Sepolia is a proof-of-stake (PoS) testnet where dapp developers can test their smart contracts and decentralized applications. Unlike other testnets like Goerli, Sepolia's total number of testnet tokens is uncapped, which means it is less likely that developers using Sepolia will face testnet token scarcity like Goerli.

Another difference between Sepolia and other testnets like Goerli is that validators are public, meaning anyone can participate in validation by staking. Sepolia was also designed to simulate harsh network conditions, and has shorter block times, which enable faster transaction confirmation times and feedback for developers.

In this article we will explain what Sepolia is, Sepolia's network information, and how to get test Sepolia ETH tokens.

What is the Sepolia Testnet?

Sepolia was a PoW tesnet created in October 2021 by Ethereum core developers and maintained ever since. After the Ropsten testnet reached a Terminal Total Difficulty (TTD) of 50000000000000000 the Sepolia and the Goerli testnets transitioned from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism to mimic the Ethereum mainnet.

Testnets are blockchains designed to mimic the operating environment of a ‘mainnet’ but exist on a separate ledger. These testnets help developers test their applications and smart contracts in a risk-free way before deploying their products to Ethereum’s mainnet environment.

Over the long-term future the Ethereum team plans on only maintaining the Goerli testnet and maintaining the Sepolia testnet, who’s chain ID is 11155111.

Sepolia Network Information

If you are adding the Sepolia blockchain to your wallet, this is the network information to include:

• Network Name - Sepolia Test Netwok
• RPC URL - https://eth-sepolia.g.alchemy.com/v2/[YOUR-API-KEY]
• Chain ID - 11155111
• Currency Symbol - SepoliaETH
• Block Explorer URL - https://sepolia.etherscan.io/

How to get Sepolia testnet ETH?

Sepolia ETH can be obtained from a Sepolia testnet faucet, that allows anyone to send a small amount of fake Sepolia ETH to their wallet. Sepolia ETH is the currency used to pay to complete transactions on the Sepolia testnet, similar to how ETH is used to pay for computation on the Ethereum’s mainnet which is also a Proof-of-Work chain before the merge.

1. Head to Alchemy's free Sepolia Faucet
2. Sign in to your Alchemy account
3. Enter your wallet address or ENS name
4. Click "Send Me ETH"

A popup will display ‘Transaction sent’ with the amount of Sepolia ETH deposited to your wallet.

Next, you can check your Ethereum wallet to confirm you received the SepoliaETH.

With your Sepolia ETH, you can now begin running smart contracts on the Sepolia testnet.

To view the date and time, the transaction fee, the gas burnt, and other transaction details, you can look up your transaction hash on the Sepolia Etherscan.