Crypto glossary
Mainnet
A mainnet is the live, production version of a blockchain, where transactions are final and tokens carry real economic value, unlike a test network.
A mainnet is the public network on which a blockchain actually runs: nodes process real transactions, validators or miners earn real rewards and the native token has a market price. It is the counterpart of a testnet, where the same software runs with free tokens so developers can experiment without risk.
In news, "mainnet launch" marks the moment a project moves from testing to production. Many tokens first circulate as ERC-20 tokens on Ethereum and are later swapped for native coins once the project's own mainnet goes live. Ethereum's mainnet started in July 2015; large upgrades are rehearsed on testnets before they reach it.
A mainnet launch is a technical milestone, not proof of adoption or security. Early mainnets are often labeled beta, may depend on a small validator set and can suffer outages or emergency patches, so bugs at this stage cost real money.
Example
A team that has spent a year on testnet announces its mainnet launch; from that block on, sending 100 of its tokens costs a real fee and cannot be undone.
Related terms
Latest articles on Mainnet
- Stacks Labs Completes First Post-Quantum sBTC Transfer on Mainnet
- Curve Finance Expands StableSwap AMM Technology To Stellar Mainnet Ecosystem
- Midnight Crosses 1 Million Mainnet Transactions as Daily Activity Rises
- ENS Officially Launches Upgraded Protocol ENSv2 On Ethereum Mainnet Network
- ARK’s Q3 DeFi Rebound Rides Incentives as Ethereum Mainnet Loses Ground
