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Chainstack serves three Bitcoin test networks on Global Nodes: Testnet (testnet3), Signet Testnet, and Testnet4. Use Signet Testnet or Testnet4 for new work. Bitcoin Core marks testnet3 as deprecated, and Testnet4 replaces it with consensus rules that stop CPU miners from flooding the chain with blocks. Every Bitcoin network on Chainstack, including the testnets, runs Bitcoin Core non-pruned with txindex enabled and serves the same JSON-RPC methods. See Bitcoin methods for availability and Bitcoin tooling for connection examples.

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Which Bitcoin testnet to use

Testnet4 is the general-purpose public testnet that replaces Testnet (testnet3). Signet Testnet is the testnet that unauthorized miners cannot flood with blocks, because every block needs a signature from the signing keys.

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Network parameters

The chain value and the genesis block hash identify each network. The Bitcoin Core options and default ports apply when you run your own Bitcoin Core next to your Chainstack node, for example for a local wallet. A Chainstack endpoint is HTTPS on port 443 for every network.
bitcoin-cli connects over plain HTTP only. Bitcoin Core removed RPC TLS support in version 0.12, so bitcoin-cli cannot call a Chainstack HTTPS endpoint. Use curl or an HTTP client library, as shown in Bitcoin tooling.

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Why an address does not identify its testnet

Testnet (testnet3), Signet Testnet, and Testnet4 use the same address and key encodings, so the same address string is valid on all three networks, with a separate balance on each chain. To confirm which network an endpoint serves, read chain from getblockchaininfo when your application starts:
A Signet Testnet endpoint returns "chain": "signet", and a Testnet4 endpoint returns "chain": "testnet4". Bitcoin libraries follow the same encodings. In bitcoinjs-lib, networks.testnet produces addresses for all three testnets. In python-bitcoinlib, SelectParams("testnet") does the same. Neither library has a separate Testnet4 setting.

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Fee estimation on Testnet4

Testnet4 blocks often carry only the coinbase transaction, so estimatesmartfee often lacks data for short confirmation targets and returns "errors": ["Insufficient data or no feerate found"] instead of a feerate. Longer targets, such as 144 or 1008 blocks, usually return a fee rate. When estimatesmartfee returns no estimate, fall back to mempoolminfee from getmempoolinfo, the lowest fee rate the node accepts into its mempool. Signet Testnet blocks carry regular traffic, and estimatesmartfee returns a fee rate for short targets there.

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Move from Testnet (testnet3) to Testnet4

Testnet4 keeps the consensus rules of Testnet (testnet3) and adds the BIP94 rules, so an application that reads and writes through a node’s JSON-RPC API needs only the Testnet4 network parameters. Software that validates blocks itself must also enforce the BIP94 rules, or it can follow a chain that Testnet4 nodes reject. To move an integration:
  1. Deploy a Bitcoin Testnet4 Global Node on Chainstack and replace your Testnet (testnet3) endpoint with it.
  2. Check that chain is testnet4 when your application starts.
  3. Fund new Testnet4 addresses. Testnet (testnet3) coins do not exist on Testnet4, so every balance starts at zero.
  4. Keep your address and key handling. The encodings are the same, so library network settings and the testnet derivation coin type 1 don’t change.
  5. Discard stored Testnet (testnet3) block heights, block hashes, and transaction IDs. None of them exist on Testnet4, and its chain is far shorter.
  6. Add a fee fallback for short confirmation targets. See Fee estimation on Testnet4.
  7. If you run your own Bitcoin Core as well, upgrade it to version 28.0 or later, replace -testnet with -testnet4, and move testnet settings from the [test] config section to [testnet4].

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Testnet faucets and explorers

mempool.space runs block explorers for Testnet (testnet3), Signet Testnet, and Testnet4, with the links in Network parameters. Signet Testnet and Testnet4 coins come from community-run faucets. For current faucets, see the Bitcoin Wiki Signet page for Signet Testnet and the testnet4.dev list for Testnet4. Signet Testnet blocks need a signature from the signing keys, so faucets are the practical way to get Signet Testnet coins.

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FAQ

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Is Testnet (testnet3) going away?

Bitcoin Core marks testnet3 as deprecated and states that support “will be removed in an upcoming release”. As of Bitcoin Core 31.1, no release has removed it and no removal version is set. Chainstack serves Testnet (testnet3) on Global Nodes.

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Do Signet Testnet and Testnet4 support the same methods as Bitcoin Mainnet?

Yes. The Bitcoin JSON-RPC methods available on Chainstack are the same on Mainnet, Testnet (testnet3), Signet Testnet, and Testnet4. See Bitcoin methods.

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Can I reuse a Testnet (testnet3) address on Testnet4?

The address string is valid on Testnet4, because the encodings are the same, but its Testnet (testnet3) balance does not carry over. Fund the address on Testnet4 before you spend from it.

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Is historical data available on the testnets?

Yes. Chainstack Bitcoin testnet nodes keep every block from genesis and have txindex enabled, so getrawtransaction returns any transaction by its ID except the genesis block coinbase, which Bitcoin Core does not treat as an ordinary transaction. Read the genesis coinbase with getblock at verbosity 2. Historical address queries need an address indexer such as electrs. See Bitcoin methods.

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Does Chainstack offer regtest?

No. Regtest is a private network that you run locally with bitcoind -regtest. It has no shared chain to connect to.
Last modified on October 5, 2026