- Holešky retirement: Ethereum will retire the Holešky testnet in late September 2025 after Fusaka test completion.
- Hoodi as replacement: Hoodi will serve as the new long-term staging testnet, while Sepolia remains the primary dApp testing environment.
- Upgrade roadmap: Fusaka (November 2025) improves rollup data distribution, and Glamsterdam (2026) targets faster block times and zk-proof scaling.
- Developer actions: Validators must migrate testing to Hoodi and Sepolia, ensuring updated client configurations.
Ethereum Holešky Shutdown: What You Need to Know
Ethereum is preparing to retire the Holešky testnet in late September 2025, marking the end of a two-year era. The planned shutdown comes after Fusaka’s test sequence concludes, giving developers time to validate workloads before the transition.
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The decision reduces the maintenance burden of supporting multiple testnets while consolidating testing across Hoodi, Sepolia, and Ephemery.
- Holešky → Hoodi: Long-term staging environment
- Sepolia: Primary for dApp testing
- Ephemery: Short-lived validator experiments
This shift ensures Ethereum’s test ecosystem remains lean, reliable, and better aligned with upcoming mainnet changes.
Transition to Hoodi: What Developers Must Do
The Hoodi testnet will replace Holešky as the main validator testing ground. Developers are advised to begin migrating tests gradually, with validator setups and integration tests shifting over in phases.
- Validator keys typically remain local but must be reconfigured for Hoodi’s new genesis and network settings.
- Sepolia remains the go-to testnet for application-level development.
- Ephemery provides an additional option for rapid, short-lived validator trials.
Fusaka: The Next Major Upgrade
The Fusaka hard fork, scheduled for November 2025, introduces critical improvements for rollups and validators:
- Redistributes rollup data access across validators
- Reduces per-node load
- Improves decentralization
- Makes layer-2 transactions faster and cheaper
By cutting node overhead, Fusaka strengthens Ethereum’s scalability and rollup adoption.
Glamsterdam: Ethereum’s 2026 Milestone
Looking further ahead, the Glamsterdam upgrade (2026, under EIP-7782) aims to:
- Reduce block times to six seconds
- Adjust validation mechanics for zk-proof systems
- Boost rollup efficiency and transaction throughput
Together with Fusaka, Glamsterdam sets the stage for Ethereum’s long-term scalability roadmap.
What This Means for Validators and Developers
Validators will need to ensure proper migration from Holešky to Hoodi, verifying configurations and client versions. Developers should plan their testing strategy across Sepolia, Hoodi, and Ephemery depending on use case.
Ethereum’s decision reflects a deliberate streamlining of the testnet ecosystem, preparing the network for the Fusaka and Glamsterdam eras.
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