BlockSec, a blockchain security company, has released a new toolset that allows for collaborative testing on private chains “forked from arbitrary (transaction) positions” and block numbers on the Ethereum mainnet. The “Phalcon Fork” is a developer and security researcher-focused toolset released by BlockSec on April 14.
The Phalcon Fork project intends to provide users more control over tasks done on test nets such as transaction testing, analysis, and debugging. According to the user manual, this added power stems from the ability to “fork arbitrary (transaction) positions and block numbers” and preserve specific “services and states” from the Ethereum mainnet.
“When compared to traditional solutions such as Goerli […] Phalcon Fork has the following advantages: it retains mainnet services and states, allowing for rapid integration and debugging with other DeFi contracts.” “[And retain] complete control over block information (e.g., Timestamp, BaseFee, MixDigest),” according to the Phalcon Fork user manual.
Users may also use the toolkit’s capabilities such as snapshots, which allow them to record certain blockchain locations and revert to them at any time during their testing operations. The snapshots simply record the transactions that the user is executing and deploying at any given time.The snapshot capability comes in handy in the following two situations: When a user wishes to run a testing script several times, he or she just needs to revert to the initial snapshot and execute the script. [Or] If a user wishes to store some states and return to them later, he or she can make a snapshot and then revert to it,” the document says.
Phalcon Fork also has an integrated faucet, allowing users to obtain free fork network Ether (ETH) to execute transactions on private chains. Fork RPC, a Remote Procedure Call (RPC) node provided by Phalcon Fork, may be combined with Ethereum Virtual Machine compatible development frameworks like as Hardhat, Foundry, and Remix, or added to MetaMask, to directly communicate with the chains and perform transactions.
Users may now only fork from the Ethereum mainnet, although potential support for alternative blockchains like as the Binance Smart Chain and Arbitrum has been hinted at.
April was a big month for Ethereum developers since the long-awaited Shapella hard fork went live on the Ethereum mainnet without a hitch on April 12. One significant element of the update is the ability for Ethereum validators to withdraw staked ETH from the Beacon Chain.
