Ethereum developers have launched a new testnet named Hoodi for the final testing of the Pectra upgrade.

BlockBeats News, March 14th, According to this Thursday's All Devs Call, Ethereum Foundation developers will be launching a new testnet named Hoodi, which will test the final Pectra deployment before mainnet activation. This new "long-term" testnet is expected to launch on March 17th.

Previously, the Pectra activation on the Holesky and Sepolia testnets encountered configuration issues, causing a delay in the official release schedule.

The Pectra upgrade aims to improve Ethereum's usability and scalability. It includes reducing data availability costs by increasing the number of "blob" transactions on layer 2 networks, significantly raising the staking limit, and introducing account abstraction, greatly expanding the functionality of smart contracts and wallets.

Pectra is expected to be activated on the Ethereum mainnet as early as April 25th, approximately 30 days after the deployment upgrade plan on the new Hoodi testnet.