@ethereumjs/block v3.1.0

Clique/PoA Support

This release introduces Clique/PoA support for the Block library, see the main PR #1032 as well as the follow-up PRs #1074 and PR #1088. The BlockHeader.validate() function now properly validates the various Clique/PoA-specific properties (extraData checks and others, see API documentation) and BlockHeader.validateConsensus() can be used to properly validate that a Clique/PoA block has the correct signature.

For sealing a block on instantiation there is a new cliqueSigner constructor option:

const cliqueSigner = Buffer.from('PRIVATE_KEY_HEX_STRING', 'hex')
const block = Block.fromHeaderData(headerData, { cliqueSigner })

Additionally there are the following new utility methods for Clique/PoA related functionality in the BlockHeader class:

• BlockHeader.validateCliqueDifficulty(blockchain: Blockchain): boolean
• BlockHeader.cliqueSigHash()
• BlockHeader.cliqueIsEpochTransition(): boolean
• BlockHeader.cliqueExtraVanity(): Buffer
• BlockHeader.cliqueExtraSeal(): Buffer
• BlockHeader.cliqueEpochTransitionSigners(): Address[]
• BlockHeader.cliqueVerifySignature(signerList: Address[]): boolean
• BlockHeader.cliqueSigner(): Address

See the API docs for a detailed documentation. Note that these methods will throw if called in a non-Clique/PoA context.

Other Changes

• The Common instance passed is now copied to avoid side-effects towards the outer common instance on HF updates, PR #1089
• Fixed a bug where txs have been created with the wrong HF when hardforkByBlockNumber is used along with the static constructors, PR #1089
• Fixed a bug where Common has not been passed to the returned block in the blockFromRpc() method, PR #1032