Protocol: Meet Hoodi, Ethereum's New Testnet

Protocol: Meet Hoodi, Ethereum's New Testnet

Also: Microsoft sounds alarm over malware targeting crypto wallets; Holliday raises $20 million for AI protocol; Sam Altman and Razer aim to solve bot problem in gaming

Margot Nijkerk | Edited by Benjamin Schiller Updated Mar 21, 2025 20:37 UTC Published Mar 19, 2025 17:09 UTC

Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly roundup of the biggest stories in crypto tech. I’m Margot Nijkerk, CoinDesk’s Ethereum reporter.

In this issue:

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• Hello, Hoodi: Ethereum Introduces New Testnet
• Microsoft Expresses Concern Over Malware Targeting Coinbase and MetaMask Wallets
• Holliday Raises $20M to Build AI Protocol That Will Eliminate the Need for Smart Contracts in DeFi
• Sam Altman's World Network and Razer Aim to Fix Gaming Bots

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Network news

HELLO, HOODI: ETHEREUM UNVEILS NEW TESTNET: Ethereum developers launched a new testnet, Hoodi, this week, which will be used for the upcoming “Pectra” blockchain upgrade. The Pectra upgrade is set to launch on Hoodi on March 26, and if all goes well, the long-awaited upgrade will be pushed to the Ethereum mainnet in about 30 days, according to the network’s lead developers. Hoodi was created after Pectra tests failed on other Ethereum testnets like Holesky and Sepolia, which were not completed properly due to issues with their setup. Testnets like Holesky, Sepolia, and Hoodi are designed to mimic the Ethereum mainnet, allowing developers to test code changes or major upgrades like Pectra in a low-stakes environment before they are pushed to the mainnet. — Margot Nijkerk Read more.

MICROSOFT WARNING OF MALWARE TARGETING COINBASE AND METAMASK WALLETS: Tech giant Microsoft has published a new report warning of malware targeting 20 of the most popular cryptocurrency wallets used with the Google Chrome extension. Researchers from Microsoft’s incident response team have raised the alarm about a new remote access trojan (RAT), dubbed StilachiRAT, that can use “sophisticated techniques to evade detection, persist in the target environment, and extract sensitive data,” the team said in a blog post. The malware was discovered in November 2024 and can steal users’ wallet information and any credentials, including usernames and passwords, stored in their Google Chrome browser. StilachiRAT targets 20 crypto wallets, including popular ones like MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, Phantom, OKX Wallet, and BNB Chain Wallet. While the malware has not been widely distributed, Microsoft said it was unable to determine which organization was behind the threat and provided some mitigation recommendations for current victims, including installing antivirus software. — Margot Nijkerk Read more.

HALLIDAY RAISES $20M

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