FAQ

FAQs

High-traffic support requests

Why can't I bridge tokens from PGN back to Ethereum, immediately?

PGN is an OP Stack L2, which has a specific process for bridging tokens from the L2 (PGN) back to the L1 (Ethereum).

When bridging, your transaction must go through a seven day challenge period.

This challenge period is important, as it is designed to protect users from fraud. During this period, a user can submit a fault proof to challenge a transaction before it is relayed from the L2 to the L1.

To successfully bridge from PGN to Ethereum, you must follow these instructions:

  1. Submit the transaction using the bridge.
  2. Navigate to the Transactions (opens in a new tab) page. You will eventually see your transaction show up with the status, "Waiting for state root".
  3. Within 30 minutes, your transaction status will change to "Ready to prove." Click the "Prove" button to initiate the challenge window.
  4. The transaction status will change to "In challenge period" and will display how much time is left in the period via the "Time left" column. Wait for the seven day window to close.
  5. Once the challenge period is over, the transaction status will change to "Ready to relay". Click the "Finalize" button to relay the transaction to PGN.

At this point, the transaction should say "Relayed", which means that the tokens have successfully been bridged to Ethereum.

To put this process a different way, please refer to the following table:

StepActionStatusWait time
1Submit the transaction to the bridge.
2Navigate to the Transaction page.Waiting for state root30 minutes
3Click the "Prove" button to initiate the challenge window.Ready to prove
4Wait for the seven day window to closeIn challenge period7 days
5Click the "Finalize" button to relay the transaction to PGN.Ready to relay

If you don't perform all of these tasks, your transaction will not be bridged properly.

Gas fees are currently high. What can I do to reduce this fee?

At this time, you might notice that the priority fee estimation on Metamask can be on the higher side. While PGN has low network activity, there are fewer transactions competing for processing. Because of this, you have the opportunity to optimize your gas costs by lowering the priority fee to reduce the overall cost of your transaction.

We suggest lowering priority fees to start. If the transaction doesn't go through in five minutes, you can resubmit the transaction with a higher priority fee.

Learn more about PGN gas fees (opens in a new tab).

Wen Discord?

We do not plan to launch a Discord server for PGN at this time.

Instead, please join us on Telegram: Join (opens in a new tab)

There is no Discord server - please don’t fall victim to scams asking you to join a server.

Where can I find the network and contract information for PGN?

We have listed all network and contract information in a dedicated documentation page: docs.publicgoods.network/network-and-contract-details (opens in a new tab)

For those of you that are interested in using Safe (opens in a new tab) contracts, we have a dedicated section within the previously noted page that lists all Safe contract names and addresses (opens in a new tab).

PGN Basics

What is PGN?

Public Goods Network (PGN) is a low-cost Layer 2 (L2) (opens in a new tab) blockchain built on top of Ethereum (opens in a new tab) for supporting public goods. It is built with the Bedrock (opens in a new tab) version of the OP Stack (opens in a new tab), in collaboration with Optimism and powered by Conduit.

What does that mean?

For users, it means low transaction costs, with the security of Ethereum. For application developers, it means the security, stability, and scalability of an L2. And for public goods maxis, it means secure and regular funding for public goods without any additional financial commitment required. Simply run and interact with dApps on PGN.

How will PGN generate funds for public goods?

PGN will take the vast majority of sequencer fees generated from users transacting on the network to fund public goods and public goods projects. This means, simply by using the network, you are supporting public goods. We are excited to be funding public goods via a legitimate, durable and deep source of funding. The more block space we fill on PGN, the more public goods we fund!

In the future, PGN will enable Contract Secured Revenue (CSR) to support developer’s need for sustainable revenue sources as well.

Contract Secured Revenue allows smart contract developers to claim a percentage of all transaction fees paid by users when interacting with their smart contracts. This means that the more dApps that build on PGN and the more users that engage with those dApps, the more revenue that will be generated for both the developers deploying those dApps, and for Public Goods.

The following Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) proposes the introduction of CSR on EVM-based L2s (such as PGN) which would provide smart contract developers who deploy on L2s access to revenue streams and/or public goods.

eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-6968 (opens in a new tab)

As of Jul 25, 2023, we plan on deploying CSR after October of 2023.

Who is developing PGN?

While Gitcoin and SuperModular are incubating the initial development of PGN, the L2 is backed by a network of Public Goods maxis aligning efforts and resources. You can find a full list of supporters that are joining the movement at publicgoods.network (opens in a new tab).

If you would like to learn more about becoming a partner, please reach out to us on Telegram (opens in a new tab).

Who is Gitcoin?

Since 2017, Gitcoin has been building tools that enable communities to build, fund and protect what matters to them.

Gitcoin has raised and deployed over $50MM in funding for public goods projects. This is not “Gitcoin’s Money” this is money we have partnered to collect, and money that we rely on our community to show up and participate with (ie, fund the project they care about). We are optimistic that this same community would use PGN to continue to support public goods.

What is the Public Goods Alliance?

The Public Goods Alliance will be the governing and organizing body behind PGN. Anyone interested in building on PGN, receiving funding for public goods projects, or contributing to improve PGN is invited to participate. Specific governance decisions and structure will be determined after six months of network launch, including details on distributing fees.

How can I get involved as an alliance member?

Please reach out to us on Telegram (opens in a new tab) via the “Alliance Discussion” channel. The requirements, commitments and details are still forming. Expressing interest helps us better shape this program, so don’t be shy!

I want to deploy a dApp on PGN but have some questions. Who should I reach out to?

