Testnet & Mainnet Strategy
Cortensor's network architecture is designed to balance scalability, performance, and operational cost through a dual-track deployment model. This involves two parallel environments for both testnets and mainnets, each serving distinct use cases and cost profiles.
Overview
Cortensor utilizes a dual-network strategy:
Testnet-0 / Mainnet-Lite: Built on Arbitrum Sepolia and Arbitrum Mainnet respectively.
Testnet-1 / Mainnet: Built on a custom L3 AppChain Rollup using $COR as the native gas token.
This approach allows Cortensor to:
Minimize onboarding friction during early development
Reduce operational complexity for short- and mid-term testing
Build toward a long-term, cost-efficient, and fully composable decentralized AI execution network
Testnet Strategy
Testnet-0 – Arbitrum Sepolia
Purpose: Lightweight test environment for rapid iteration
Infrastructure: Shared public L2 chain
Cost: Minimal infrastructure maintenance, but higher per-transaction gas cost (ETH)
Use Cases:
Session flow validation
User task pipeline
Node onboarding and interaction
Staking and session payment flows
Testnet-1 – L3 Rollup (COR as Gas)
Purpose: Long-term AppChain testing for scalability and sovereignty
Infrastructure: L3 Rollup maintained by Cortensor with ORACLE/MINER nodes and COR-native execution
Cost: Monthly maintenance cost for rollup and related services (bridge, explorer, RPC), but near-zero per-use cost
Use Cases:
App-specific chain logic and slashing
Validator feedback loop
Metadata rollup
Multi-session routing and recursive task flow
COR-based payments and economic tracking
Mainnet Strategy
Mainnet-Lite – Arbitrum Mainnet (ETH as Gas)
Launch Stage: Mid-term production-ready setup
Purpose: Serves users where EVM compatibility and gas UX are mature
Benefits:
Lower infra costs
Leverages robust Arbitrum infra
Trade-offs:
Higher per-use gas cost for AI inferencing
Limited app-level customization
Mainnet – L3 Rollup (COR as Gas)
Launch Stage: Long-term, full-featured mainnet
Purpose: Fully sovereign appchain for AI and agent execution
Benefits:
Fully composable architecture
COR-native microeconomy for rewards/payments
Optimized for AI workload batching and low latency routing
Trade-offs:
Requires monthly maintenance of rollup infra
Slightly more complex onboarding vs. L2
Transition Strategy
Early user-facing flows and testing occur on Testnet-0 to minimize costs and friction
Phase #6 onward focuses heavily on Testnet-1 (L3 Rollup) to test long-term architecture and prepare for mainnet
Production begins with Mainnet-Lite on Arbitrum for early adoption and cost efficiency
Full decentralization and custom logic (slashing, app-specific governance, long-term scaling) will move to Mainnet (L3 COR Rollup)
Benefits of Dual-Track Approach
Cost Flexibility: Teams can balance short-term and long-term usage based on cost structure
Transition Readiness: Ability to migrate from shared infra to sovereign appchain without disruption
Progressive Decentralization: L2 and L3 testnets help harden the architecture before full production
Ecosystem Growth: Different developer and user profiles can onboard via the environment that suits them best
References
L3 Explorer: https://testnet1.explorer.cortensor.network
This dual-environment design reflects Cortensor’s philosophy: start lean, scale smart, and grow decentralized. The infrastructure must evolve with the AI workloads it serves—this strategy makes that possible.
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