How to Use Fantom Sonic Testnet Explorer
On October 24, we announced Fantom Sonic and released its testnet environment to the public. The network upgrade will scale Fantom to beyond 2,000 transactions per second with a one-second finality while reducing storage requirements by up to 90%.
The Sonic open testnet allows users to interact with Sonic by submitting transactions and performing swaps to experience its incredible performance directly. The open testnet dashboard offers several ways to view the transactions and blocks on the network by using its explorer, as demonstrated in this tutorial.
— Use search bar
— Find transaction hash
— View blocks
— Frequently asked questions
Use search bar
Once you enter the Sonic open testnet dashboard, the search icon at the top will allow you to search for addresses, transactions, and blocks on the network. The screenshot below shows an address, including its token balances and latest transactions.
By clicking on a transaction in the list, you can view its details, including its hash, sender and recipient, timestamp, gas used, transaction fee, and more.
It is also possible to use the search bar to view a specific transaction directly by entering its transaction hash.
Find transaction hash
To view a specific transaction with the Sonic open testnet explorer, open your connected wallet and click on the desired transaction. We use MetaMask for this part of the tutorial, but the process should be similar for most compatible wallets.
Once you have opened the transaction in your wallet, click View on block explorer at the top, which will take you to the testnet explorer to view your transaction. If the button does not work, click Copy transaction ID instead and paste it into the search bar of the testnet explorer.
View blocks
The Sonic open testnet explorer provides an overview of the most recent blocks on the network or a historical list of all blocks confirmed as shown in the screenshot below.
Frequently asked questions
The launch of Sonic comprises three main components that scale Fantom to new heights:
● A new virtual machine, the Fantom Virtual Machine (FVM), which increases our transaction throughput significantly while maintaining ultra-short finality.
● A new database storage, Carmen, which reduces storage requirements by up to 90%, providing greater cost efficiency for validators and accelerating the Foundation’s ability to deploy archive nodes from weeks to approximately 36 hours.
● An optimized Lachesis consensus mechanism, which brings a vastly improved transaction pool.
Fantom Sonic is in its testnet stage at the moment and will roll out as a mainnet to replace Fantom Opera in spring 2024. Currently, Sonic offers two different testnets: the closed testnet aims to showcase the maximum theoretical limits of Sonic, whereas the open testnet is interactive, allowing any user to experience Sonic directly.
Most importantly, this new virtual machine allows Fantom validators to execute smart contracts more efficiently.
The closed testnet is viewable only and aims to showcase the maximum theoretical limits of Sonic, whereas the open testnet is interactive, allowing any user to experience Sonic directly.
However, there may be even more significant performance gains with further testing that may require a hard fork in the future, but the current plan is not to hard fork Fantom Opera.
