Have you ever looked at the Bitcoin testnet?

[Qunenin]

Testnet are for testing and unless you're a developer or someone who really wants to learn through practice you don't need to use it.
But what do you mean by trying to monetize it? As in using it to learn how to create an altcoin or something?

How much skill do you need in order to use this?  I hear all this talk about being a developer and I am not sure what that exactly entails.  I am looking to learn more.

Anyone can use testnet and you use it in exactly the same way you use mainnet. Just start Bitcoin Core with the -testnet option or, if you installed Core 0.13.0, use the provided testnet shortcut.

Why would you want to use testnet though if you aren't a developer?

I think you might be more interested in looking at the first 500 blocks of the actual blockchain.  The testnet has basically the same chain, but there are occasional features tested.  You may scan through the chain as closely as you want, really it is better to know which sets of blocks had active testing of this and that

[SAMKUSH]

Bitcoin testnet can be used to try out trading with coins that are worthless, I have tested trading programs by using testnet bitcoins as there are trading sites that offer a completely different site purely for testnet bitcoins.

[posternat]

Bitcoin testnet can be used to try out trading with coins that are worthless, I have tested trading programs by using testnet bitcoins as there are trading sites that offer a completely different site purely for testnet bitcoins.

You can Google that and get a couple of different “schedules” of interesting points in the chain.  The same is true of the actual block chain.

[davis196]

I was reading something on reddit that said they've had three testnets now as people kept trying to monetize it.  It occurred to me that I'm barely aware of the testnet and have never checked it out.

Is this something that people here do regularly? Do you load up on testnet coins and fantasize about then being real?  Do you learn stuff from it?

I`ve never heard of testnet.What is this?

Is it a cryptocurrency developer environment?

What do you mean by "monetizing" it?

[U2]

I was reading something on reddit that said they've had three testnets now as people kept trying to monetize it.  It occurred to me that I'm barely aware of the testnet and have never checked it out.

Is this something that people here do regularly? Do you load up on testnet coins and fantasize about then being real?  Do you learn stuff from it?

I`ve never heard of testnet.What is this?

Is it a cryptocurrency developer environment?

What do you mean by "monetizing" it?

In layman's terms it's a test Blockchain that's supposed to be for developers to test re: bitcoin transactions etc. There's very little no value to them.