Bitcoin developer urges for testnet reboot due to bad actors and ‘block storms’

Bitcoin’s most popular testnet, TBTC, is in desperate need of a reset due to “block storms” and the exploitation of testnet Bitcoin by certain projects, according to Jameson Lopp, co-founder of Bitcoin custody firm Casa. In an essay titled “Griefing Bitcoin’s Testnet,” Lopp explained that the testnet’s unique consensus mechanism occasionally produces over 10,000 blocks in a single day, compared to the Bitcoin mainnet’s average of 144 blocks per day. As a result, the testnet’s block height has reached a level that the Bitcoin mainnet would not reach until 2061. Lopp also highlighted the issue of projects using the scarce testnet Bitcoin to create artificial value for their own purposes, including a layer-2 network called SatoshiVM. Lopp suggested that regular resets are necessary to prevent testnets from accruing value and recommended migrating infrastructure to “testnet4” in the future.