Public networks: Networks accessible to everyone with an internet connection, and a duplicate of the main network allows users to create and validate transactions.
Mainnet: The main network where transactions of actual value are carried out.
Testnets: Networks used by developers to test things like smart contracts before deploying them in the actual mainnet.
These testnets, specifically on Ethereum, use either proof-of-authority mechanisms or proof-of-stake. Proof-of-authority is a consensus mechanism that gives the ability to validate transactions to a select few. Proof-of-Stake is another consensus mechanism where users stake their crypto as collateral to then have a chance to be chosen to create the next block. Usually, crypto on testnets has no actual value, but due to the scarcity of certain types of testnet cryptos, they may hold some value.
There are many testnets for many different cryptocurrencies. For this next part, the testnets described will be for Ethereum specifically.
There are two main Ethereum testnets: Sepolia and Goerli
Sepolia: This testnet is recommended by Ethereum for application development. This is more useful for using a node to interact with the network.
Goerli (Will be replaced by Holesvoice): This testnet,on the other hand, is more for validating and staking and is focused more on users wishing to try out being validators.
The difference between the two is that Sepolia uses proof of authority, whereas Goerli uses proof of stake. Additionally, Sepolia is more for short-term applications and requires less storage, but Goerli is the opposite, being used for longer-term applications and requiring more storage.
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