Coindesk reported that the Ethereum developer’s latest Shadow Fork could provide an adequate testing ground for the upcoming Shanghai upgrade. The developers have stated that they have successfully created a copy of the blockchain. This testing could bring the platform closer to the highly anticipated Shanghai Hard Fork.
The report notes that Ethereum Foundations DevOps engineer, Parithosh Jayathi, executed the shadow fork at 10:40 UTC. Since then, various glitches where noted in Ethereum’s nodes that use Geth clients, according to fellow Ethereum software developer Marius Van Der Wilden.
A client is a software used by noting that is operating in the blockchain. Coindesk notes Geth as Ethereum’s most popular client. Moreover, Van Der Wijden has told the publication that Ethereum developers are working on “syncing Geth clients back up with the rest of the network.”
Additionally, as preparation for the highly-anticipated Shanghai upgrade continues, there will be a series of “test forks that copy the data from the main network (Mainnet) to a testing environment.” The Shanghai Hard Fork is an upgrade that will reportedly “unlock staked ether (ETH) withdrawals,” according to the report.
Furthermore, Coindesk notes that a shadow fork tends to be a smaller test fork that occurs with some necessary changes. These are set to be addressed well before Shanghai occurs within the main protocol function. Coindesk states that, “Ethereum used several shadow forks for testing ahead of last year’s big shift to a proof-of-stake network, known as the Merge.”
Through that preceding shadow fork, Ethereum developers placed their focus on a test environment for “staked ETH withdrawals as well as improvements to reduce gas costs.” Conversely, this shadow fork brings into view the Shanghai upgrade that is expected to arrive in March 2023.