The Ethereum Foundation has officially announced the start of the decommissioning process for the Holesky testnet, a network that played a critical role in testing the Fusaka upgrade. Node operators are expected to begin taking their systems offline this week, with the entire shutdown spanning approximately 10 days. This move follows the successful completion of Fusaka testing, which achieved all technical goals for optimizing Ethereum's performance and consensus mechanisms.
Launched in 2023 as a successor to the Goerli testnet, Holesky was designed to address scalability and network simulation issues, providing a robust environment for large-scale validator testing and protocol upgrades. However, with Fusaka testing concluded, the Foundation stated that Holesky has "fulfilled its intended purpose" and is no longer aligned with Ethereum's long-term infrastructure goals. The testnet had begun to show performance degradation, including validator inactivity and scalability challenges, prompting its phased removal.
Developers and validators are advised to migrate their setups to other active testnets: validators should transition to the Hoodi testnet for staking infrastructure testing, while developers are directed to use the Sepolia testnet for smart-contract and dApp staging. This transition aims to minimize downtime and ensure a smoother upgrade cycle, reinforcing Ethereum's focus on network efficiency and scalability. The decommissioning highlights Ethereum's maturity in managing its testing infrastructure, paving the way for a more agile and high-performance ecosystem.
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