Introducing Ethernow: Real-Time Observability for Ethereum

On-chain data tells you what has happened. Pre-chain data tells you why it is happening. For anyone who has ever felt transaction anxiety, scratched their head over unexpected slippage, or realized they have been rekt by a MEV bot, visibility into Ethereum’s ephemeral pre-chain layer is often the missing link. 

This is why we’re excited to introduce a preview release of Ethernow, a new class of real-time transaction explorers that enables end-users to see what is happening at the core of Ethereum, in real-time. We can all finally observe Ethereum's beautifully engineered yet-still-mysterious inner workings. 

The Observability Challenge

Observability has emerged as a front-and-center challenge for leading public blockchain networks such as Ethereum. While L1 and L2 chains have made huge gains in financial transparency, untangling the dark forest of pre-chain activity has remained stubbornly opaque. These weak observability characteristics result from the ephemeral, global, constantly-in-flux public mempool and the growing impact of private transaction pools from builders and OFAs. This, in turn, limits participants' trust and confidence when transacting.

Today’s general lack of pre-chain observability has created unambiguous information asymmetries that effectively create a two-lane system for consumers of blockspace. This nets confusion, mistakes, exploitation, lost opportunities, and even unnecessary regulatory risk. 

With Ethernow, all network participants can access real-time pre-chain observability equally. In other words, transparency, knowledge, and protection is now at your fingertips. 

Ethernow: A New Class of Transaction Explorer

Ethereum, at its core, is beautiful and dynamic. You can now witness it operate in real-time with Ethernow. Watch as new transactions hit the public mempool and complete their journey to finalization. Witness the birth of new blocks. Filter to observe a specific protocol or asset type in action. And more. 

Key Features of Ethernow:

• Real-time Transaction Visibility: Watch transactions as they enter the public mempool and go from pending to finalized on-chain.
• Private transactions: See the percentage of private versus public transactions per block, which transactions are private, and how they impact transaction ordering.
• Historical search: Go back in time to study the composition and relevant metrics of prior blocks. Note: this preview release includes data up to 60 days old. Future releases will include access to more historical data.
• Block Construction: Access metrics on block composition, including private versus public transaction ratio, EOA versus smart contract ratio, fee recipient, and more.
• Transaction View: Access details on a transaction status and uncover its journey from newly transmitted transaction to confirmation. Or replacement. Or failure. Or being dropped. See the full JSON payload for each transaction as well.
• Filtering: Filter the view of the mempool to only see transactions that are interesting to you. Note: this preview release offers limited filtering functionality. Future releases will add many new filtering capabilities.
• Saved Searches: First, connect your wallet or login via email. Then, customize your experience by saving your filters for future use.  
• Historical Mempool Data Archive: Access the most comprehensive pre-chain transaction archive in the community dating back to November 2019. Please note that Mempool Data Archive is shared on CC  Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license and intended for non-commercial/research use.
• And more coming soon…

The design and development of Ethernow was made possible by a grant from the Ethereum Foundation. We are grateful for their support and guidance. 

Early Preview: Go Hands-On Today 

We are thrilled to invite the community to take a first look at Ethernow. We encourage you to explore the platform, provide feedback through the feedback button, and be a part of this journey. Ethernow tackles the many challenges of Observability and opens new possibilities for understanding and engaging with the Ethereum network.

We look forward to your feedback and collaboration as we continue to innovate and push the boundaries of what is possible in the world of blockchain technology. Thank you for being a part of our journey!