Ethereum is officially sunsetting its oldest testnet. Ropsten will go dark on December 31, 2022, with the shutdown already underway as of late November. Several infrastructure providers and validators have already pulled the plug, and the rest are expected to follow within weeks.
But Ropsten isn’t alone. Rinkeby testnet is next on the chopping block, slated to close mid-2023. This gives developers a grace period to migrate their apps to the newer alternatives: Goerli or Sepolia.
Why the cleanup?
These legacy testnets played a crucial role during Ethereum’s major upgrades, especially the Merge. Now that the heavy lifting is done, the community is consolidating to streamline testing infrastructure. Etherscan already dropped support for both networks back in October.
The Ethereum Foundation is still workshopping new standards for a dedicated staker-developer network, with discussions ongoing in Ethereum Magicians forums and community calls.
Bottom line: If you’re still running on Ropsten or Rinkeby, now’s the time to migrate. Goerli and Sepolia are your move.
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Ethereum's Ropsten Testnet Is Shutting Down—Here's What Devs Need to Know
Ethereum is officially sunsetting its oldest testnet. Ropsten will go dark on December 31, 2022, with the shutdown already underway as of late November. Several infrastructure providers and validators have already pulled the plug, and the rest are expected to follow within weeks.
But Ropsten isn’t alone. Rinkeby testnet is next on the chopping block, slated to close mid-2023. This gives developers a grace period to migrate their apps to the newer alternatives: Goerli or Sepolia.
Why the cleanup?
These legacy testnets played a crucial role during Ethereum’s major upgrades, especially the Merge. Now that the heavy lifting is done, the community is consolidating to streamline testing infrastructure. Etherscan already dropped support for both networks back in October.
The Ethereum Foundation is still workshopping new standards for a dedicated staker-developer network, with discussions ongoing in Ethereum Magicians forums and community calls.
Bottom line: If you’re still running on Ropsten or Rinkeby, now’s the time to migrate. Goerli and Sepolia are your move.