Helix Testnet Phase 2 launches with focus on liquid staking and cross-chain DeFi

Helix has opened the second phase of its testnet, giving developers and users the chance to trial liquid staking mechanics and cross-chain DeFi features on the Internet Computer in collaboration with DFINITY.

Participants can use demo hICP tokens to stake, unstake and test the Helix Vault, which is designed as a community-governed, fully on-chain system. The set-up also allows users to explore how Internet Computer tokens can be bridged and represented on Ethereum’s Holesky testnet.

Accessing the vault requires an Internet Identity and an EVM-compatible wallet such as MetaMask. Once connected, users can claim up to five hICP test tokens per day from the faucet and try out key functions. Staked hICP is mirrored as hstICP on Ethereum’s Holesky testnet, with a one-to-one ratio maintained during staking and unstaking.

The Helix team highlights that all activity remains confined to a test environment and the tokens have no monetary value. The purpose of this phase is to allow the community to experiment with liquid staking flows, bridge mechanics and DeFi participation without financial risk.

By offering staking, unstaking and bridging functions in a testnet setting, Helix aims to gather feedback from developers and early users before moving towards mainnet readiness. The community-driven structure of the project is expected to play a role in shaping its next stages.