POA Network is proud to present BlockScout. Since launching the network in December of 2017, we’ve been diligently working to create an open source block explorer that is fast, secure, and easy to use. Currently, Etherscan is the most widely used block explorer in the Ethereum network, but it lacks some important features and is closed source. We set out to create an alternative block explorer built with transparency, and one that would benefit other sidechains, private chains, and Ethereum itself.

When we started, we experimented with several languages before settling on Elixir, which utilizes the Erlang VM. Elixir is known for it’s scalability and fault-tolerant systems, exactly what we needed to build a robust block explorer from scratch.

Our v1 release is only weeks away, and we are excited to showcase some of the features and functionality available with BlockScout!

Real-time UI

No more waiting, refreshing, waiting and refreshing to view block confirmations. Everything from blocks, transactions, balances, and tokens transfers are displayed in real-time. You can simply stay on your account page to view transactions and balance updates as they happen on the blockchain.

Real-time blocks being validated by POA Network.

Block confirmations increasing with each incoming block.

Token Support

Our v1 release includes support for both ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens. Token information is displayed directly on the transactions tab in an easy to read format.

Originally slated for v2, we’ve expedited ERC-721 support due to DApp developer needs. Several DApps recently migrated from Ethereum to POA Network to take advantage of lower cost transactions and increased speed. These include DopeRaider and EverDragons, with more on the way. We are developing additional features for ERC-721 tokens as DApps continue to move to the POA Network.

Contract Verification

Smart contract verification promotes transparency by providing contract code for independent verification. This is vital to a public blockchain, and we felt it was important to include in v1 of our explorer. Users can interact with a verified contract in the Read Smart Contract tab. Additional features will follow in subsequent releases.

API

Our API is well documented and built to support developers. The functionality is purposefully similar to Etherscan, allowing current Etherscan users to easily port to BlockScout without a lot of refactoring. Our v1 release includes several endpoints and a Try it Out feature to assist with development and testing.

Special Thanks

We wanted to thank ETHPrize for their generous bounty that helped provide us with structure to build this awesome explorer. We hope to surpass their expectations in the coming months as we continue to build useful enhancements and new features for the Ethereum ecosystem.

If you would like to learn more about BlockScout and contribute to its development, check out our GitHub here!

Connect with us:

Website: https://poa.network/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/poanetwork

Medium: https://medium.com/poa-network

Forum: https://forum.poa.network/

Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/poa

Telegram: https://t.me/poa_network/