{"id":129468,"date":"2020-12-09T14:52:44","date_gmt":"2020-12-09T11:52:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/how-do-you-use-a-block-explorer\/"},"modified":"2020-12-09T14:52:44","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T11:52:44","slug":"how-do-you-use-a-block-explorer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-do-you-use-a-block-explorer\/","title":{"rendered":"# How do you use a block explorer?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2da06fd9df5\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2da06fd9df5\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-do-you-use-a-block-explorer\/#What_is_a_block_explorer\" >What is a block explorer?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-do-you-use-a-block-explorer\/#Each_blockchain_comes_with_its_own_block_explorers\" >Each blockchain comes with its own block explorers<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-do-you-use-a-block-explorer\/#What_can_you_do_with_a_block_explorer\" >What can you do with a block explorer?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-do-you-use-a-block-explorer\/#1_Use_a_block_explorer_to_track_where_your_crypto_comes_from\" >1. Use a block explorer to track where your crypto comes from<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-do-you-use-a-block-explorer\/#Track_the_status_of_your_transaction\" >Track the status of your transaction<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-do-you-use-a-block-explorer\/#Check_how_much_Bitcoin_is_now_in_circulation\" >Check how much Bitcoin is now in circulation<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-do-you-use-a-block-explorer\/#Track_average_transaction_fees_on_your_crypto\" >Track average transaction fees on your crypto<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong># How do you use a block explorer? <\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content\" data-v-5a136f3a>A blockchain, in its essence, provides a digital record of transactions. At present, this most often pertains to transaction records for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). The database of records, called blocks, is often touted for its transparency and immutability. But what do these features really mean? If you want to analyze a blockchain transaction, you first need to know how to use a block explorer.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_a_block_explorer\"><\/span>What is a block explorer?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A block explorer is a crucial instrument in the toolbox of a cryptocurrency and blockchain user. Similar to web browsers that allow users to surf web pages, blockchain or block explorers enable users to navigate a blockchain.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes referred to as the \u201cGoogle of crypto and blockchain\u201d in the crypto community, a block explorer lets users extract important data about crypto transactions such as addresses and fees.<\/p>\n<p>A block explorer is a web <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>lication, usually available online via a web browser, that provides various data from a specific blockchain.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Each_blockchain_comes_with_its_own_block_explorers\"><\/span>Each blockchain comes with its own block explorers<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>There are a lot of block explorers out there, as each cryptocurrency or blockchain has its own. This means that you cannot track Ether (ETH) transactions with a Bitcoin block explorer.<\/p>\n<p>Some popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether also have a wide number of block explorer offerings. For example, there are dozens of Bitcoin explorers, with some of the most popular including <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.blockchain.com\/explorer\">Blockchain.com<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/blockchair.com\/bitcoin\">Blockchair<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/live.blockcypher.com\/btc\/\">BlockCypher<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/btc.tokenview.com\/\">Tokenview<\/a>. Similarly, there are a bunch of Ethereum explorers including <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/etherscan.io\/\">Etherscan<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ethplorer.io\/\">Ethplorer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In order to find a block explorer for a certain cryptocurrency, Google \u201cblock explorer\u201d and a certain crypto, or simply check for the \u201cexplorers\u201d section for the desired crypto on a major website like <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/coinmarketcap.com\/currencies\/bitcoin\/\">CoinMarketCap<\/a> or <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.coingecko.com\/en\/coins\/bitcoin\">CoinGecko<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s worth noting that there are private and public blockchain explorers, based on the type of blockchain used. In public or permissionless blockchains like Bitcoin or Ethereum, anyone can read and write on the ledger. But on a private or permissioned blockchain, only selected entities can read and write on the ledger.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_can_you_do_with_a_block_explorer\"><\/span>What can you do with a block explorer?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>There are a zillion things you can do with block explorer, including tracking information about recently mined blocks, transaction history, network capacity, as well as finding the first block on a certain blockchain, or the so-called genesis block.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s always easier when there is a concrete reason you would be using a block explorer, so let\u2019s look at a couple of simple examples of how a block explorer can be used.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Use_a_block_explorer_to_track_where_your_crypto_comes_from\"><\/span>1. Use a block explorer to track where your crypto comes from<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Transaction history is probably one of the most exciting opportunities unlocked by block explorers. While traditional payment services only allow users to track their own transactions, a public blockchain enables users to track virtually any wallet.