Practice
Your first blockchain transaction
Do it for real on Solana's free test network (devnet). You'll create a wallet, receive coins, send them, and look up the proof on a public explorer. It takes about two minutes.
1
Create two practice wallets
One is yours, the other is a friend's you'll pay. A wallet is just a pair of keys: a public address to share and a private key that signs.
2
Get free test SOL
The test network gives out free coins so people can practise. Ask for 1 test SOL.
3
Send 0.1 test SOL to your friend
Your browser builds the transaction, signs it with your private key and sends it to the network. Thousands of computers check the signature and record it.
4
Look up the proof
Every transaction gets a unique ID (its signature). Anyone in the world can look it up and see who sent what to whom, and when. Nobody can change or delete it.
What you just learned
- Address: what you share to get paid.
- Private key: signs your transactions. Here it's kept in this browser; in a real wallet like Phantom it's protected by your recovery phrase.
- Fee: a tiny amount paid to the network for processing.
- Signature: the proof that only the key-holder could have sent it, and the ID you use to look it up.
Want to try with Phantom? In Phantom go to Settings → Developer Settings → Testnet Mode and choose Solana Devnet. Then send test SOL to your practice address above. Switch Testnet Mode off again when you're done.