How to get Arbitrum testnet ETH and other tokens in 5 minutes
What you will learn today
In this guide, we show you how to get testnet ETH and other tokens. This allows you to send transactions and test smart contracts deployed on a testnet such as Arbitrum Goerli. The guide is split into two short parts:
- Setting up Arbitrum Goerli on your Metamask wallet
- Getting testnet ETH / Link in this wallet
Setting up Arbitrum Goerli on your Metamask wallet
Arbitrum Goerli is the testnet of Layer 2 rollup chain: Arbitrum One. A testnet is an almost identical copy of the mainnet chain where the tokens are of no value. They are mainly used for development and testing purposes (I.e. this guide!).
- The first step is to click on your profile icon (top right corner of the MetaMask wallet chrome extension), choose ‘Settings’ -> ‘Advanced’ -> choose ON in ‘Show test networks’. This lets you see Ethereum Goerli. Later we will bridge from Ethereum Goerli to the Arbitrum Goerli testnet.
Settings page of Metamask wallet Chrome extension
2. Next, we need to set-up Arbitrum Goerli as Metamask does not natively support it (yet).
Go to https://goerli.arbiscan.io/ and in the bottom right corner of the page you will see a button ‘Add Arbitrum Network’.
Click on it and your Metamask wallet will ask you to add the network. Once it is added, you should be able to see another network called ‘Arbitrum Goerli Testnet’ in your network dropdown menu.
Image showing ‘Add Arbitrum Network’ button at the bottom of the https://goerli.arbiscan.io/ page
Get Testnet Tokens
A testnet faucet is a piece of code that will provide you with some testnet ETH/tokens for free. Given the nature of a Layer 2 rollup, we need to get testnet ETH on Ethereum Goerli (Layer 1) first and then bridge it to the Arbitrum Goerli (Layer 2).
- While connected to the Ethereum Goerli network in your Metamask, use this faucet to obtain testnet ETH.
Obtaining testnet ETH and LINK via: https://faucets.chain.link/
2. Then, we send this testnet ETH from Ethereum Goerli to Arbitrum Goerli using this Arbitrum bridge. Please wait up to 5 minutes for the bridging to complete.
Arbitrum bridge UI
3. Next, in your Metamask wallet, connect to the Arbitrum Goerli Testnet we made earlier and use this faucet to add testnet LINK to it. This testnet LINK will be used to make requests to chainlink oracles (e.g. the Cred score oracle)
4. In your Metamask wallet, click on ‘Assets’ -> ‘Import tokens’ and input the below address in ‘Token Contract Address’. The other fields should auto-fill. Once you go back to your ‘Assets page’ you should see the LINK tokens in your Metamask.
0xd14838a68e8afbade5efb411d5871ea0011afd28
Well done — you have now set up Arbitrum Goerli on your Metamask and deposited testnet ETH and LINK on it. Happy building!
