- Ethereum developers are set to introduce a new testnet named Hoodi to further evaluate the Pectra upgrade prior to its mainnet rollout.
- The primary focus of Hoodi will be to test validator exits.
- The launch of Hoodi comes after challenges experienced during the Pectra launch on the Holesky and Sepolia testnets.
On Thursday, Ethereum developers revealed plans to launch a new testnet called “Hoodi,” designed to allow validators and infrastructure providers to thoroughly assess the forthcoming Pectra upgrade ahead of its deployment on the mainnet, according to Tim Beiko, who oversees Ethereum’s core protocol discussions.
Ethereum to initiate Pectra upgrade on new testnet
During the recent All Core Developers Consensus (ACDC) call, developers opted to launch Hoodi specifically to evaluate the process of validator exits — which refers to the removal of a validator from block attestation and consensus roles.
The introduction of Hoodi follows configuration complications with execution layer clients on Holesky and Sepolia that disrupted effective testing of Pectra on those testnets.
Testnets serve as experimental environments where significant Ethereum technical upgrades can be launched and assessed prior to full deployment on the mainnet.
Hoodi will utilize a configuration and validator count similar to that of the Ethereum mainnet. The team aims to launch the Hoodi testnet on Monday, with plans to activate the Pectra upgrade on March 26.
Pectra is anticipated to be implemented on the mainnet at least 30 days after the successful Hoodi upgrade, likely occurring in April or early May.
“Once Pectra activates successfully on Hoodi, a mainnet fork time for Pectra will be established. This will occur at least 30 days post-Hoodi fork, though it may be extended if infrastructure providers require additional testing time on Hoodi,” developers noted in a post on Ethereum Magician.
Pectra will introduce various enhancements to Ethereum, including transaction batching, sponsored transactions, gas fee payments in other ERC-20 tokens, and wallet recovery — collectively referred to as ‘account abstraction.’ Additional significant upgrades include increasing the maximum staking balance from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH to allow validators to consolidate holdings, along with an expansion of blob spaces within Ethereum blocks.