Ethereum "killed" Holesky – A new testnet era begins

Ethereum officially announced the "killing" of #Holesky , the largest testnet ever, after the Fusaka upgrade expected to launch in November 2025. This is a major turning point, marking the transition to a new specialized and more efficient testnet generation.

Launched in 2023, Holesky was an extremely important testing environment, where major upgrades like Dencun (reducing transaction fees) and Pectra (improving stake withdrawal) were validated. However, by 2025, Holesky began to reveal its limitations: validator downtime caused stake withdrawals to be stalled for months, along with complex technical issues during testing. Instead of supporting development, Holesky gradually became a barrier.

To replace it, Ethereum introduced #Hoodi in March 2025 – a new testnet with a "merged-from-genesis" architecture, providing a stable and specialized environment for staking. Along with this, Ethereum now allocates testnets according to clear objectives: Sepolia for dApps, Ephemery for rapid testing, and Hoodi for staking/validators.

The cessation of support for Holesky two weeks after the completion of Fusaka not only closes an era but also opens up a more flexible development phase, preparing for significant upgrades like Glamsterdam (2026), aiming for a block time of 6 seconds and strong support for ZK-EVM.

Currently, $ETH is trading around 4.395 USD, stabilizing after reaching a new 4-year peak at the end of August, amidst expectations for spot ETFs continuing to heat up the market.

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