Ethereum core developers are preparing to launch Holesky, a new public testnet intended to become the primary environment for large‑scale staking, infrastructure and protocol-level testing on the network. The testnet was approved to debut in mid‑September 2023, timed around the first anniversary of Ethereum’s Merge, with a genesis event scheduled for September 15 before a configuration issue pushed the actual launch to September 28, 2023. Holesky is named after Prague’s Nádraží Holešovice station and is designed as the first long‑lived Ethereum testnet that has been proof‑of‑stake “from genesis,” rather than evolving from an earlier proof‑of‑work chain. Holesky is being introduced to replace the Goerli testnet for core protocol and validator testing, while Sepolia continues as the main testnet for decentralized application and general EVM smart contract development. The new network is engineered to support around 1.4 million validators—more than Ethereum mainnet and Goerli combined—and will have an initial supply of 1.6 billion testnet ETH to ensure developers and node operators are not constrained by token scarcity when testing complex infrastructure and staking setups. By offering a much larger, purpose‑built environment for experiments in distributed validator technology, client diversity, and future upgrades, Holesky is intended to improve the reliability and safety of changes before they reach Ethereum mainnet.

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