About Hypha's Testnet Incentives Program
Supported by the Interchain Foundation
The program
The Testnet Incentives Program incentivizes high quality validator performance on the Hub's testnet on a quarterly basis. Validators on the testnet earn points which contribute to their eligibility for the Interchain Foundation's ATOM delegation program on the Cosmos Hub.
The Hub testnet regularly hosts 60+ of the Hub’s mainnet validators learning about new features, good node operations, and preparing for possible operational challenges that we might face on mainnet.
Validators consistently recognize our program as a great way to learn about gaia-specific features; additional features and tooling such as cosmovisor, cosmwasm, tmptop; and an intense crash course in good node operations and troubleshooting.
The Hub provider testnet is public, meaning that anyone can join, run a validator, and learn about gaia node operations and new features on the Cosmos Hub. All participants can earn points, which are made available to the ICF to make decisions for their delegations program. Note that Hypha has no influence over the ICF's decision-making process!
The Testnet Incentives Program was first funded in November 2023 by the ATOM Accelerator DAO to give testnet validators the opportunity to earn ATOM for participating on the Hub’s testnet. The program's funding was taken up by Cosmos Labs as of August 2025, and transitioned to being a component of the Interchain Foundation's delegations program with no direct incentive payments in 2026.
How the program works
Each month, we run a few testnet events that require validator involvement. For example, upgrades to new versions of gaia, demonstrations of new features, data collection to support development decisions. We also track validator uptime by sampling the chain every 10 blocks and checking for signatures.
We publish these results on this website and encourage validators to track their participation for themselves (especially chain uptime) and monitor them closely so we can be made aware of any errors in our tracking. Once points have been submitted to the ICF, we will not revisit or adjust them.
Request an exception
Need an exception? Use the form below to reach out, and we'll get back to you soon.