As previously announcedThe Ropsten network is deprecated and will be shut down in the coming weeks. Over the past few months, infrastructure providers have gradually stopped supporting the network and validator participation rates have steadily declined.
The vast majority of remaining validator nodes will be shut down during the period of December 15-31, 2022. After that, Ropsten will no longer be supported by customer, test, or infrastructure teams.
As a reminder, the next testnet to go is Rinkeby. The network will be live until mid-2023 to give users and application developers the option to migrate to Goerli or Sepolia. That said, Rinkeby does not support The Merge, nor future network upgrades. It is no longer a feature-matching replica of the Ethereum mainnet.
The merger and demise of legacy testnets has given the Ethereum community an opportunity to rethink its broader approach to testnets. Proposals for purpose-specific networks for stakers versus developers, end-of-life standards for testnets, and more are being discussed on The Wizards of Ethereum and in community calls. If you have strong opinions on the future of Ethereum testnets, now is the time to voice them!
Cover image by Micael Widell
