Hi all, it’s time to test-upgrade Chipnet for 2026 
Having a live test network makes it a bit easier for ecosystem software to experiment with CHIPs, perform integration testing, and demo new use cases.
For anyone interested, I plan to fork from chipnet at 1757937600 MTP (2025-09-15T12:00:00.000Z) – that’s the same time (on September 15) as the typical chipnet upgrade (on November 15) and mainnet upgrade (on May 15).
I’ll spin up some new “september-net” infrastructure and keep it online through November 15, at which point I’ll redirect everything to chipnet. I plan to use this BCHN branch:
Big thanks to @cculianu for tirelessly testing and optimizing BCHN’s implementation over many months now. 
The 2026 upgrade activation code isn’t expected to differ from last year’s upgrade, but if other node implementations would find it useful, we could maybe also plan another coordinated test upgrade for 1760529600 MTP (“october-net”, 2025-10-15T12:00:00.000Z). (For stability in test applications and block explorers, I’ll likely still keep my infrastructure pointing to the Sept. 15 fork until the actual chipnet upgrade.)
Any volunteers to run nodes and mine are appreciated – I’ll post more detailed instructions here next week on setting up a node and connecting to the network.
Please post connection info, links to software patches, links to your projects, and testing-related tips below. Thanks!