Blockchain security technology firm BlockSec has launched a new toolkit that enables collaborative testing of block numbers on private chains "forked from any (transaction) location" and on the ethereum mainnet. The developer- and security-researcher-focused toolkit is called "Phalcon Fork," and launched on April 14.
Phalcon Fork aims to have more control over the work done on the testnet, such as transaction testing, analysis and debugging. In the user manual, BlockSec asserts that this additional control comes from being able to easily "fork arbitrary (transaction) locations and block numbers" and retain certain "services and state" from the ethereum mainnet.
“Compared to traditional solutions such as Goerli, Phalcon Fork has the following advantages: Preserves services and state from the mainnet, facilitates fast integration and debugging with other DeFi contracts. [And maintains] access to block information (e.g. , Timestamp, BaseFee, MixDigest)," reads the Phalcon Fork user manual.
Through the toolkit, users can also take advantage of features such as snapshots, which allow them to save certain blockchain locations and revert to them at will during testing. Snapshots essentially record what a user is doing and deploying at a given time.
"Snapshots are especially useful in two scenarios: when a user wants to run a test script multiple times, and he or she just needs to revert to the original snapshot and re-run the script. [Or] when the user wants to save some state and When returning later, he/she can create a snapshot and then revert to this snapshot at a later time," reads the manual. Phalcon Fork also has an integrated faucet so users can earn free ether for the forked network Transactions are carried out on the private chain.
To directly interact with the chain and execute transactions, Phalcon Fork provides a remote procedure call node called Fork RPC, which can be integrated with Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible development frameworks such as Hardhat, Foundry, and Remix or added to MetaMask. Currently, users can only fork from the Ethereum mainnet; however, future support for other blockchains, such as BNB Smart Chain and Arbitrum, has been teased. April was a big month for Ethereum developers as the highly anticipated Shapella hard fork went live on the Ethereum mainnet on April 12th. A major feature of the upgrade enables Ethereum validators to withdraw staked ETH from the beacon chain.
