Guides / Glossary
Glossary
Plain-English definitions for the terms that show up across the guides. New to a word? Look it up here, then follow the link to learn more.
Testnet terms, A to Z
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Address | Where coins are sent. Testnet addresses use different prefixes from mainnet, so you cannot mix them up. See the coin guides. |
| Address poisoning | A scam where someone sends a tiny amount from a look-alike address so it lands in your history, hoping you reuse it by mistake. Verify the full address. See staying safe. |
| Atomic swap | A trade of one coin for another across two chains, with no custodian. It either completes fully or refunds both sides. See how swaps work. |
| Backup | A copy of your seed phrase kept offline, so you can restore a wallet if a device is lost. See keys, seeds, and backups. |
| Block | A batch of transactions added to the chain. Its depth in the chain is what gives you confirmations. |
| Block explorer | A search engine for a blockchain. Paste an address, transaction, or block to see what the network recorded. See reading the chain. |
| Broadcast | Sending a signed transaction out to the network so miners can include it. See broadcasting a raw transaction. |
| Coinbase maturity | The rule that a freshly mined block reward cannot be spent until 100 more blocks are mined on top of it. See Bitcoin regtest. |
| Confirmation | A block mined on top of your transaction. More confirmations mean it is harder to reverse. See how confirmations work. |
| CPFP | Child Pays For Parent. Spending a stuck transaction's output with a new high-fee child so miners take both. See stuck transactions. |
| Derivation path | The map (like m/84'/1'/0') that tells an HD wallet which key to derive from the seed. The 1' slot means testnet. See keys and seeds. |
| Dust | A UTXO so small that spending it would cost more in fees than it is worth. |
| Faucet | A service that gives away free testnet coins so you have something to experiment with. See getting coins. |
| Fee rate | The fee per unit of transaction size (sat/vB on Bitcoin and Litecoin). Miners pick the highest rates first. See how fees work. |
| HD wallet | Hierarchical deterministic wallet. One seed phrase generates an endless tree of keys and addresses. See keys and seeds. |
| HTLC | Hash Time-Locked Contract. The mechanism behind Bitcoin and Litecoin atomic swaps: coins locked behind a secret, with a refund deadline. |
| Mainnet | The real network, where coins have actual value. Testnets are separate practice copies. See what a testnet is. |
| Mempool | The waiting area of broadcast but unconfirmed transactions. Miners choose from it by fee rate. |
| Mining | Creating new blocks (and coins) by solving a proof-of-work puzzle. See mining testnet coins. |
| MWEB | MimbleWimble Extension Blocks. Litecoin's optional confidential transactions, where amounts are hidden. See the Litecoin guide. |
| Node | Software that validates the chain and can broadcast transactions. See running a node. |
| OP_RETURN | A transaction output that carries up to about 80 bytes of arbitrary data and is provably unspendable, used to write a short message or proof onto the chain. See broadcasting a raw transaction. |
| Peg-in / peg-out | Moving Litecoin into the MWEB extension block (peg-in) or back out to the transparent chain (peg-out). See the Litecoin guide. |
| Phishing | Tricking you into revealing a seed phrase or key, often through a fake wallet or faucet site. A real service never needs your seed. See staying safe. |
| Private key | The secret number that controls coins. Whoever knows it can spend, so never share it or reuse a real one on testnet. See keys and seeds. |
| Proof of work | The puzzle miners race to solve to add a block. It secures the network and issues new coins. See mining. |
| Public key | Derived from the private key, one way only. Your address comes from it, and it is safe to share. See keys and seeds. |
| RBF | Replace-By-Fee. Rebroadcasting a stuck transaction as a higher-fee replacement. See stuck transactions. |
| Regtest | A private local chain where you mine blocks on demand and confirmations are instant, ideal for automated tests. See Bitcoin regtest. |
| Reorg | A short reorganization of recent blocks. It is why shallow confirmations are less safe. See confirmations. |
| Ring signature | Monero's way of hiding the sender by mixing the real input with decoys. See the Monero guide. |
| RPC | Remote Procedure Call. The interface for driving a node with commands. Keep it private. See RPC safety. |
| Seed phrase | A list of words (a BIP39 mnemonic, usually 12 or 24) that backs up an entire wallet. Anyone with it controls the coins. See keys and seeds. |
| SegWit | Segregated Witness, the common modern address format. Native SegWit addresses start with bc1q (or tb1q on testnet) and cost less in fees. See keys and seeds. |
| Signet | A Bitcoin testnet whose blocks are signed by a coordinator, so it is calm and predictable. See the Bitcoin guide. |
| Stagenet | Monero's network that mimics mainnet closely, best for integration testing. See the Monero guide. |
| Stealth address | Monero's one-time address for each payment, so the recipient is not linkable on-chain. See the Monero guide. |
| Taproot | The newest Bitcoin address type, starting with bc1p (or tb1p on testnet), giving better privacy and richer spending conditions. See keys and seeds. |
| Testnet | A practice network with worthless coins but real protocols. See what a testnet is. |
| UTXO | Unspent Transaction Output. The distinct "coins" a Bitcoin or Litecoin balance is made of. See understanding UTXOs. |
| View key | A Monero key you can share to let someone see incoming funds without being able to spend them. See the Monero guide. |
| WIF | Wallet Import Format, a compact text encoding of a single private key. Testnet WIFs differ from mainnet ones. See keys and seeds. |