We have all of our network details in our documentation: Network and Contract Details (opens in a new tab)

You can also reach out to the following email address and we’ll get back to you shortly: pgn@gitcoin.co

How can we provide feedback on the network?

Please send all feedback about PGN to the Telegram (opens in a new tab).

There is no Discord server - please don’t fall victim to scams asking you to join a server.

Please add your feedback to the proper channel if the feedback is specific to mainnet, testnet, branding, or bridging.

Will there be an airdrop for PGN?

We are not planning an airdrop at this time, but will be exploring how best to govern PGN in early 2024. We are interested in finding non-token related governance options, but are still exploring what’s possible.

What is the OP Stack and Bedrock?

The OP Stack is the standardized, shared, and open-source development stack that powers Optimism, a Layer 2 blockchain built on Ethereum. It is maintained by the Optimism Collective.

Bedrock (opens in a new tab) is the first release of the OP Stack codebase. It consists of the core software required to run L2 blockchains and was originally designed to power an upgrade to the Optimism Mainnet network. It is now being used to build out a network of chains (or Superchain (opens in a new tab)) that share bridging, decentralized governance, upgrades, a communication layer, and more. PGN is part of the Superchain like Coinbase’s base, OP mainnet, Zora network, etc.

Is the blockchain EVM-compatible?

Yes, the blockchain is built on top of OP Stack, which is EVM-compatible.

Web3 Basics

I'm brand new to Web3. Where can I go to get started?

There are a TON of great resources out there that you can learn from in the web3 space. We recommend starting with the Ethereum Foundation’s website: ethereum.org (opens in a new tab)

PGN resources and community

Which resources can I use to learn more about PGN?

We have several resources you can use to learn more about PGN:

What are some resources I can use to engage with PGN?

You can transfer tokens to PGN using the following bridges:

You can search transactions, wallets, and blocks on the network using the following explorers:

Using PGN

Is PGN testnet and mainnet available yet?

Yes. We launched testnet on July 6th, 2023, and mainnet on July 25th, 2023.

How can I add PGN to my wallet?

We have published instructions on how to add both mainnet and testnet to our developer docs: Adding PGN to a Wallet (opens in a new tab)

What is the native token for PGN?

PGN’s native token is bridged PGN ETH.

When trying to add PGN to Metamask, I’m receiving a “Could not fetch chain ID” error. How can I fix this?

Try using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) when adding and interacting with the PGN network.

What is the value of using testnet?

Testnet is a low-risk method for testing deployments and the flow of the network.

Bridging tokens

How do I mint and bridge tokens to PGN?

The quick answer is that you can use the PGN bridge: PGN mainnet bridge (opens in a new tab)

You can find more specific instructions and details on bridging on the following documentation page: Bridging ETH to PGN (opens in a new tab)

Which tokens should I transfer to PGN?

Please only transfer ETH to PGN.

Do not directly transfer WETH or any ERC-20 tokens to the bridge address!

How much ETH should I transfer to PGN?

We recommend that you transfer a small amount of ETH when bridging for the first time. It is also recommended not to transfer large amounts of ETH to Layer 2s.

Why can’t I bridge my ETH from PGN back to Ethereum mainnet or Sepolia right now?

PGN is built on the OP Stack, which has certain time limitations when bridging tokens off the chain to different networks.

In this situation, OP Stack and PGN have a seven day challenge window that you must wait before transferring funds out of the network.

You can read more here: Why do I need to wait a week when moving assets out of OP Mainnet? (opens in a new tab)

Are there any dApps on testnet that I can explore yet?

We are working on building out an ecosystem page.

As of July 25th, 2023, we have had several partners either fully deploy or deploy infrastructure on the PGN testnet, including the following:

Deploying contracts

Since PGN is an Ethereum equivalent, many questions that might land in this section can be answered with ‘PGN is the same as Ethereum.’

However, there are a few key differences between PGN and Ethereum. We suggest that you review a guide that describes these differences before deploying your contract: PGN compared to Ethereum (opens in a new tab)

Is PGN just for projects that are building solutions around public goods?

Not at all! We welcome people building solutions of all types to deploy on PGN. The more block space we fill, the more public goods funding funds we generate via net sequencer fees.

What are the network details (Network name, chain ID, gas token, RPC, and Block Explorer) for PGN?

We have listed this information in our Network Details page within our documentation: PGN Network Details (opens in a new tab)

What is the block gas limit?

The block gas limit is 30,000,000.

Which development stack should I use when building with PGN?

You can use any of the development stacks that work with the OP stack to build with PGN. You can find a list of them on the following page: Compatible development stacks (opens in a new tab)

The Graph

What is The Graph, and why is it important to PGN?

The Graph (opens in a new tab) is a decentralized protocol for indexing and querying blockchain data.

Projects with complex smart contracts store data on the blockchain, making it difficult to read anything other than basic data directly from the blockchain. Indexing blockchain data is really, really hard.

The Graph solves this with a decentralized protocol that indexes and enables the performant and efficient querying of blockchain data. These APIs (indexed "subgraphs") can then be queried with a standard GraphQL API.

Graph nodes:

Subgraphs can also be deployed on Goldsky (opens in a new tab), a high-performance hosted subgraph service.

Blockscout

What is Blockscout, and why is it important to PGN?

Blockscout (opens in a new tab) is a Blockchain explorer for Ethereum Networks that can be used to inspect and analyze EVM-based blockchains, such as PGN.

You can utilize Blockscout to review transactions and blocks on PGN:

AboutNetwork and Contract Details