Ethereum Prepares Holesky Shutdown as Active Addresses

TLDR

Table of Contents

Holesky will be fully decommissioned after the Fusaka upgrade in November 2025.
Ethereum hit 19.45 million active addresses in August, highest since May 2021.
Ethereum replaced Holesky with the new Hoodi testnet in March 2025.
BitMine increased ETH holdings by 12 percent, now holding 1.71 million ETH.

Ethereum is preparing to shut down its Holesky testnet after two years of use. This move comes at a time when monthly active Ethereum addresses have reached their highest point since May 2021. Developers plan to end Holesky support after the upcoming Fusaka upgrade, scheduled to finalize in November 2025.

Holesky to Be Decommissioned Following Fusaka Upgrade

The Ethereum Foundation has confirmed that the Holesky testnet will be fully shut down by November 2025. Holesky was launched in 2023 as a large-scale testnet focused on validation and staking infrastructure. It supported testing for key upgrades such as Dencun and Pectra.

Holesky helped simulate mainnet conditions at scale, which was useful during early upgrade testing. However, after Pectra went live in May 2025, the network began facing technical issues. Validators frequently went offline, causing long exit queues and slowing down development workflows. Developers cited these problems as a main reason for the decision to end Holesky.

Support for Holesky will officially end two weeks after the Fusaka upgrade is finalized. Once this happens, the network will no longer be maintained by Ethereum’s client, testing, or infrastructure teams.

New Testnet ‘Hoodi’ Replaces Holesky

In response to Holesky’s problems, Ethereum introduced a new testnet called Hoodi in March 2025. This testnet is designed to support upcoming upgrades and avoid the validator issues that affected Holesky.

Hoodi comes with a fresh validator set and full support for the features included in the Pectra upgrade. It is also being prepared to handle Fusaka and future protocol changes. Ethereum developers aim to make Hoodi a more reliable test environment for developers and network participants.

While Hoodi focuses on infrastructure testing, Sepolia remains Ethereum’s preferred testnet for application and smart contract development. Sepolia continues to be widely used for dapp testing due to its smaller scale and stable performance.

Ethereum Network Activity Reaches New Highs

Ethereum recorded 19.45 million active addresses in August 2025, according to data from Everstake. This is the highest level since May 2021, when the network peaked at 20.27 million active addresses. This figure counts all unique wallet addresses that interacted with the network during the month.

The rise in activity has been linked to growing developer activity and increased interest in Ethereum-based applications. Transactions related to NFTs, staking, DeFi, and token transfers were among the major contributors to the surge.

Large investors have also increased their ETH holdings. BitMine reported holding 1.71 million ETH in its treasury, showing a 12% increase this year. BlackRock’s Ethereum ETF recorded $314 million in inflows on August 25, and its daily trading volume reached $2.4 billion.

Source: X; Ethereum Active Addresses Data

Open interest on CME Ethereum futures also crossed $10 billion for the first time. The number of large holders in this market hit a new high of 101, indicating growing institutional engagement with ETH.

Everstake stated that the increase in user activity reflects broader development across the Ethereum ecosystem. They noted a rising number of projects being built and deployed on the network.

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