Beginner’s Guide to Etherscan: What It Is and How to Use It

The transparency provided by blockchain is one of the most appealing features of NFTs. We’ve all heard it before: blockchain transactions are public, anyone can observe and/or verify them, everyone can look up trading history, and so on. But how does one go about doing all of this? Isn’t it obvious that it’s something sophisticated that only tech-savvy people can handle? That isn’t the case. All Ethereum network users can find out all of this and more with a few clicks thanks to Etherscan.

What Is Etherscan and How Does It Work?

Etherscan is an Ethereum Blockchain block explorer and analytics application. It essentially functions as a search engine for finding and validating Ethereum blockchain transactions. It can also aid in the interaction with smart contracts as well as the detection of any questionable activity.

So, how does it accomplish all of this? Etherscan.io basically tracks Ethereum network transactions, indexes them, and makes them available on its website.

Etherscan.io is a completely free site created by a group of individuals who wanted to make Ethereum more accessible to the general public. It is self-contained, with no funding or management from the Ethereum Foundation. “Our objective is to enable Blockchain transparency by indexing and making searchable all Ethereum Blockchain transactions in the most transparent and accessible way possible,” the team explains.

It’s vital to note that Etherscan isn’t a wallet; instead, it’s a data source.

What is the purpose of Etherscan?

Etherscan has clearly become one of the most popular apps among Ethereum users, with a variety of use cases up its sleeve. It allows users to view assets and transactions on any Ethereum wallet address, for starters. For example, you could wish to keep an eye on the holdings of a well-known NFT holder. On the other hand, you might wish to keep tabs on what a firm or NFT project is doing with their funding.

GameStop recently sold IMX tokens worth $42 million that it had received as part of a $100 million grant from Immutable X. The problem was discovered thanks to Etherscan data. In the same way, keeping track of NFT project transactions might help you spot potential rug pulls or NFT frauds.

Etherscan is also an excellent site for discovering and reading NFT smart contracts. Understanding smart contracts is necessary for determining a project’s popularity, ownership rights, security audits, and much more. You can also see how many smart contracts a particular wallet has approved. This is useful in the event that a new project is created by an anonymous developer who rug pulled.

The gas tracker is another incredibly important feature of Etherscan. The gas tracker, as the name implies, allows you to keep track of gas prices in real time. Simultaneously, it allows you to assess network activity over time.

How to Use Etherscan for the First Time: A Beginner’s Guide
How do you use Etherscan now that you’ve learned about the majority of its applications? To begin, you do not need to make an account to utilise most of the platform’s features. You also don’t need to link your wallet. Creating an account on the platform, however, will grant access to more services.

Let’s have a look at the different ways you may use Etherscan.

How to Use Their Ethereum Network Gas Tracker to Find Gas Prices
You may use their helpful gas tracker feature to keep track of real-time gas prices. Gas costs are transaction fees that must be paid in order for your Ethereum transaction to be validated. Due to significant network traffic, they can fluctuate a lot on Ethereum. You must monitor the real-time gas price and compute the gas fees properly to prevent paying high transaction fees.

Fortunately, Etherscan’s webpage shows the current gas price in Gwei and USD. Then, by clicking the price, you’ll be sent to the Ethereum Gas Tracker. You can also examine the different gas prices at different times by using the ‘More’ drop-down menu on the top right.

Surprisingly, the site also provides information on expected transaction costs, typical transaction confirmation times, and the contracts/accounts that use the most gas. It also includes historical gas price information. You may time your transactions to pay the least amount of gas fees feasible using all of this information.

Etherscan Transaction Tracking
The ability to check up transactions and wallets is one of Etherscan’s most useful capabilities. In other words, the platform allows you to conveniently track transaction histories, token transfers, and more. Do you want to know which NFTs are being purchased by whales before they become popular? It’s simple to track NFT influencers with Etherscan. Do you want to know where your Ether went when you donated to a rug-pulling project? Etherscan is also capable of doing so.

Let’s imagine you’re looking for details about a specific transaction. The following are the measures to take:

Find the transaction ID (TXID) or a transaction hash in the first step (TxHash). This is a one-of-a-kind string of letters and digits that identifies a blockchain transaction.

Step 2: Copy the ID and paste it into the Etherscan search field at the top of the page, then click “Search.”

You’ll be taken to a page where you’ll be able to examine all of the transaction’s information. This provides the transaction’s success, pending, or failed status, the block number in which the transaction was recorded, as well as the date and time the transaction was mined. The transaction fee, gas price, and sender and receiver information are also displayed.

Step Three (Optional): If you select ‘to view more,’ you will be able to access further information such as the gas limit, gas fees, transaction type, and so on.

How to Find Wallets, Transaction History, and Whale Tracking

You can look up a wallet address just like you can look up a specific transaction. To do so, go to the search bar and type in the wallet address. On the next screen, you’ll be able to check the overall amount of ETH in the wallet as well as the other tokens it holds. A list of all the transactions related with the wallet may be found at the bottom. Details such as method, block, from and to wallet addresses, value in ETH, and transaction fee may be found next to each transaction. Individual transactions can be clicked for further details, as explained in the previous section.

The Leading Ethereum Blockchain Explorer’s Other Features
While the functions described above are the most crucial, Etherscan has a lot more to offer. Take its application programming interfaces (API) services, for example. Developers can sign up for free to use the platform’s APIs to construct dApps. Then there’s a special NFT tracker page that keeps track of all Ethereum NFT transactions.

Additionally, if you’re searching for token analytics, you have that option as well! Because Ethereum supports both the ERC-20 and ERC-721 token standards, Etherscan lists the top tokens for each. There’s also a Verified Contracts section that lists all Ethereum smart contracts with source code that has been verified.

Finally, how you utilise Etherscan will be determined by your requirements and interests. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro, this simple tool will come in handy.

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