The Ethereum Foundation has announced its intention to eliminate the Holesky Testnet by September 2025 due to recurring problems that have hampered tests for the next Pectra upgrade.
In a statement published on March 19, the network confirmed that a new Testnet, Hoodi, would take control of the tests related to Pectra.
Holesky problems
Holesky encountered major problems during the Pectra upgrade test last month.
Several execution customers, including Geth, Nethermind and Besu, used incorrect deposit contract addresses, causing a bug in the execution layer. This caused chain divisions, weakening the stability of the network.
Sepolia, another Testhethemnet, was faced with similar problems due to personalized deposit contracts. However, he recovered quickly.
On the other hand, Holesky fought with leaks of inactivity that complicated the outgoing validator.
Although the network has since been finalized, the abolition of outgoing validators would take almost a year. This delay made it impractical to test the life cycle of the complete validator within a reasonable time.
The Foundation noted that, even if Holesky always allows stakers to test the deposits and other characteristics of Pectra, its output queue limits wider tests. Consequently, Ethereum decided to move the pectra tests to the Hoodi Testnet.
Despite this change, Holesky will remain available for certain tests, including gas limit increases, until its support officially ends in September 2025.
Transition to Hoodi
The HOODI TESTNET will take control of Pectra upgrade tests, with activation set for March 26, 2025, at the time 2048, around 7:37 UTC.
Employed operators and infrastructure providers should migrate their validator tests to this new environment.
In addition, Ethereum announced that the Sepolia Testnet will be replaced in March 2026, by the support ceased by September 2026.
Hoodi should remain active until September 2028, after which Ethereum will interrupt support.
These updates mark the continuous efforts of Ethereum to refine its test infrastructure and ensure more fluid protocol upgrades.
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