autocoins feature #117
Description
Problem statement
The testnet faucet is near impossible to use (often rate limited even when trying once every other day).
Proposed solution
- There is no "flooding a server with requests"... instead "it just work" after installing Suibase.
- A centralized service (develop and maintain by Suibase) would push one Sui once a day to one address for every "proof-of-installation" of Suibase. This automated service is only for setups that remains active (e.g. running up-to-date suibase-daemon).
Update
05/23/25: Mysten Labs is making progress on the faucet reliability... but it is likely the cat&mouse game against the bots will remain.
Autocoins has been submitted as an alternative "experimental bot-resistant protocol" for Sui Hackathon 2025. Stay tune!
06/10/25: Autocoins feature was not selected for the hackathon, but I am grateful for Mysten/Foundation to share constructive concerns and idea (Sui Identity).
Cut&Paste of feedback:
• Autocoins is a clever, developer-first experiment that rethinks how testnet resources are allocated—favoring consistency and fairness over spam-prone faucets. To boost its impact, make the dev eligibility system more transparent and explore integration with Sui identity primitives. It’s a solid infrastructure add-on that could evolve into a best practice for dev onboarding.
• Interesting "proof-of-work" approach using the ability to access specific bytes on demand to deter bots. The 25 day limitation before receiving daily deposits seems quite restrictive though. This approach may also be over-engineering what should be a simple developer tool, and instead highlights flaws with the current faucet service. There is also a centralization risk if every builder developing on testnet needs to depend on Suibase for sui emissions.
08/21/25: Implementation mostly completed, but putting this on backburner as the source of "free" sui on testnet is uncertain. This feature will now evolve to distribute a new "Suibase Token" as reward to real suibase devs. The token will give access to "pro tier" feature for gRPC, GraphQL, Seal, Walrus etc... stay tune!