<\/p>\n<p>To investigate your Bitcoin address, just copy and paste your BTC address into a search bar on a block explorer like <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.blockchain.com\/explorer?utm_campaign=expnav_explorer\">Blockchain.com<\/a>. Then you will get to a page containing all the information associated with your Bitcoin address, including a total number of incoming and outcoming transactions, total BTC received and sent, as well as a final balance in dollars.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2020-12\/c0dad94d-13c1-453e-a839-9aaeacb5f0c2.png\"><figcaption style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Snapshot of Bitcoin address for Sean&#8217;s Outpost Pensacola Homeless Outreach. Source: Blockchain.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Scroll down to check for a log of all transactions associated with your BTC address and you will get more information about each transaction, including a transaction ID or hash, amount, as well as the sender and the recipient. Click on the sender\u2019s address to learn more info about an address where your crypto came from.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2020-12\/741debba-bd5a-4248-bd2e-0bc386feba03.png\"><figcaption style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Snapshot of transactions on Sean&#8217;s Outpost Bitcoin address.\u00a0<\/em><em>Source: <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.blockchain.com\/btc\/address\/38ccq12hPFoiSksxUdr6SQ5VosyjY7s9AU\">Blockchain.com<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Track_the_status_of_your_transaction\"><\/span>Track the status of your transaction<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A block explorer can be used to check the status of pending and completed transactions, indicating the number of network confirmations. Confirmation means that the transaction has been processed by the network and is highly unlikely to be reversed.<\/p>\n<p>In order to check your transaction status, simply type the transaction ID in the search field and see how many transactions there are.<\/p>\n<p>Each cryptocurrency has its own number of required confirmations to complete a transaction, which may vary. For example, major U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/help.coinbase.com\/en\/coinbase\/trading-and-funding\/sending-or-receiving-cryptocurrency\/why-is-my-transaction-pending\">requires<\/a> a minimum of three confirmations to complete a BTC transaction, and at least 35 confirmations to complete an ETH transaction.<\/p>\n<p>Using block explorers, you can also see the number of unconfirmed transactions on any blockchain by checking the \u201cunconfirmed transactions\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.blockchain.com\/btc\/unconfirmed-transactions\">section<\/a> on Blockchain.com\u2019s explorer, or \u201cpending transactions\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/etherscan.io\/txsPending\">section<\/a> on Etherscan.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2020-12\/844b5059-3ed8-46bf-853e-666383f4d832.png\"><figcaption style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Snapshot of unconfirmed Bitcoin transactions. Source: Blockchain.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Check_how_much_Bitcoin_is_now_in_circulation\"><\/span>Check how much Bitcoin is now in circulation<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Block explorers provide all necessary data about not only transactions and addresses, but also about the status of a certain blockchain in <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>. As such, block explorers also include some useful charts related to network difficulty, mempool size, average block size, as well as total cryptocurrency in circulation.<\/p>\n<p>To check how much Bitcoin is now in circulation, check the \u201cTotal Circulating Bitcoin\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.blockchain.com\/charts\/total-bitcoins\">chart<\/a> on Blockchain.com. At publishing time, there is 18.556 million Bitcoin in circulation or about 88% of the total 21 million Bitcoin\u00a0that will ever be mined.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Track_average_transaction_fees_on_your_crypto\"><\/span>Track average transaction fees on your crypto<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>BTC and ETH network fees are not capped, and may become expensive due to increased network congestion. For example, Bitcoin transaction fees spiked to as much as $50 back in 2017 when Bitcoin hit its all-time high of $20,000. When you attach too low of a transaction fee to your transaction, the transaction may eventually be returned to the sender.<\/p>\n<p>In order to avoid such situations, always check crypto fee charts using major block explorers. Bitcoin\u2019s average fees in USD are available at Blockchain.com\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.blockchain.com\/charts\/fees-usd-per-transaction\">section<\/a> \u201cFees Per Transaction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Ether fees, check the \u201cEthereum Gas Tracker\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/etherscan.io\/gastracker\">page<\/a> on Etherscan, and learn how much is required to pay to proceed with an ETH transaction. \u201cGas\u201d refers to the fee required to successfully conduct a transaction on Ethereum, with gas prices denoted in Gwei \u2014 a denomination of ETH that is equal to 0.000000001 ETH.<\/p>\n<p><template data-name=\"subscription_form\" data-type=\"markets_outlook\"><\/template><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. 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At present, this most often pertains to transaction records for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). The database of records, called blocks, is often touted for its transparency and immutability. But what do these features really mean?&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":129469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2020-12\/2c7a481d-b5e8-49a3-96ca-5272d07e892e.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[74862,74894,74863,74891,74880,72927,4965],"class_list":["post-129468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-bitcoin","tag-blockchain","tag-cryptocurrencies","tag-ethereum","tag-transactions","tag-fees","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}