According to blockchain staking service provider Everstake, the official Ethereum team announced at a coordination conference call for the Holešky testnet launch that it plans to launch a new public testnet "Holešky" in September to replace the Goerli testnet and become a staking, infrastructure and protocol developer testnet.
Currently, Ethereum has two public testnets:
Sepolia: Allows developers to test contracts and applications.
Goerli: Allows protocol developers to test network upgrades and allows stakers to test running validators.
Holešky is designed to replace Goerli and allow public validators to join. This new testnet is particularly useful for node operators and public testing of DVT (Distributed Validator Technology) projects; while decentralized application (DApps) testing, smart contracts and other EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) functions can still be tested on the existing Sepolia testnet.
Ethereum to launch new Holešky testnet in mid-September
Goerli is expected to reach end of life in the fourth quarter of this year, so the Ethereum team recommends launching Holešky no later than September to prepare for the closure of Goerli.
Holešky Berlin Genesis Event is tentatively scheduled for 14:00 GMT on September 15, 2023 (22:00 Taipei time on September 15). According to the rough schedule released at the meeting, if the Genesis Event on September 15 is carried out as scheduled and the subsequent operation goes smoothly, Holešky will be officially opened to the public on October 1.
Holešky will not completely replace Goerli immediately after its launch, and Goerli will be gradually closed. The life cycle of Holešky is expected to be 3-5 years. Its name is inspired by the Nádraží Holešovice railway station in Prague, Czech Republic.
Holešky wants to solve the problem of "testnet scalpers"
It is understood that the first discussion of the Holešky testnet began at the end of last year. In response to the problem of insufficient supply of testnet tokens in February this year, Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko said that he would launch a new testnet Holešky to solve the problem of test coins being claimed by non-developers.
As Goerli testnet coins began to gain value, the testnet scalping problem became more and more serious, resulting in a large number of developers being unable to successfully obtain testnet tokens.
In March this year, it was reported that an inspirational man who received Goerli test network tokens through the faucet every day exchanged up to 527,281 Goerli ETH (GETH) into ETH, BOB and other tokens, and successfully purchased the blue-chip NFT CryptoPunk#9682almost for free.
Whether the new testnet Holešky can improve the problem of severe shortage of testnet tokens due to large-scale collection by non-developers remains to be seen.