Ethereum Devs Confirm Holesky Testnet Shutdown by September 2025 — Here’s Why It Matters

Jakarta, Pintu News – Ethereum core developers have officially announced plans to stop supporting the Holesky testnet in September 2025.

This decision marks the continuation of Ethereum’s testnet transition phase, following the retirement of Kiln, Ropsten, and Rinkeby in 2022, and Goerli in 2023.

Serious Problems in Holesky: Exit Queue Validator and Chain Split

Holesky, which launched in September 2023, was originally designed as a major testnet alongside Sepolia, specifically for staking and infrastructure testing. However, a series of technical issues have made it difficult to use for testing major updates such as the Pectra Upgrade.

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Some time ago, Pintu News reported that Holesky faced various obstacles during the trial of the Pectra Upgrade, a major protocol update scheduled for release on the Ethereum mainnet in the second quarter of 2025.

One of the main problems is the congested validator exit queue, which can take up to a year for validators who want to leave the network.

In addition, some major execution clients such as Geth, Nethermind, and Besu had used incorrect deposit contract addresses, causing bugs in the execution layer and triggering chain splits that weakened network stability.

This makes Holesky not ideal for full-cycle testing of validator or other community scenarios, although the network still allows deposit testing.

New Testnet “Hoodi” Will Take Over Holesky’s Role

As a solution, the Ethereum Foundation introduced Hoodi, a new testnet that will take over the testing of Pectra updates. This testnet is scheduled to go live on March 26, 2025 at epoch 2048 at 07:37 UTC.

Staking operators and infrastructure providers are encouraged to migrate their tests to Hoodi as soon as possible. Ethereum stated that Hoodi will be used until September 2028, while the Sepolia testnet will be retired in September 2026.

Holesky itself will still be operational until the end of its support period and will likely be used for limited internal testing, such as gas limit improvement experiments and other protocol-level testing.

Impact on Ethereum Ecosystem and Market Sentiment

Ethereum’s move to optimize its testnet infrastructure aims to improve the efficiency and reliability of testing before new features are released on the mainnet. This is important so that major network upgrades like Pectra can be rolled out without a hitch.

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On the other hand, Ethereum (ETH) has been under market pressure, with prices dropping around 26% in the past month, and is currently trading at around IDR 32.5 million (21/3/25).

However, on-chain metrics indicate a positive long-term sentiment. Only 6.38% of total ETH supply remains on centralized exchanges, the lowest since Ethereum’s launch, according to a report by Crypto News (3/20). This suggests that many investors are moving their ETH into cold storage, signaling a desire for long-term holds.

Ethereum Transaction Fees Decrease: A Positive Signal for Adoption

In addition, Ethereum’s transaction fees have also plummeted to an average of just €6.78 ($0.41) per transfer, the lowest level since August last year. This contrasts with peak fees that once reached Rp251,208 ($15.21) in the past two years.

Low fees indicate reduced network congestion, which has historically been a healthy signal for Ethereum’s long-term growth, particularly for application development and institutional adoption.

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Reference:

• Cryptonews. Ethereum Core Developers to Phase Out Holesky Testnet by September 2025. Accessed March 21, 2025.
• Crypto Slate. Ethereum to end support for Holesky testnet by September 2025. Accessed March 21, 2025.
• The Block. Ethereum developers to end support for Holesky testnet in September. Accessed March 21, 2025.