The Fast and Reliable Ethereum Test Chain
Kovan Testnet
Kovan is a Proof of Authority (PoA) publicly accessible blockchain for Ethereum; created and maintained by a consortium of Ethereum developers, to aide the Ethereum developer community.
AdvantagesWhy are Ethereum developers using Kovan?
SpeedConsistent 4-second blocktimes for a superior developer experience
Consistent 4-second blocktimes for a superior developer experience
ResilienceProof of Authority prevents attacks from hindering development
Proof of Authority prevents attacks from hindering development
RealiabilityConsortium membership enforced by smart contract logic
Consortium membership enforced by smart contract logic
FreeGet Kovan ether using multiple faucet services
Get Kovan ether using multiple faucet services
InfrastructureBlock explorer powered by Etherscan and RPC nodes from Infura
Block explorer powered by Etherscan and RPC nodes from Infura
InnovationGet early access to experimental protocol upgrades
Get early access to experimental protocol upgrades
Quick Links
ExplorerAnalyse Transactions
Etherscan ExplorerThe good people at Etherscan have kindly extended their excellenet block explorer service for use with Kovan.
NetstatsMonitor Network Status
Open NetstatsView comprehensive realtime statistics about the state of the Kovan testnet on the authorities netstats page.
SupportGet Assistance
Chat on GitterIf you're having any issues or have questions about Kovan, join us on Gitter and we'll do our best to help you out.
KIPsKovan Improvement Proposals
View ProposalsKovan is evolving and there are exciting bleeding edge features on the Horizon. Learn more and contribute on Github.
Get StartedDeploy Ethereum Smart Contracts on Kovan Today!
1. Connect to KovanKovan RPC Services
There are a few options for connecting to Kovan. Here are the two most popular:
Install Parity
Parity is a popular Ethereum client that is easily configurable to connect to Kovan. You can connect to Kovan by starting Parity with the following flags:
parity --chain kovanUse Infura
You can also use Infura to connect to Kovan by specifying the following RPC URL:
https://kovan.infura.io2. Get Free KETHKovan Faucet Services
"Faucets" allow you to acquire Kovan Ether without the need for mining.
Icarus Faucet
ParityTech has provided an automated SMS-verification Faucet service that allows you get a daily allowance of KETH.
Sign up for IcarusGitter Chat
You can also request KETH in the 'faucet' Gitter channel. Prominent contributers can receive larger amounts of KETH.
Gitter FaucetAlternative Faucets
More Faucet services will become available over time. Watch this space!
3. Develop!Deploy your Contracts
Once you have a Connection and some KETH, you're ready to go!
The Ethereum development ecosystem is ever-growing and you can use many of the same tools that you're already familiar with.
Truffle
Truffle is the most popular development framework for Ethereum. You can connect to Kovan in one of the following ways:
Use Parity and add the config to
truffle.js:kovan: {
host: 'localhost',
port: 8545,
network_id: '42'
}Use a ZeroClient Provider to connect to a remote RPC node such as Infura
RoadmapThe future of Kovan
Kovan Launched
Kovan initially launched with the founding validator set
Smart Contract Hard Fork
Parity adds support for Smart Contract based validator management
Automated Github Faucet Service
Additional batch of validators to be added using the Smart Contract
Validator Onboarding
Additional batch of validators to be added using the Smart Contract
Public Validator Signup
For additional openness and reliability, an application process will be launched to allow for more trusted validators
Protocol Enhancements
Additional features to improve the stability and functionality of the network
For more on the Kovan roadmap, check out the KIP milestones on github:
Kovan GithubAuthoritiesWho validates blocks on Kovan?
...more to come!
Soon, anyone will be able to apply to become a validator on Kovan!
Follow @kovan_testnet for updatesKovan was announced on 6/3/17