The learning path
A block explorer is a website that indexes a blockchain and makes it searchable. Paste a transaction hash, wallet address or contract address and you can see exactly what happened, who holds what, and whether a contract source code has been verified. Etherscan covers Ethereum, Solscan covers Solana, BaseScan covers Base.
What you can look up
Any transaction
Paste the hash and see sender, recipient, amount, fee, status and a decoded breakdown of what the contract call did.
Any address
Full balance, every token held, and every transaction it has ever made. All of it public, all of it permanent.
Any contract
The source code if verified, who deployed it, and every function anyone can call. Unverified is a warning sign.
Any token
Total supply, holder count, and the distribution across the largest wallets. Extremely useful before buying.
Reading a transaction page
| Field | What it means | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Success, failed or pending | Failed still cost gas. Check the revert reason |
| Block | Which block included it, and how many confirmations since | More confirmations means more settled |
| From and To | Sender, and recipient or contract called | If To is a contract, the interaction is more than a transfer |
| Value | Native token moved | Often zero for token transfers, which confuses people. Look at the token transfers section instead |
| Transaction fee | What you actually paid | Compare against what you expected |
| Tokens transferred | The ERC-20 or NFT movements | This is where the real action usually is |
| Input data | The raw call, decoded if the contract is verified | Click decode to see the function and arguments |
Checking a token before you buy
Five minutes here filters out most outright scams. On the token page:
Is the contract verified?
Look for a green check on the Contract tab. Unverified means nobody can read what the code does. That alone is reason to walk away.
How many holders are there?
A token with 30 holders and a large market cap is not a market, it is a setup.
Check the top holders
If one non exchange wallet holds 40 percent, that wallet can end the price whenever it chooses. Look at how concentrated the supply is.
Look at the contract functions
Search the verified source for functions like mint, pause, blacklist or setTaxes. Their presence is not automatically bad, but it tells you what the deployer can still do to you.
Check liquidity and whether it is locked
Follow the main liquidity pool address. If the deployer can withdraw the pool, they can leave at any moment.
Which explorer for which chain
| Chain | Explorer | Also useful |
|---|---|---|
| Ethereum | Etherscan | Blockscout |
| Base | BaseScan | Base Blockscout |
| Solana | Solscan | SolanaFM |
| Arbitrum | Arbiscan | Blockscout |
| Bitcoin | Mempool.space | Blockstream.info |
Our full block explorer directory covers every major network.
Common questions
Is using an explorer anonymous?
The blockchain data is public, but the explorer website can log your IP and what you searched. If that matters to you, use a privacy focused browser and consider a VPN.
What does contract verified actually mean?
The developer uploaded the source code and the explorer confirmed it compiles to the deployed bytecode. It proves the code shown is the code running. It does not prove the code is safe.
Can I see who owns an address?
Not from the explorer alone. Addresses are pseudonymous. Exchanges and known entities get labeled over time, and chain analysis firms link the rest, but you will not see a name.
Where to go next
Stuck on this one?
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