What Are Blockchain Explorers and How Do They Work?
One of the major features of blockchain technology is Transparency. Every transaction taking place on this chain is stored within the network, which makes all information available to the public. It’s more like a self-auditing tool where its block data constantly updates itself every second.
As a result, anyone can view transactions going on in a particular blockchain. Users can view details such as transaction history, number of active addresses, and much more. With Blockchain explorer, you can literally find out how much bitcoin your friend owns and even verify public data yourself.
This guide will fill you in on what blockchain explorer entails.
What Is a Blockchain Explorer
A blockchain explorer is an online ‘google’ tool to view and search for information on the blockchain. You can view it as a torch in the blockchain space that sheds light and allows you to observe all activities going on.
In other words, Blockchain explorer is a search engine for a particular blockchain network. It shows details of a network’s history, price, transaction volume, estimated hash rates, and recent transactions. All transactions on an open-sourced blockchain can be easily accessed through a blockchain explorer.
Etherscan, Ftmscan, Solscan, Avascan, and Polkascan are all popular examples of blockchain explorers. Etherscan is native to Ethereum, and Solscan is similar to Solana. For example, you can find details about thousands of ERC-20 tokens hosted on the Ethereum blockchain by surfing through any Ethereum block explorer.
How Does a Blockchain Explorer Work?
A Blockchain explorer works by leveraging a database hosting all blockchains in a searchable format and tables. Typically, they collate all updated transactions and blocks and organize them in a more refined manner.
Through their in-built search engines, users can explore different metrics sorted into categories such as prices, hash rates, wallet addresses, transaction IDs, etc. Usually, most blockchain explorers use relational databases, SQL databases, and an API.
How to Use a Blockchain Explorer
Since blockchain explorers work like search engines, using them is as simple as visiting the explorer’s official website and searching for your metrics.
Popular metrics include block info, wallet address, and transaction hash key. The home page of many explorers, including Etherscan, directly shows you real-time data of transactors and ‘mempools.’
Basically, mempools are where unconfirmed transactions can be found. The bigger the size of the mempool, the longer it will take for a transaction to be validated.
Also, you can access data about a particular transaction with your transaction hash. All you have to do is input it into the search bar and know whether your transaction has been confirmed or not.
Why Should You Use a Blockchain Explorer
While many blockchain explorers help to see cryptocurrency transactions and related data, how important are they? Why should an average crypto enthusiast care?
Simply put, A block explorer, like Etherscan, can clarify several problems for active users. For example, knowing your transaction’s status can help you reach your transaction and understand why it might be pending.
Using block explorer also gets you accustomed to network fees, transaction fees, and more. For example, with Etherscan, you can determine how much gas fee to expect in your future transactions since you’re already familiar with the previous figures.
Wrapping Up
For a crypto user, block explorers offer several benefits to performing technical analysis on a specific blockchain.
Details such as hash rate, gas fees, daily transaction volumes, etc., can easily be accessed with this online tool.
With this tool, you can also surf through data for any crypto in the news for a cyber attack. Overall, blockchain explorers are a huge data source for all crypto enthusiasts, regardless of their experience level.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the writer and not of this platform.
