How to Run and Test Your Midnight DApps

From DUST to tDUST: How to Run and Test Your Midnight DApps
Midnight’s decentralized application (DApp) platform introduces an elegant but straightforward token model — DUST fuels everything. Whether you’re deploying smart contracts or executing transactions, you’ll need a bit of DUST in your wallet to make things run.
But before you start thinking about tokenomics and gas fees, there’s good news: you don’t need real tokens to build and experiment. On the Midnight testnet, you’ll work with tDUST — a free, developer-friendly version of DUST designed for testing and learning.
Why You Need DUST
Every DApp interaction on the Midnight production network consumes DUST. This mechanism keeps the system efficient, secure, and fair. Developers who want to simulate that behavior locally can use tDUST on the testnet — the same way ETH and GoerliETH work on Ethereum networks.
How to Get Free tDUST
Here’s the quick start for developers setting up their Midnight testnet environment:
Set up your wallet.
Open your Lace wallet and copy your receiving address. Midnight uses the Bech32m format by default.
Check your address format.
While the testnet faucet currently supports both Bech32m and legacy HEX formats, the latter will be deprecated soon — so stick to Bech32m.
Visit the Midnight Faucet.
Go to the official Midnight Testnet Faucet. Paste your wallet address into the field.
Request test tokens.
Click “Request Tokens” and wait a few seconds. You should see a confirmation like this:
text
Transaction submitted. ID: 1644b988ac71dc6bd6...

You’ll instantly receive 1,000 tDUST in your wallet.
And that’s it — you’re now ready to deploy, test, and refine your Midnight DApps without spending a single real token.
Next Steps
Explore the Midnight docs for DApp deployment guides.
Join the Midnight developer community for updates and faucet availability.
When you’re ready, move from tDUST to real DUST on mainnet to go live.