The Ethereum Foundation stated in its official blog that the Mekong development network was originally intended to provide a place for wallet developers to experiment with user experience (UX) changes, while also giving stakers confidence in future Pectra changes. The Pectra network upgrade has been activated on Ethereum's Sepolia and Holesky testnets. These networks can now be used to test the functionality of Pectra upgrades. In view of this, the Mekong test network will be discontinued on March 7, 2025.
Encourage application and tool developers to use Sepolia to test applications, smart contracts, and other EVM features. Its licensed validator set provides a stable testing environment. In addition, many local development environments also allow testing of replicas of the Ethereum mainnet state.
For stakers and infrastructure providers who are concerned about protocol level testing, it is recommended to wait for the final confirmation of the Holesky testing network or follow the announcement on Ethereum R&D Discord for information on alternative testing locations. For setting up tests for validators, stakers should also consider using the Ephemerie testing website. The network resets once a week and supports lightweight end-to-end testing of the validator lifecycle.
