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      <h1><span class="grad">Guides</span></h1>
      <p class="lede">Practical, beginner-first tutorials for the Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Monero testnets. Start at the top and work your way down, since each guide links to the next.</p>
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="guide-group">
    <h2 class="section-title">The learning path</h2>
    <p class="section-sub">New here? Follow these in order. Each one builds on the last, and the whole path takes about an hour.</p>
    <div class="steps">
      <div class="step"><span class="n"></span><div><h3><a href="/testnets">What is a testnet?</a></h3><p>The big idea: practice networks with worthless coins and real protocols. About 2 minutes.</p></div></div>
      <div class="step"><span class="n"></span><div><h3><a href="/first-transaction">Your first testnet transaction</a></h3><p>Make a wallet, get coins, send, and watch it confirm. Hands-on, about 15 minutes.</p></div></div>
      <div class="step"><span class="n"></span><div><h3><a href="/keys-and-seeds">Keys, seeds, and backups</a></h3><p>What a key and a seed really are, and how to back one up. About 5 minutes.</p></div></div>
      <div class="step"><span class="n"></span><div><h3><a href="/confirmations">How confirmations work</a></h3><p>Why "wait for confirmations" is the golden rule of getting paid. About 4 minutes.</p></div></div>
      <div class="step"><span class="n"></span><div><h3><a href="/fees">How fees work</a></h3><p>Fee rates, the mempool, and why some transactions wait. About 4 minutes.</p></div></div>
      <div class="step"><span class="n"></span><div><h3><a href="/utxos">Understanding UTXOs</a></h3><p>The coins-and-change model behind Bitcoin and Litecoin. About 5 minutes.</p></div></div>
      <div class="step"><span class="n"></span><div><h3><a href="/scams">Scams and staying safe</a></h3><p>Spot the common scams and build habits that protect real money. About 5 minutes.</p></div></div>
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="guide-group">
    <h2 class="section-title">Start here</h2>
    <div class="guide-grid">
      <a class="guide-card" href="/testnets"><span class="gc-badge">Start</span><p class="gc-t">What is a testnet?</p><p class="gc-d">Practice networks with worthless coins and real protocols (the big idea).</p></a>
      <a class="guide-card" href="/first-transaction"><span class="gc-badge">Start</span><p class="gc-t">Your first transaction</p><p class="gc-d">Make a wallet, get coins, send, and watch it confirm in about 15 minutes.</p></a>
      <a class="guide-card" href="/bitcoin"><span class="gc-badge">Start</span><p class="gc-t">Bitcoin testnet guide</p><p class="gc-d">testnet3, testnet4, and signet: which to use and how to get tBTC.</p></a>
      <a class="guide-card" href="/litecoin"><span class="gc-badge">Start</span><p class="gc-t">Litecoin testnet guide (MWEB)</p><p class="gc-d">Faster blocks plus confidential MWEB peg-ins and peg-outs.</p></a>
      <a class="guide-card" href="/monero"><span class="gc-badge">Start</span><p class="gc-t">Monero testnet &amp; stagenet</p><p class="gc-d">The difference that matters, and how privacy changes what you can see.</p></a>
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="guide-group">
    <h2 class="section-title">Quick reference</h2>
    <div class="guide-grid">
      <a class="guide-card" href="/faq"><span class="gc-badge">Reference</span><p class="gc-t">FAQ</p><p class="gc-d">Short answers to the questions beginners ask first.</p></a>
      <a class="guide-card" href="/glossary"><span class="gc-badge">Reference</span><p class="gc-t">Glossary</p><p class="gc-d">Plain-English definitions of every term used in the guides.</p></a>
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="guide-group">
    <h2 class="section-title">Using the tools</h2>
    <div class="guide-grid">
      <a class="guide-card" href="/wallet"><span class="gc-badge">Tool</span><p class="gc-t">Use TestnetWallet</p><p class="gc-d">Create a wallet, receive, and send, all inside your browser.</p></a>
      <a class="guide-card" href="/faucet"><span class="gc-badge">Tool</span><p class="gc-t">Get coins from CypherFaucet</p><p class="gc-d">Claim free test coins for all three chains, step by step.</p></a>
