How do you use a block explorer?
- Author
- CRYPTO PORT Editorial
- Published
- Updated
- Reading time
- 4 min
In short
A block explorer is a website where anyone can look up transactions and addresses on a chain. When a transfer has not arrived, it is the primary source for what is actually happening on the network. No account, no cost.
Key points
- A public site for looking up transactions, addresses and blocks
- The primary source for checking a transfer yourself
- Each chain has its own explorers
- It shows the ledger, never who owns an address
Definition
A web service that indexes and displays the transactions, blocks and addresses recorded on a blockchain, letting you read the ledger without running a node yourself.
The ledger is public but not readable as-is. An explorer pulls the data from nodes and presents it in a usable form. Which site you use depends on the chain — Etherscan for Ethereum, and separate services for Bitcoin and the rest.
Using one is simple: paste a transaction hash, an address or a block number into the search box. A transaction shows the sender, recipient, amount, fee and how many confirmations it has. An address shows its balance and its history.
What matters is remembering that you are reading the ledger and nothing more. The chain does not record who owns an address. Where a site displays a name, that is a label the operator attached from outside information, not an established fact.
Watch out for
- · Support offers or DMs that appear around a lookup are almost always scams
- · Displayed names are inferences, not confirmed ownership
- · Lookalike domains exist, so check the URL before you use one