Start a Private Bitcoin Network

Question

Is there anyway to create my own Bitcoin Network?

I'd love to put my first block into self-own Bitcoin Network and make it grow : )

Any ideas?

Answer 1

If you just want to play around or test your apps then bitcoin-core's regtest mode might be what you're looking for.

Developer examples on regtest mode: https://bitcoin.org/en/developer-examples#regtest-mode

A tutorial to get you started: https://geraldkaszuba.com/creating-your-own-experimental-bitcoin-network/

If you want to fork bitcoin and create your own altcoin this guide can be useful: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=225690.0

Answer 2

Starting a private network can be useful for experimenting with new protocol features (such as the one started by Jeremy Rubin for testing CTV) or applications (we used one for testing Revault for instance). It is also useful to test the software "as a blackbox": Bitcoin Core has a comprehensive test suite that does precisely that.

As mentioned by @user11221 you can use the regtest network. It is tailored for the Bitcoin Core functional tests and well suited for starting a private network locally. For instance if you want to tinker with Bitcoin Core's internals and see what breaks it's a good choice.

Another, newer, solution is crafting a custom Signet network. This approach is preferable if you want a non-local private network, with a behaviour closer to the main network.