      <a class="guide-card" href="/mining"><span class="gc-badge">Tool</span><p class="gc-t">Mine with TestnetPool</p><p class="gc-d">Learn proof of work and pools by mining test coins.</p></a>
      <a class="guide-card" href="/explorer"><span class="gc-badge">Tool</span><p class="gc-t">Read TestnetScan</p><p class="gc-d">Look up blocks, transactions, addresses, and MWEB activity.</p></a>
      <a class="guide-card" href="/swaps"><span class="gc-badge">Tool</span><p class="gc-t">Swap with TestnetSwap</p><p class="gc-d">Trade coins across chains with non-custodial atomic swaps.</p></a>
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="guide-group">
    <h2 class="section-title">Core concepts</h2>
    <div class="guide-grid">
      <a class="guide-card" href="/keys-and-seeds"><span class="gc-badge">Concept</span><p class="gc-t">Keys, seeds, and backups</p><p class="gc-d">What a key and a seed really are, and how to back one up safely.</p></a>
      <a class="guide-card" href="/confirmations"><span class="gc-badge">Concept</span><p class="gc-t">How confirmations work</p><p class="gc-d">What a confirmation is, and how many to wait for.</p></a>
      <a class="guide-card" href="/fees"><span class="gc-badge">Concept</span><p class="gc-t">How fees work</p><p class="gc-d">Fee rates, the mempool, and why some transactions wait.</p></a>
      <a class="guide-card" href="/utxos"><span class="gc-badge">Concept</span><p class="gc-t">Understanding UTXOs</p><p class="gc-d">The coins-and-change model behind Bitcoin and Litecoin.</p></a>
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="guide-group">
    <h2 class="section-title">Go deeper (developers)</h2>
    <div class="guide-grid">
      <a class="guide-card" href="/broadcast-raw-tx"><span class="gc-badge">Dev</span><p class="gc-t">Broadcast a raw transaction</p><p class="gc-d">What raw hex is and three ways to push it to the network.</p></a>
      <a class="guide-card" href="/run-node"><span class="gc-badge">Dev</span><p class="gc-t">Run a Litecoin testnet node</p><p class="gc-d">Sync your own node and drive it over RPC.</p></a>
      <a class="guide-card" href="/rpc-safety"><span class="gc-badge">Dev</span><p class="gc-t">Use node RPC safely</p><p class="gc-d">Cookie auth, localhost binding, and never exposing your node.</p></a>
      <a class="guide-card" href="/debug-stuck-tx"><span class="gc-badge">Dev</span><p class="gc-t">Debug a stuck transaction</p><p class="gc-d">Why it stalls, and how to fix it with RBF or CPFP.</p></a>
      <a class="guide-card" href="/build-app"><span class="gc-badge">Dev</span><p class="gc-t">Build a testnet app</p><p class="gc-d">Reach a chain, broadcast a transaction, and watch it confirm.</p></a>
      <a class="guide-card" href="/regtest"><span class="gc-badge">Dev</span><p class="gc-t">Bitcoin regtest</p><p class="gc-d">Your own private chain with instant, on-demand confirmations.</p></a>
      <a class="guide-card ext" href="https://github.com/Tech1k/testnet-examples" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span class="gc-badge">Dev</span><p class="gc-t">Code examples</p><p class="gc-d">Runnable Python and JavaScript snippets, the companion repo.</p></a>
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="guide-group">
    <h2 class="section-title">Stay safe</h2>
    <div class="guide-grid">
      <a class="guide-card" href="/why-no-value"><span class="gc-badge">Safety</span><p class="gc-t">Why testnet coins have no value</p><p class="gc-d">Why they're free, why they must stay worthless, and why "sales" are scams.</p></a>
      <a class="guide-card" href="/scams"><span class="gc-badge">Safety</span><p class="gc-t">Scams and staying safe</p><p class="gc-d">Spot fake coin sales, seed phishing, and address poisoning.</p></a>
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="warnbox">
    <span class="wb-ico" aria-hidden="true">&#9888;&#65039;</span>
    <div class="wb-body">
      <h3>Testnet coins are fake money</h3>
      <ul>
        <li>They have no market value, so never buy or sell them.</li>
        <li>Never use a real seed phrase or import a real wallet on testnet.</li>
        <li>Never send mainnet BTC, LTC, or XMR to a testnet address.</li>
      </ul>
    </div>
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