Ethereum

Ethereum developers are discontinuing support for the Holesky testnet in September due to mass exit of validators, following disruptions during the Pectra upgrade testing.
According to the <a href="https://blog.ethereum.org/2025/03/18/hoodi-holesky" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">recent announcement</a> on Ethereum Foundation blog, developer support for the Ethereum’ (<a href="https://crypto.news/price/ethereum/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ETH</a>) Holesky testnet will be discontinued this September. Until then, developers will be able to test deposits, consolidations, and other Pectra features on Holesky. However, developers are advised not to use Holesky to test validator exits because the exit queue is too long, which slows down the testing process. Instead, exit validator testing is to be done on the new <a href="https://crypto.news/ethereum-launches-new-testnet-hoodi-to-wrap-up-pectra-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Hoodi testsnet</a>, which will activate the <a href="https://crypto.news/ethereums-pectra-upgrade-could-serve-as-catalyst-but-market-sentiment-remains-lukewarm-analysts-warn/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Pectra upgrade</a> on March 26.
You might also like: <a href="https://crypto.news/ethereum-launches-new-testnet-hoodi-to-wrap-up-pectra-testing/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Ethereum launches new testnet Hoodi to wrap up Pectra testing </a>
The decision to discontinue support for Holesky comes after major issues arose during the <a href="https://crypto.news/ethereums-pectra-upgrade-set-for-holesky-and-sepolia-testnets/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Pectra upgrade testing</a>, leading to a mass exit of validators from the network. While Holesky is now functional again, the process of removing all the exited validators will take about one year, which impedes using the testnet for testing scenarios involving validator exits.
The sunsetting of Holesky is noteworthy as it has served as a major testnet for testing of Ethereum network upgrade features for over 2 years, since its launch in September 2023. The end of life is slated for Sep. 30. However, the testnet might be <a href="https://blog.ethereum.org/2025/03/18/hoodi-holesky" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">repurposed</a> for testing gas limit increases and other protocol tests.
Priori to Holesky, Ethereum developers had already sunsetted several testnets, namely <a href="https://crypto.news/ethereum-merge-kiln-testnet-success/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Kiln</a>, Rinkebery, <a href="https://crypto.news/ethereums-oldest-testnet-ropsten-deprecated/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Ropsten</a>, and Goerli.
You might also like: <a href="https://crypto.news/ethereums-pectra-upgrade-set-for-holesky-and-sepolia-testnets/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Ethereum’s ‘Pectra’ upgrade set for Holesky and Sepolia testnets </a>

Ethereum to discontinue support for Holesky testnet in September

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