[feat] Testnet

[kn0wmad]

Advanced/dev config option to use testnet Bitcoin instead of main. This may be best suited for after the ability to run multiple of one service has been added at the OS level. Could be a hidden option, need concept ACK

[cryptoquick]

This would also be a good use for old Embassy nodes as people upgrade to the One or Pro if people don't want to sell their old hardware. At DIBA, we expect to maintain testnet support for BitMask, and we'd like to support running a BitMask web wallet on the node itself.

[kn0wmad]

Would an MVP be to support connection back to Embassy from the web wallet? Any blockers?

[cryptoquick]

Well, the web wallet only works on testnet for now, which is the only major blocker that comes to mind. Oh, and it needs an Esplora index instead, not an Electrs instance, because Electrs doesn't have an HTTP / REST interface. Esplora's really lame tho, so I honestly would rather just add a decent HTTP interface to it, than have you guys support Esplora.

[kn0wmad]

Esplora is unfortunately a low priority, but it's always worth mentioning to Blockstream that you would like to see it

[cryptoquick]

@kn0wmad That's really understandable and I actually don't think supporting it is a good idea anyway because it's so unoptimized and resource intensive. As I said, I'll put some time into building an Esplora-compatible HTTP interface for Electrs.

[kn0wmad]

Esplora may be desired on the Pro, for those wanting advanced Bitcoin stacks / capabilities, but it is unlikely Start9 will get to it in a timely fashion. That said, we do have a growing community and we're even starting to see devs take up bounties to package services :)

The sky's the limit!

[chrisguida]

Pretty sure Esplora takes several TB of disk space

[kn0wmad]

Yeah, it's a beast. Enterprise-grade

[cryptoquick]

It's not as bad on testnet at least. Almost 60GB. Of course, electrs proper would be about two orders of magnitude smaller.

[kn0wmad]

Note: testnet, regtest, signet

[kaloudis]

+1

Was disappointed to spin up an Embassy and not see this option

[kn0wmad]

+1

Was disappointed to spin up an Embassy and not see this option

StartOS is made to be plug-n-play for a non-techie and does not currently target dev features. We will eventually get this added, but it is a low priority. We are happy to accept PRs

[jpl-btc]

The inclusion of a testnet is crucial to avoid requiring new users to invest real money upfront for experimentation. The absence of testnet support creates a significant entry barrier, as users are compelled to expose themselves to the risk of identifying their funds if not properly anonymized. Additionally, it necessitates placing their capital in a hot wallet and in an environment they have not tested before. Failing to incorporate testnet support imposes numerous demands on new users.

[danielcharrua]

Hey @dr-bonez, any update on working with testnet instead of mainnnet?

[Dominion5254]

As @kn0wmad alluded, testnet is generally leveraged by devs testing new/experimental tools/features whereas StartOS and related packages are geared towards standard non-technical use cases.

Furthermore, Bitcoin Core running on mainnet opposed to testnet does not necessitate placing capital in a hot wallet. Users of bitcoind-startos can use a hardware wallet while leveraging bitcoind-startos as their backend i.e. Trezor > Sparrow > Bitcoin Core.

We will keep this issue open for now and it will almost certainly be added eventually, but this is not a priority at this time.

[danielcharrua]

@Dominion5254 I totally understand that is not a priority, that's ok. But would be nice for us that teach other people how to use nodes and test products on testnet to have this feature. Hope someone can help here on this issue and bring testnet to Start9 as other node software have.
Thank you!