Ethereum developers have been forced to regroup after failing to launch a new test network, Holesky, on Sept. 16.
The testnet attempted to launch with about 1.5 million validators but failed due to a misconfiguration in the source code, according to Ethereum infrastructure firm Nethermind in a Sept. 16 post.
Ethereum Foundation engineer Parithosh Jayanthi shed more light on the matter, explaining that while some validators manually fixed the configuration issue — enabling Holesky testnet to start —there weren’t enough active validators for the network to reach finality.
Nethermind said Ethereum Foundation’s developers agreed to try again a week from the time of the post — presumably around Sept. 23.
Jayanthi said it’s “extremely likely” the network will properly launch within the next two weeks once the technical issue is resolved.
He apologized for the failed launch and said the team will ensure the same problem is prevented in the future.
Holesky is designed to facilitate staking, infrastructure, and protocol development on the Ethereum network. It’s replacing the Goerli testnet after developers began complaining that Goerli had too low of a supply of Goerli ETH to adequately handle testing needs.
Anthony Sassano, host of Ethereum show The Daily Gwei previously said the launch would be the largest public testnet in Ethereum history.