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like Previously announcedThe Ropsten network has been shut down and will be shut down in the coming weeks. Over the past few months, infrastructure providers have gradually stopped supporting the network and validator participation rates have steadily declined.
The vast majority of remaining verification nodes will be shut down from December 15 to 31, 2022. After that, Ropsten will no longer be supported by customers, testing teams, or infrastructure.
As a reminder, the next testnet to be sunset is Rinkeby. The network will be available until mid-2023 to give users and app developers the opportunity to move to Goerli or Sepolia. However, Rinkeby does not support The Merge, and will not support future network upgrades. It is no longer a feature-equivalent replica of the Ethereum mainnet.
The rejections of the built-in and legacy testnet have provided an opportunity for the Ethereum community to rethink its broader approach to testing networks. Proposals on SANs for stakeholders versus developers, end-of-life standards for testnets, and more are discussed. Ethereum magicians And in community calls. If you have strong opinions about the future of Ethereum testnets, now is a good time to voice them!
Cover image by Michael Wedel
