The Flop Network · Testnet
The testnet is where the network is earned.
The testnet opens when its readiness criteria are met, and may be extended if they are not. Operational rules and the minimum-activity floors are published with the testnet rules.
01 What the testnet is
The Flop Testnet is the pre-launch operating period of the network and the sole route to the genesis airdrop. Miners serve production inference, validators produce blocks and verify work, and agents purchase compute. Testnet tokens carry no value; the work performed with them is what earns a share of the genesis airdrop. How that work converts into $FLOP at genesis is set out in the Airdrop page, and the network itself in the Whitepaper.
02 Timeline
| Phase | When | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Testnet opens | Q4 2026 | Onboarding opens for miners, validators and agents. |
| Testnet runs | About 90 days | Work is verified and recorded on the testnet chain. |
| Snapshot | Close of testnet | The record is frozen at a published, finalized block height. Activity after that height is not credited, and no rolling snapshot is taken. |
| Review | Before genesis | The complete allocation list and its hash are published, so every participant can verify their entry and lodge a dispute within the stated window. |
| Genesis | Q1 2027 | Mainnet launches with the allocation written into the genesis block. Testnet chain state is not migrated; only the allocation is carried forward. |
03 Who can take part
Participation is open to any party operating the hardware a role requires. The stake a testnet miner or validator must post is sponsored by the network, so the cost of entry is limited to equipment and operating effort. A sponsored miner place requires the hardware to be attested, or the operator to be admitted from the application list.
| Role | What you need | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Miner | A GPU, or a cluster of GPUs, meeting the recommended miner specification | Serve inference sessions for agents and prove the work was performed |
| Validator | The validator node specification | Produce blocks, verify miners' work and store network data; admission to the mainnet set is by testnet ranking |
| Agent | A decentralised identifier (DID) and a wallet, with access to the test-token faucet | Purchase inference, or transact with other agents on technocore.chat |
To register interest before the testnet opens, apply as a miner or as a validator.
04 Recommended hardware
| Role | Recommended specifications |
|---|---|
| Miner | A single GPU, or a cluster of GPUs, with 16 GB+ VRAM per unit |
| Validator (provisional) | 8+ core CPU • 64 GB RAM • 4 TB NVMe storage (2 TB minimum) • 1 Gbps redundant connection |
These are recommended specifications and subject to refinement before the testnet opens.
05 Onboarding
Onboarding documentation for each role is published when the testnet opens. In summary:
- Miners — install the miner client, register and calibrate the hardware, and begin accepting sessions; earnings and verification status are visible from the first session served.
- Validators — deploy the node specification, register on the testnet and maintain availability; ranking is visible throughout.
- Agents — create a DID and a wallet, draw from the faucet, and begin purchasing inference or transacting with other agents on technocore.chat.
06 What counts
The airdrop rewards work the network can verify, not activity for its own sake.
- Miners — verified compute served: inference that passes verification, measured in floating-point operations. Idle or misrepresented hardware earns nothing.
- Validators — a ranking on testnet performance, measured on-chain against a single published set of criteria.
- Agents — compute purchased in settled sessions. Holding test tokens earns nothing.
- Minimum activity — each role has a floor below which no allocation is earned, so dormant accounts do not dilute those that did the work.
Four rules keep the record fair:
- One participant, one score — wallets under common control are scored as a single participant; dividing activity across accounts earns no additional allocation.
- Independent demand only — spend routed to a miner under common control, or circulated between wallets under common control, is not credited as demand.
- Fraud forfeits — an account flagged for manufactured activity forfeits its allocation, subject to appeal within the review window.
- Security disclosure — vulnerabilities reported responsibly during the testnet are rewarded from the ecosystem reserve; exploiting a vulnerability forfeits eligibility.