- Hoodi will focus on testing validator exits, addressing limitations present in Ethereum’s Holesky testnet due to a backlog in its exit queue.
- The Pectra upgrade, designed to enhance Ethereum’s scalability and usability, is slated for mainnet activation as early as April 25, following a 30-day testing period on Hoodi.
Ethereum Foundation announced that developers would soon be launching a new testnet dubbed Hoodi next week around March 17. The announcement comes during the Developer’s conference call on Thursday, with the scheduled date of launch for the Hoodi testnet as March 17. This development comes as the Pectra upgrade launch on Holesky testnet faced finality issues recently.
Addressing the Challenges Faced by Holesky Testnet
The Holesky testnet serves as a testing bed before getting the Pectra upgrade to the Ethereum mainnet. Recently, it experienced a loss of finality two weeks ago due to a configuration bug during the activation of the Pectra upgrade. While the network regained finality on Monday, it remains partially limited and not fully functional for all research activities.
During yesterday’s developers’ call, the Ethereum researchers and developers discussed addressing the issue stemming from the problematic Holesky and Sepolia hard forks, as highlighted in our previous article. Also, during the discussions, held last week, the team considered implementing a “shadow fork” of the Holesky testnet to further investigate the anticipated Pectra upgrade.
Following Thursday’s call, the developers decided to launch a new testnet, named Hoodi, instead of pursuing alternative proposals. The Hoodi testnet will serve as a dedicated network for Ethereum researchers to test validator exists, a feature unavailable on Holesky due to a backlog in its exit queue. Meanwhile, Holesky and Sepolia will continue to address other research priorities. The minutes of yesterday’s meeting read:
This option was chosen to avoid client teams writing custom code to clear the Holesky exit queue, which could lead to further bugs and delay work on Pectra fixes and Fusaka implementations.
Ethereum Pectra Upgrade Targets April Mainnet Activation
The highly anticipated Pectra upgrade aims to enhance Ethereum’s usability and scalability with several key advancements. These include reducing data availability costs by increasing “blob” transactions for Layer 2 solutions, raising staking limits, and introducing account abstraction to expand the capabilities of smart contracts and wallets.
The upgrade could go live on Ethereum’s mainnet as early as April 25, roughly 30 days after its scheduled deployment on the newly launched Hoodi testnet. The Ethereum Foundation has committed significant resources to the Hoodi testnet, planning to operate it with a validator count comparable to the Ethereum mainnet to ensure comprehensive testing.
The ETH price has come under severe selling pressure recently, dropping under $2,000 levels and eyeing a fall further to $1,500. The successful implementation of the Pectra upgrade on the miannet would be crucial to arrest the downfall.
