Ethereum Launches New Testnet “Hoodi” to Wrap Up Pectra Testing

Last updated on March 15th, 2025 at 09:53 am

According to Ethereum developer Tim Beiko , the Pectra mainnet deployment could occur 30+ days after successful Hoodi testing, potentially in late April.

Ethereum developers have been conducting tests on existing and newly created testnets to assess the implementation of its various features in the upcoming upgrade of its mainnet. Holesky and Sepolia were the two most recent testnets deployed on February 24 and March 5, respectively.

Hoodi is designed as a “long-lived” testnet that will closely mimic the Ethereum mainnet with approximately 1 million validators and an estimated 20 million test-staked ETH spread across various client teams and staking operators. Its primary focus is to test validator exits, a critical process for the Pectra upgrade, though other aspects of Pectra will continue to be evaluated on Holesky and Sepolia.

The Pectra upgrade introduces several significant changes to the Ethereum network. Account abstraction (EIP-7702) will allow users to pay transaction fees with tokens like USD Coin (USDC) instead of ETH. Staking enhancements (EIP-7251) will increase the validator staking limit from 32 to 2048 ETH.

Additional improvements include EIP-7691, which aims to improve transaction scalability and reduce network congestion; EIP-7623, enhancing privacy by allowing users to hide certain transaction details; EIP-2537, optimizing contract execution and reducing gas costs; and EIP-7549, improving interoperability between different Ethereum layer 2 networks.

The Ethereum Foundation initially introduced the Mekong testnet in November 2024 to allow developers to experiment with these new features in preparation for the Pectra upgrade. The sequential deployment of Mekong, Holesky, Sepolia, and now Hoodi represents Ethereum’s methodical approach to ensuring the stability and security of the network before implementing major changes to the mainnet.

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