Ethereum developers are discontinuing support for the Holesky testnet in September due to mass exit of validators, following disruptions during the Pectra upgrade testing.

According to the recent announcement on Ethereum Foundation blog, developer support for the Ethereum’ (ETH) Holesky testnet will be discontinued this September. Until then, developers will be able to test deposits, consolidations, and other Pectra features on Holesky. However, developers are advised not to use Holesky to test validator exits because the exit queue is too long, which slows down the testing process. Instead, exit validator testing is to be done on the new Hoodi testsnet, which will activate the Pectra upgrade on March 26.

The decision to discontinue support for Holesky comes after major issues arose during the Pectra upgrade testing, leading to a mass exit of validators from the network. While Holesky is now functional again, the process of removing all the exited validators will take about one year, which impedes using the testnet for testing scenarios involving validator exits.

The sunsetting of Holesky is noteworthy as it has served as a major testnet for testing of Ethereum network upgrade features for over 2 years, since its launch in September 2023. The end of life is slated for Sep. 30. However, the testnet might be repurposed for testing gas limit increases and other protocol tests.

Priori to Holesky, Ethereum developers had already sunsetted several testnets, namely Kiln, Rinkebery, Ropsten, and Goerli.