Ethereum’s Ropsten network, which is an Ethereum clone used for testing, is set to shut down by the end of the month.
Ethereum developer sayThat between 15-31 Dec 2022, nodes and infrastructure on the Ropsten network will be down.
“Most nodes will be deactivated between 15-31 Dec 2022. From now on, Ropsten will no longer have client, test team and infrastructure support.”
The test network that will continue to shut down is the Rinkeby network, which will begin deactivating in mid-2023 and recommends developers migrate to Goerli and Sepolia instead.
The Ethereum ecosystem has a large testnet where developers can test build applications and debug them free of charge before deploying them on the mainnet.
Over the years, both the Ropsten and Rinkeby networks have been used to test Ethereum upgrades before deploying them on the mainnet. After The Merge, Ethereum switched to Proof of Stake, giving Ropsten and Rinkeby not suitable for further use
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