You can easily view updated transaction details, holdings, and prices using your wallet or exchange in most cases. If you’re looking for detailed information about a specific block, you can find that on Etherscan. To use most features on Etherscan, you can go straight to the website and start searching. To find a specific wallet, transaction, or other digital assets, you will need that wallet’s public address or the transaction ID.
- There are also block explorers available for other blockchain networks, such as blockchain.com for Bitcoin BTC, Solscan for Solana SOL, and Polygonscan for Polygon MATIC.
- To set up alerts for an address, the user must have created an account and be logged in.
- The platform’s gas tracker feature may be useful for users familiar with Ethereum’s volatile gas fees.
- You can also search for transaction histories of particular Ethereum addresses.
- At their core, blockchain explorers are online tools created to help users inspect and analyze the inner workings of blockchains.
What Is Etherscan?
That way, you’ll find transactions, internal transactions, ERC-20 token transfers, NFT transfers, and produced blocks connected with the address in question. Etherscan is one of the most popular blockchain explorers, considering Ethereum is the most important altcoin. Its purpose is to decipher complex information and present it in a clean, informative, and user-friendly manner. Etherscan provides a plethora of details, but that’s overkill for some individuals.
Viewing Ether Transactions
While the code and transaction details behind the scenes are more helpful to developers, it’s valuable to individual investors looking to follow their involvement in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Blockchain explorers also help ensure that all cryptocurrency data is publicly available and accessible, an essential facet of blockchain technology. Entering a wallet address or clicking on a wallet address from another page brings you to the wallet details page. Using the address tracking features, you can view all past transactions for a specific cryptocurrency wallet and its current holdings using the address tracking features.
Anyone can use Etherscan to search for addresses, how do i buy and sell cryptocurrency tokens, and transactions without needing to create an account. However, additional features are available for users who create an account, such as the ability to monitor addresses and receive alerts when a transaction occurs. An account is also needed to access Etherscan’s developer features, such as APIs that allow dapps to access the platform’s data and services. To set up alerts for an address, the user must have created an account and be logged in. From the profile page, the “Watchlist” feature can be accessed, and new addresses can be added.
That, in combination with its auction-based traffic model, can result in exceptionally high gas fees. Gas fees can get so costly that it can become unprofitable to perform transactions on the Ethereum network during these periods. A simple way to look up a transaction on Etherscan is to input its hash key in the search bar. You’ll instantly get all the specifics we discussed in the previous section of this article. There’s even the option of sending and receiving a private note, though this feature is reserved for users who have Etherscan accounts. The power of Etherscan lies in its ability to cater to both novice and experienced users.
The ability to search and track wallet, token, and smart contract activity offers many different use cases in the crypto ecosystem. Etherscan can be used as a way to prove and verify that a transaction has taken place on Ethereum, acting as a form of payment receipt. It can also be used as proof of a token mint or burn, for example, when carrying out background research about a project. Such searches may also reveal unusual activity that could indicate a token is a scam. Etherscan is not funded, operated, or managed by the Ethereum Foundation but instead exists as an independent entity.
#2. How to Look Up Smart Contracts on Etherscan
You can’t connect your MetaMaks wallet to Etherscan, but you can view your wallet’s contents and history on the site. Copy your wallet address and paste it into the Etherscan search box to view your MetaMask wallet on Etherscan. For example, if how to add bitcoin to your isa and profit tax 2020 you’re waiting on a pending Ether transaction, you could use Etherscan to monitor the wallet address for the new transaction. Below, Etherscan offers tab options to toggle between views showing token transfers, the addresses of token holders, information about the smart contract, and more.
Code Reader
The transaction detail page shows the current status, the number of confirmations, sending and receiving addresses, value, and transaction fees. This can help trace the history of an asset or confirm that a transaction is in progress or completed. Although addresses on Ethereum are pseudonymous, it can be useful to monitor wallet activity in certain cases. Understanding how to use Etherscan can help increase your knowledge of the ever-evolving blockchain and cryptocurrencies. It breaks down intricate barriers to understanding, provides valuable information to the public, and ensures that the blockchain technology remains transparent and verifiable by all. In addition to all that, Etherscan’s token tracker features more than 1,000 ERC-20 tokens, numerous collections of NFTs, hundreds of thousands of forked blocks, and much more.
There are also block explorers available for other blockchain networks, such as blockchain.com for Bitcoin BTC, Solscan for Solana SOL, and Polygonscan for next js vs react Polygon MATIC. For instance, searching Uniswap brings up the token contract details for the UNI token. On the token page, there is an overview of information about the token, including supply, number of holders, price, and more.