How to get testnet ETH for StarkNet

Learn how to get Goerli ETH to test out your favorite Dapps

Tagged

Edward Wilson

Post Date

Quick summary

If you want to test out StarkNet Dapps to provide feedback or to better understand how they work, you need to be on the StarkNet Testnet and have Testnet ETH. Luckily, it’s free and easy to get, as this guide will explain.

The quickest and easiest way to get testnet ETH for StarkNet is to use the Starknet faucet. But it can sometimes get overloaded, and instead, you'd need to get some ETH from Ethereum instead. We'll take you through both options.

Option 1: Requesting testnet ETH from StarkNet Faucet

  1. Open your Argent X wallet
  2. In the top right, switch to Testnet
  3. Copy the account address
  4. Go to https://faucet.goerli.starknet.io/
  5. Past in your account address
  6. Hit 'Send request'
  7. Wait for the transaction to complete

Please note that the faucet often runs out or becomes overloaded due to how popular StarkNet is.

Don't worry though you can get testnet ETH from Ethereum and send it to StarkNet following this next guide:

Option 2. Funding your L1 (MetaMask) wallet with Goerli ETH

You need 2 things before you can get testnet ETH for StarkNet from L1, they are:

  1. A wallet, like MetaMask on Ethereum (Layer 1) (make sure you're on the Goerli network)
  2. An Argent X wallet for StarkNet

Once you have that, you're ready to go! The next step is to get some for Ethereum from a faucet. A faucet sends testnet ETH to your Ethereum address for free.

There are a few faucets that you can choose from:

In this example, we will be using the Paradigm faucet, but others will work the same way.

  1. Sign in with your Twitter Account (for other faucets, you may need to sign in with an account for the platform)
  2. Enter your Ethereum address to receive tokens
  3. Click “Claim”

Shortly after, you will receive some testnet ETH for Ethereum.

Bridging your testnet ETH to StarkNet

Now you need to move your testnet ETH from Ethereum to StarkNet. We call this bridging as you’re sending crypto from one network to another.

Just follow these steps:

  1. Open Argent X, tap “Add Funds”, select “Bridge from Ethereum and other chains” then select “StarkGate
  2. Connect your Ethereum wallet, like Metamask, and your Argent X account (You need to connect both so you can send funds from your Ethereum wallet to StarkNet)
  3. Enter the amount of testnet ETH want to send to StarkNet and confirm the transaction

And like that, your testnet ETH will arrive in your Argent X wallet.

Why do I need Metamask and Argent X?

StarkNet is different from other blockchains as it supports account abstraction. This means every wallet is a smart contract with its own logic. For example, if you enter a MetaMask seed phrase into an Argent X wallet, you will get a different address, as StarkNet addresses come in a different format. This is why you can’t use your MetaMask wallet for StarkNet and why you need Argent X.