Ethereum’s largest testnet, Holešky, is set to shut down in the coming weeks as part of a transition to the Hoodi network, ahead of the planned deployment of the Fusaka upgrade. This move follows several technical issues earlier this year and comes just before the Fusaka upgrade launches on the mainnet in November.
The decision to transition is driven by Holešky’s limited ability to support new features, as well as challenges experienced with validator activity and leaks.
While its time in service has come to an end, Holešky’s impact on the network cannot be understated. It played a crucial role in testing staking infrastructure and validator operations before protocol upgrades, including Pectra and Dencun. The foundation notes that this testnet provided thousands of validators with valuable opportunities to experiment before mainnet implementation.
However, the transition will be smoother thanks to Hoodi, a newer testing environment launched earlier this year.
The Fusaka hard fork, expected to launch later this year, will significantly improve how rollups access and manage data. This is expected to make running nodes easier, further decentralizing the network, and bolstering layer-2 scalability for faster and more cost-effective transactions.
Looking ahead, the community is eagerly anticipating the Glamsterdam upgrade in 2026. EIP-7782, a proposal to halve block times to six seconds by separating validation from execution, promises a significant boost in Ethereum’s processing speed,
This shift coincides with growing market enthusiasm for ETH. Several publicly listed firms have added Ether to their treasury recently, contributing to the more than 200% price surge since April.