Everything You Need to Know about Etherscan

Etherscan is a platform for the Ethereum blockchain that lets you look at blocks and analyze them. A team of developers from Malaysia started the project in 2015. This is a separate group that doesn’t get money from the Ethereum Foundation.

What is Etherscan?

Etherscan, which is sometimes shortened to Ethscan, is the “block explorer” for Ethereum’s decentralized network. Block explorers are search engines that let you look up, verify, and confirm transactions on the blockchain. Etherscan is a block explorer, and it is used for the Ethereum smart contract platform.

Block explorers like Etherscan are made and kept up to date to make the blockchain network safer because they let users keep an eye on suspicious activity. They can also be used as a learning tool by both new and experienced users, giving them more ways to interact with the blockchain, crypto wallets, and other kinds of decentralized apps.

How Do You Use Etherscan?

Etherscan is a database for smart contracts and a place to find information about the blockchain. The service doesn’t store private keys, it doesn’t take part in any of the transactions shown, and it doesn’t fix problems with failed transactions.

Etherscan’s main jobs are to keep track of the network’s state and transactions, and to look for information about assets stored on public Ethereum addresses. On the main page of the service, you can find information about the price of a coin, the market capitalization, the number of transactions, the average price of gas, and how hard it is to mine Ethereum.

Etherscan also brings together information about the state of the blockchain and tokens. In the Resources section, you can find a number of metrics and statistics that can be used for primary analysis. These include a daily Ethereum price chart, a capitalization chart, the number of coins in circulation, and other information. The Tokens menu shows up-to-date information about ERC-20, ERC-721, and ERC-1155 tokens, such as their price, percentage change in value, trading volume, capitalization, and the total number of addresses where the asset is stored.

The service shows details about transactions on the Ethereum network, such as those that failed or are still waiting for confirmation. For example, if the money hasn’t yet shown up in the recipient’s wallet, you can use the transaction identifier to see how far along the transfer is (TXID). The service will show other information as well as the operation’s confirmation time.

Do I have to Sign Up?

Registration is not required, but it gives users access to developer tools, the ability to keep track of addresses and set up transaction notifications, private notes, and more.

What Else Can You Do on Etherscan?

• View the assets linked to a public wallet address and keep track of your portfolio and past transactions.
• Find out about any transaction’s details and where it stands by using the TXID, wallet address, or ENS domain name.
• Look into any smart contract. The service tells you if a security audit has been done on the project’s source code.
• Watch real-time transactions and blocks.
• Figure out the gas commission and how profitable mining is;
• Use the list of resources that have something to do with Ethereum.

The service also shows addresses that are linked to suspicious activity. For instance, the Lazarus group’s address is marked with a red flag.

How to Check Transactions?

Let’s say you sent 1 ETH to a public address of another user and want to make sure the transaction went through.

In the search bar of Etherscan, you can enter the address of your Ethereum wallet or the ID of a transaction. The Ethereum Name Service (ENS), which is a distributed domain name system, was added to Etherscan in 2021. If the address owner uses ENS, replace the blockchain address (0x…) with the domain name that goes with it.

If you search by TXID, the page will show the following information: hash and status, block number and time, sender and recipient addresses, number of coins and transaction fee, gas price, and Ethereum’s market value. A user who has already signed up can add a private note to the operation.

Another way to find out what’s going on is to look at the transactions in the wallet of the recipient.

Why Use Etherscan?

The service is meant to help people find their way around the network’s public data. It does this by keeping track of transactions and showing the results, like a search engine.

The platform has a lot of details about addresses, smart contracts, blocks, the status of the network, and other on-chain indicators.

In 2021, Etherscan developers added similar services for BNB Chain, Fantom, Huobi Eco Chain, Optimistic Ethereum L2, Polygon, Hoo Smart Chain, Arbitrum, Moonbeam, Moonriver, and Avalanche.