Quick Start: Your First Transfer#

This guide takes you from nothing to a confirmed transaction on the public Testnet in about ten minutes. You create an account, get free Testnet DCC from the faucet, send 1 DCC to another address and look the transaction up in the explorer.

Testnet DCC have no value, so nothing you do here can cost you money. Everything works the same way on Mainnet once you switch the node URL and chain ID (see Moving to Mainnet at the end).

Note

Followed end to end on the public Testnet on 2026-10-27: the faucet paid 10 DCC in transaction 26UPUF6Psun5KyPQ2UiZinzo9qDuny8Nu9TziwaoLPVy, and the transfer in step 4 is transaction BVVmaKri16PUJJqHbLmDRnzcyc4SdYbr6GQZgDhhFPxx (height 99,864).

Step 1: Set Up a Project#

You need Node.js 24 or later. Create a folder for the project, mark it as an ES module and install the transactions package:

mkdir dcc-quickstart && cd dcc-quickstart
npm init -y
npm pkg set type=module
npm install @decentralchain/transactions@5.0.1

Node.js 24 runs TypeScript files directly, so you can save the scripts below as .ts files and run them with node <file>.ts. To use plain JavaScript instead, save them as .js files; the code is the same.

Step 2: Create a Testnet Account#

An account is a key pair derived from a seed phrase: 15 random words. Save this script as create-account.ts and run it with node create-account.ts:

import { libs } from '@decentralchain/transactions';

// 15 random words. Anyone who has them controls the account: never share them or commit them.
const seed = libs.crypto.randomSeed();

console.log('Seed phrase:', seed);
console.log('Testnet address:', libs.crypto.address(seed, '!')); // '!' is the Testnet chain ID

It prints the seed phrase and the account’s Testnet address, which starts with 31. Write the seed phrase down and keep it private: anyone who has it controls the account, and it cannot be recovered if you lose it. For what the seed, keys and address are, see Account.

To manage the same account in a browser wallet, import the seed phrase into Cubensis Connect; see Cubensis Connect User Guide.

Step 3: Get Testnet DCC#

The Testnet faucet sends 10 DCC to an address, once every 24 hours per address. Either open testnet.decentralscan.com/faucet and paste your address, or call the faucet’s API:

curl -X POST https://testnet.decentralscan.com/api/faucet \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"address": "YOUR_TESTNET_ADDRESS"}'

A successful request returns the transfer’s ID:

{"amount": 10, "success": true, "txId": "26UPUF6Psun5KyPQ2UiZinzo9qDuny8Nu9TziwaoLPVy"}

The faucet answers 429 if the address already received DCC in the last 24 hours, and 400 for an address that is not a Testnet address.

Check that the DCC arrived. Balances are in Decentralites, the smallest unit: 1 DCC is 100,000,000 Decentralites.

curl https://testnet-node.decentralchain.io/addresses/balance/YOUR_TESTNET_ADDRESS

{"address": "31gSFbvTohHJfF74ha1D5b2oJUYsp7UNRxt", "confirmations": 0, "balance": 1000000000}

Step 4: Send Your First Transfer#

Save this script as send.ts, put your seed phrase in seed, and run node send.ts. It sends 1 DCC to the address in recipient, which can be any Testnet address or alias:

import { transfer, broadcast, waitForTx } from '@decentralchain/transactions';

const nodeUrl = 'https://testnet-node.decentralchain.io';
const seed = 'your secret seed phrase here';           // the seed phrase from step 2
const recipient = '31LAqgqVTLySNCPuYqgLAYhcgS76wvBaLr9'; // any Testnet address or alias

const tx = transfer(
  {
    recipient,
    amount: 100_000_000, // 1 DCC: amounts are in Decentralites, 10^8 per DCC
    chainId: '!',        // Testnet
  },
  seed,
);

await broadcast(tx, nodeUrl);
console.log('Broadcast, transaction ID:', tx.id);

// A 200 from broadcast means the node accepted it into its pool. Wait for a block.
const confirmed = await waitForTx(tx.id, { apiBase: nodeUrl, timeout: 120_000 });
console.log('In block at height', confirmed.height);
console.log(`https://testnet.decentralscan.com/transaction?id=${tx.id}`);

The output looks like this:

Broadcast, transaction ID: BVVmaKri16PUJJqHbLmDRnzcyc4SdYbr6GQZgDhhFPxx
In block at height 99864
https://testnet.decentralscan.com/transaction?id=BVVmaKri16PUJJqHbLmDRnzcyc4SdYbr6GQZgDhhFPxx

The builder sets the minimum fee, 0.001 DCC, so the sender’s balance drops by 1.001 DCC. Testnet blocks come about every 30 seconds, so waitForTx usually returns within a minute.

If the node rejects the transaction, broadcast throws with the node’s error. The common ones are negative dcc balance (the faucet transfer is not in a block yet, or the balance is too low) and Wrong chain-id (the transaction was built for another network). See Error Responses for the full list.

Step 5: Look It Up in the Explorer#

Open the link the script printed. DecentralScan shows the transaction’s type, sender, recipient, amount, fee and the block it is in. Search for your address to see its balance and every transaction it took part in. DecentralScan Guide explains each page.

Moving to Mainnet#

The same scripts work on Mainnet with three changes:

  • Use the Mainnet node, https://mainnet-node.decentralchain.io.

  • Pass chainId: '?', and derive addresses with libs.crypto.address(seed, '?'). Mainnet addresses start with 3D.

  • Fund the account with real DCC, for example from Decentral.Exchange. There is no Mainnet faucet.

A seed phrase is not tied to a network: the same 15 words give a Testnet address and a different Mainnet address. Use a fresh seed for Mainnet rather than one you used in scripts or tests.

Next Steps#

  • Leasing: lease DCC to a generating node and share its rewards.

  • Sponsorship: let users pay fees in your token.

  • How-To Guides: issue tokens, chain transactions and read chain data.

  • Wallet Integration: let users sign in their own wallet instead of handling seed phrases in your code.