Crypto Testnet vs Ambassador program. Iron Fish Testnet.

8 min readMay 30, 2022

The article uncovers the difference between testnet and ambassador programs. I will tell what is testnet, how various testnets differ between each other and what activities are prioritised. Furthermore, I will tell you about the Iron Fish Testnet and the differences between its first and second phases.

Hello! My name is Val, and you are reading my blog about blockchain startups, fundamental, crypto ambassador activities, testnets, ets. I am a crypto enthusiast from Ukraine. Please support me with follow, comment, and like.

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Introduction

Lately, I got into a discussion in one of the discord servers about differences between testnet and ambassador program. This is the reason I start thinking on writing this article and studying the differences, not just ones I see by myself.

To start with, I want to mention the following articles, I’ve written before:

I start my involvement into blockchain industry, after buying and trading my first crypto assets, as an ambassador. My knowledge and skills let me be useful both in content and technical side. Nevertheless, I was afraid of technical tasks. I thought I am not good enough for them (yes, I am working on my self-confidence). This is why I avoided testnets. But I was mistaken. You will understand this while reading an article.

What is testnet?

Testnet or testing network is a beta version of the future actual network. Yes, it is not a project support program, as we are addicted to understand the therm.

“In blockchain technology, a testnet is an instance of a blockchain powered by the same or a newer version of the underlying software, to be used for testing and experimentation without risk to real funds or the main chain.” (Source)

So, in simple words, it is a separate version of the network / project that is used to find all bugs possible, before it is officially launched and permission.

Why that I want to compare it with an ambassador program? When the testnet is launched, a team asks the community to try it out. The main purpose is to put the network into test by a lot of users at a time. This is not that easy without the community by the team’s side. Therefore, a special environment is often set where community testers can work and track the results.

Testnet primary activities

As in ambassador program, in testnet program there is a list of activities that should be fulfilled. For sure, they vary a lot depending on testnet goals and the network itself.

Foremost, testing means trying all functions of the system. You try them again and again in different ways, if possible. For example, claiming, staking or delegating, fulfilling transactions, etc. There are two reasons: manually find bugs or reproduce load of great amount of users at a time.

Another task can be setting up node. If you don’t get what that means, here you have some explanations:

“In a computer network, nodes can be physical networked devices, such as modems, PCs and printers. These devices recognize transmissions from other nodes and forward them to other nodes.” (Source)

The more nodes are in the system, the more decentralized it is. The “node” topic I will uncover later in the blog. Blockchain networks or projects should be tested in real decentralized environment, so nodes are a must.

One more possible task is mining. I’ve explained it here: Is mining still worth it? Iron Fish testnet. | by Val Savchuk | Medium

These were technical tasks. They are the base of testing network program, but there can be others. I am talking about informing the community, sharing information about the project, creating content, etc.

Testnet VS Ambassador program

Have you already understood the differences? If not, I want to summarize everything in this table:

I fill like ambassador program is usually much more competitive and not that easy to get accepted. On the other hand, testing network programs need more technical skills and understanding of bases.

Nevertheless, they are quite the same in a lot of things too: rewards, some tasks, competition, etc.

The only thing that really influences the differences is the goal. This is the main issue when comparing ambassador programs with testnets.

Iron Fish testnet

As you should understand the differences now, I want to have a dip dive into testing network program, taking Iron Fish Network as an example. However, if you know nothing on the project itself, you should read this article too: Iron fish — new chain, new coin. | by Val Savchuk | Medium

It is incentivized testnet program. The word “incentivized” means you will be rewarded in some financial way. Yes, not every testnet program is incentivized. For example, Iron Fish have reserved 420,000 Iron Fish tokens (1% of the initial supply) to reward first phase testnet contributors and participants. Moreover, category winner gets NFT!

How it works? Users register for the testnet program, fulfill tasks and send them for acceptance. Iron Fish testnet team are very strict to the quality of the work someone wants to submit. That is why tasks, that can’t be evaluated automatically, are reviewed manually. The point discretion is present here: the better work you do, the more points you get. The other issue, I’ve already mentioned above, is that the most important tasks for testnet goal are evaluated higher, even if they are easier to cope with. This is done to stimulate you to do them first.

To make it clear for users, Iron Fish testnet phase is divides into week cycles. That makes it much easier to track users contribution.

Right now, it is already a second phase of the testnet going on. To take part, register here: Iron Fish.

Iron Fish Testnet tasks

Yes, in this chapter I will tell you about Iron Fish testnet, but the main aim is to describe testnet task specifics in details. These are common to a lot of testnet programs.

First of all, I should mention, that not all the tasks are present in the 2nd phase of testnet!!! I will emphasize on the differences bellow.

I have already described you the mining task in this article: Is mining still worth it? Iron Fish testnet. | by Val Savchuk | Medium. It is one of the most popular in my blog, so it’s worth checking up!

However, I will say fer words about mining here. Mining is a process of new block of the chain creation. In fact, when mining Irom Fish you make $IRON enter into circulation among the testnet. Its main source — is computer counting abilities. The more blocks are mined via participant computer, the more points they get.

The Node is a part of the network computing system. To run the Iron Fish noda you should set it up and leave the process working for not less than 12 hours.

To send transactions in the network, the tokens are needed. The one way is to mine them, for example. If you have already the network tokens, you can fulfill any transaction needed. For example, Iron Fish ask you to sent tokens to Iron Bank transaction processing node. Every transaction will be rewarded.

The blockchain industry is mainly based on open source projects. That makes it easier to distribute knowledge all over the crypto world. And, on the other hand, community can contribute into code itself. Iron Fish asks everyone who can help, to find bugs. Yes, this can be bugs in code, or mistakes in system functioning. Information about bugs can be submitted via the form and rated manually.

Submitting pull requests I find the most interesting task among others. The Iron Fish asks you to contribute into the system via your own code. Literally, developers can gain points by adding their code into general Iron Fish code base.

Community contributions category is similar to content creation and sharing it all over the web. This can be articles, videos, twitter threads, memes, etc. As in practically any testnet, they are not that high evaluated. Nevertheless, to get points, you should work really hard. Tasks are reviewed manually and cheater can be banned. The other thing that should be understood: it often takes a long time to get the task being reviewed.

Promotions are all about telling the world that this project is great and why. Also, reviewed manually.

Here you can get all the answers and instructions about Iron Fish testnet activities: Iron Fish | FAQ

First Vs Second phase

But some of these tasks are not relevant for today. The second phase has brought new tasks and new rewards to the community. Take a look at the differences:

The first phase has enormously expanded the community of Iron Fish network. More than 10 thousand participants took part in the testnet itself. It looks to me as the main difference is the goal: the first phase was aimed, among others, to promote the network and make as big community as ever possible; the second phase is more technical and aimed to make the network perfect.

As you can assume, there are no non-technical tasks in the second phase. But they have just prepared a new space for them. Informational and promotional content is the way to get into the ambassador program.

Conclusion

In comparison to ambassador programs, testing network program is more suitable for crypto-enthusiasts with technical skills. The main difference is its aim. Testing network program is organized to find all bugs in the system and show how good it is to the future users and partners.

Iron Fish has organized one of the most popular testnet in the industry. And a great start, if you are new to testnets. Even participants with little technical resources can be rewarded.

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