Reading Block Explorers
Learn to track transactions, verify balances, and investigate on-chain activity like a blockchain detective
What You'll Learn
Your Window into the Blockchain
Block explorers are like Google for blockchains. They let you search and view every transaction, wallet, and smart contract on the network. Everything on the blockchain is public—explorers just make it readable for humans.
Think of a block explorer as a search engine combined with a financial audit tool. You can see where money came from, where it went, when it moved, and how much it cost. This transparency is what makes blockchain revolutionary.
Pro Tip: Bookmark These
Save your favorite explorers: Etherscan.io for Ethereum, Solscan.io for Solana, Blockchain.com for Bitcoin. You'll use them constantly in DeFi!
What Can You Search?
Block explorers let you search for:
🔹 Transaction Hash (TxHash): A unique ID for every transaction, like a receipt number. Example: 0x123abc...
🔹 Wallet Address: Any public address to see its balance, transactions, and tokens. Example: 0x742d35...
🔹 Block Number: A specific block in the chain to see all its transactions. Example: Block 15234567
🔹 Token Contract: Smart contract addresses to see token supply, holders, and transfers. Example: USDC contract
🔹 ENS Names: Human-readable names like vitalik.eth instead of long addresses.
Anatomy of a Transaction
Try It Yourself
Practice Searching
Reading Wallet Pages
When you search for a wallet address, you'll see:
📊 Overview: Total balance in native token (ETH/SOL) and USD value
🪙 Token Holdings: All tokens owned by this wallet with values
📜 Transaction History: Every transaction in and out, sortable by date
📈 Analytics: Charts showing balance over time and transaction patterns
🤖 Smart Contract Interactions: DeFi protocols used, NFTs owned, etc.
Privacy Note
Remember: All blockchain activity is public! Anyone can see your balance and transactions if they know your address. This is why some people use multiple wallets.
Popular Block Explorers
Etherscan
The most popular Ethereum explorer. Features advanced analytics, verified contracts, and gas tracker.
Visit Etherscan →Solscan
Best Solana explorer with detailed transaction info, NFT tracking, and DeFi analytics.
Visit Solscan →Blockchain.com
Original Bitcoin explorer. Simple interface for BTC transactions and addresses.
Visit Blockchain →Check Your Understanding
Blockchain Detective Training
- Go to Etherscan.io and search for "vitalik.eth"
- Find Vitalik's current ETH balance and note how many tokens he holds
- Click on a recent transaction and identify: sender, receiver, amount, and gas fee
- Go to Solscan.io and explore the latest blocks
- Find a transaction with multiple token transfers (look for complex DeFi transactions)
- Search for the USDC token contract on Ethereum (hint: it's verified)
- Check how many USDC holders exist and the total supply
- Find your own wallet address and verify your balance matches your wallet app
- Look up a failed transaction (search recent blocks) and see why it failed
- Find gas prices for the last 24 hours using the gas tracker