The Ethereum Foundation stated in its official blog that during the activation process of the Pectra testnet, issues were exposed with the configuration changes of deposit contracts on the Ethereum testnet on the client side. Although the recovery process of the Sepolia network was relatively direct and has now been fully restored, the Holesky network has experienced a large number of inactive leaks in the recovery mechanism. The Holesky network has since completed final confirmation, but it will take approximately one year for the exiting validators to be completely removed from the validator set. Although stakers can test deposits, merges, and all other Pectra features, the size of the exit queue makes it difficult for Holesky to test the complete validator lifecycle within a reasonable time frame. To address this issue, a new testing network has been launched: Hoodi。 It will activate the Pectra network upgrade at epoch 2048 (Wednesday, March 26, 2025 at 15:37:12 Beijing time). In the future, pledge operators and infrastructure providers should use Hoodi for validator testing. In order to allow time for migration, the Holesky testnet will support it until September 2025. All other Pectra features can be tested on Holesky except for validator exit.
Summary of Testing Network and Its Applications:
Holesky： Authenticator and Pledge Provider (expected termination date is September 30, 2025). Client developers will also use Holesky testing to increase gas restrictions and perform other protocol stress tests.
Sepolia： Application and tool developers (expected termination date is September 30, 2026).
Hoodi： Validators and pledge providers (expected termination date is September 30, 2028).
Planned Sepolia alternative: expected to be launched in March 2026.
