Sandbox vs. production environments

Bastion provides two separate environments to support your development workflow and production operations. Each environment serves a distinct purpose with different behaviors around data persistence, compliance verification, and financial operations.

Environment overview

Aspect	Sandbox	Production
Base URL	`https://api.sandbox.bastion.io`	`https://api.bastion.com`
Purpose	Testing, integration development, and evaluation	Live customer traffic and real transactions
Assets	No real fiat or crypto assets	Real fiat and crypto on supported networks
Access	Contact sales@bastion.com for access	Requires completion of onboarding and compliance approval
Audience	Engineers and integrators building proof-of-concepts	Customers ready for real-money flows

When to use each environment

Environment	Use cases
Sandbox	Exploring APIs and integration patterns before moving real funds Building and iterating on client applications using simulated data Validating core flows end-to-end: account creation, conversions, transfers, webhook handling Testing failure scenarios and retry logic without financial risk
Production	Running live user flows with real conversions and transfers Meeting audit, reporting, and uptime requirements for business-critical use cases Performing final integration validation with real data and assets

Authentication & API access

Both environments use the same authentication model (API keys + optional JWT signing), but credentials are environment-specific and cannot be shared between sandbox and production. For implementation details, see API authentication.

Chains, assets, and on-chain behavior

Network support

Environment	Networks	Examples	Real value
Sandbox	Testnets only	Solana Devnet, Base Sepolia, Ethereum Sepolia	No mainnet transfers
Production	Mainnets + testnet access	Solana, Base, Ethereum (mainnets available)	Full mainnet coverage with real settlements

Behavioral differences

Aspect	Testnet (Sandbox)	Mainnet (Production)
Confirmation times	May not match mainnet speeds	Production-grade performance
Transaction fees	Often negligible or free	Real network fees apply
Provider integration	Some third-party providers are testnet-only	All providers wired to mainnet

For complete chain and asset details, see Supported chains and assets.

Compliance and identity verification

Compliance requirements differ significantly between environments to enable efficient testing while maintaining production security.

Compliance comparison

Aspect	Sandbox	Production
Verification process	Test-mode checks on non‑production identities	Full regulated KYC/KYB verification
Typical approval timing	Near-instant for all identity types	KYC: In seconds; KYB: 3-5 business days
Vendor integration	Vendor sandbox/UAT only	Real sanctions screening and identity verification
Document processing	Intended for fake/demo documents	Actual document verification required
Ongoing monitoring	Best-effort logging	Full transaction monitoring and required controls
Audit trail	For testing only	Suitable for regulatory audits and reporting

Production compliance requirements

Full regulated identity verification:

End users and businesses provide real documents and information
Reviews can result in approvals, rejections, or requests for additional information
Identity decisions affect account limits, transaction eligibility, and ongoing monitoring

For detailed compliance requirements and field specifications, see the KYC requirements and Compliance guides.

Fiat operations and settlement

Fiat conversion behavior differs fundamentally between environments.

Fiat operations comparison

Aspect	Sandbox	Production
Funding	Fully simulated, no real money	Real wire transfers
Settlement	Instant or simulated delays	Real banking rails (same-day to 1 business day for US wires)
Deposit instructions	Mocked bank account details	Real bank account for wire deposits
Wire requirement	No actual wire needed	User must send real wire transfer
Balances	Synthetic movements only	Real asset balances
Webhook events	Fire as they would in production	Production-grade event delivery

Example flows

Step	Sandbox	Production
1. Submit conversion	Receive mocked deposit instructions	Receive real bank deposit instructions
2. Funding	No actual wire required → Auto-completes after delay	User sends wire with memo → Settles per banking schedule
3. Result	Stablecoin balance updates for testing	Stablecoin issued, real asset in account

Data persistence and reliability

Aspect	Sandbox	Production
Persistence	Not guaranteed for long‑term storage; data may be cleared periodically	Permanent storage with backup and disaster recovery
Purpose	Short-lived test data and disposable accounts	Long-term operational and reporting needs
Suitability	Not for storing financial or identity records	Designed for regulatory and audit requirements
Availability	Testing environment, may have maintenance windows	Production-grade uptime and monitoring
Audit compliance	Not suitable for financial records	Full transaction history with immutable records
Data retention	No guarantees	Data retained per regulatory requirements

Need help? Contact support at try@bastion.io or reach out to your sales representative.

Getting Started

Concepts

Quickstarts

Compliance

Security

Bastion Dashboard

LLMs and MCP Server

Sandbox vs. production environments

Environment overview

When to use each environment

Authentication & API access

Chains, assets, and on-chain behavior

Network support

Behavioral differences

Compliance and identity verification

Compliance comparison

Production compliance requirements

Fiat operations and settlement

Fiat operations comparison

Example flows

Data persistence and reliability

​Environment overview

​When to use each environment

​Authentication & API access

​Chains, assets, and on-chain behavior

​Network support

​Behavioral differences

​Compliance and identity verification

​Compliance comparison

​Production compliance requirements

​Fiat operations and settlement

​Fiat operations comparison

​Example flows

​Data persistence and reliability

Environment overview

When to use each environment

Authentication & API access

Chains, assets, and on-chain behavior

Network support

Behavioral differences

Compliance and identity verification

Compliance comparison

Production compliance requirements

Fiat operations and settlement

Fiat operations comparison

Example flows

Data persistence and reliability