive are recorded on a distributed ledger and are executed with their new cryptocurrency on the mainnet. When the mainnet goes live, a mainnet swap is executed. The testnet tokens are swapped for the new cryptocurrency, which are ready to be traded after the token migration takes place. In addition to the token relocation from the testnet to the mainnet, it is also possible that the tokens come from other blockchains and arrive at the native mainnet via this route. When the tokens come from another blockchain, they are migrated by the developer team.

Mainnet development is often a major milestone for projects, as they not only launch a working product but also become responsible for their own ecosystem and aim to build up the network effect. A crypto project with its own mainnet can influence the speed and rules of the blockchain. Platforms that do not have their own mainnet but use the mainnet of, for example, Ethereum or another blockchain, can have a lot less influence.