Ethereum's Big Change: Holešky Testnet Set to Retire

Ethereum's largest testnet, Holešky, is about to retire. This is part of a planned shutdown and move to a new testnet called Hoodi. The change is happening because of some technical problems earlier this year. The shutdown will happen two weeks after the Fusaka upgrade is done. This upgrade is expected sometime in the second half of September. After that, Holešky won't be supported anymore. The exact date isn't clear yet, but it must happen before the Fusaka upgrade on the main network in November. Holešky was launched in September 2023. Its job was to test staking and validator operations. It helped thousands of validators test protocol upgrades, including Dencun and Pectra. The move shows Ethereum's focus on improving every part of the network. Hoodi is the new testnet. It was launched in March to fix issues like "inactivity leaks" that Holešky had. Hoodi already supports the Pectra update and will handle future upgrades, including Fusaka. The Ethereum Foundation suggests using Sepolia for smart contract and dApp testing for now. Fusaka is Ethereum's next big upgrade. It's scheduled for early November. It aims to make it easier to run nodes, improve decentralization, and boost layer-2 scalability. This upgrade includes 11 Ethereum Improvement Proposals. Another upgrade, Glamsterdam, is planned for 2026. It aims to halve block times to 6 seconds. This would separate block validation from execution, giving provers more time to work on zero-knowledge proofs. Ethereum's recent developments are also affecting the market, with several companies adding Ether to their treasuries.