How to Read the Block Explorer
A step-by-step guide to understanding BscScan and similar block explorers.
To be able to understand this guide fully, you should know the basics of blockchain. If you need a refresher, consider reading our Blockchain in Nutshell guide.
Introduction
Block explorers are key to understanding cryptocurrency and blockchain on a more intermediate level. They enable us to be more independent as a crypto investor and have the edge over users who don't understand them. In this guide, we will focus on the block explorer of Binance Smart Chain, but the concepts can be easily applied to other explorers such as Etherscan.
Binance Smart Chain, BSC in short, is a more centralized copy of Ethereum, which enables fast and cheap transactions. Learn more here.
Your First Steps
BscScan is the block explorer of BSC. Let's take a look at its start page.
(A1) Here you can enter a wallet & contract address and transaction hash/id here. BscScan will then return detailed info about them (A2) A very useful section where you can find important info about BSC (A3) Get more info about the latest blocks (A4) Get more info about the latest transactions
Read Address Info
Now we enter 0x1735794f80B1e94fAc5da2BdF19fD86E99A72441 into the search field (A1). BscScan leads you here.
The addresses used in this guide are randomly selected and are not associated with any team member.
(B1) Here is an overview of the address. You can see how much BNB the user has. By pressing on the field next to "Token" you can also see which tokens he has and how many of them (B2)
Tab | Explanation |
Transactions | General Txs such as sending BNB from one wallet to another |
Internal Txns | Transactions you send to yourself will show up here. This can be interesting when canceling a tx |
BEP-20 Token Txs | Transactions with tokens such as sending the FEED token |
Analytics | Get more in-depth address data |
Read Contract Info
Smart Contract: It is simply a program that runs on the Ethereum blockchain. It's a collection of code (its functions) and data (its state) that resides at a specific address on the Ethereum blockchain.
Now we enter 0x67d66e8Ec1Fd25d98B3Ccd3B19B7dc4b4b7fC493 into the search field (A1). This is the contract address of the FEED token. BscScan leads you here.
The info you find here is very similar to address data but with the addition of the "Contract" tab. There you can find the contract code, read its data and interact with it. Besides that, you can also read the transaction histories and balances.
Developers of a contract usually upload the code to BscScan. BscScan will automatically verify if the uploaded code matches the contract on the blockchain. When it does, it will mark the contract as "Contract Source Code Verified" (D). That doesn't mean the contract is secure and trustworthy, but it still means the developers have less to hide.
Example Tx
There is a wide variety of different kinds of transactions, but in this guide, you can find two different types that will help you understand different ones.
Sending BNB Tx
The user with the address 0x1735794f80b1e94fac5da2bdf19fd86e99a72441 sent 2 BNB to 0x0838c49b0380bbf40bfd3f98b4ff68402db34d18. The transaction has the hash/id of 0x5b05e21bf63fe9e84580cc38298470c51e7cbed3186f5a82a69f11f74a9b7017. You can find it here.
Field | Explanation |
Transaction hash | Unique identifier of a transaction |
Status | A transaction can also be "pending", "success" or "failed". |
Block | The block in which the transaction was included |
Timestamp | The time and date when the network has confirmed a transaction |
From | The sending address |
To | The receiving address |
Value | The amount of BNB pending sent |
Transaction Fee | How expensive it was for the sender to make the transaction |
BNB Price | The USD price of BNB at the time of the transaction |
GAS Limit | How much a transaction is allowed to cause fees |
Gas Used | How much of the GAS Limit the transaction cost |
Gas Price | How much one unit of GAS costs |
Nonce | Represents how many transactions an address made |
Input data | Doesn't matter for a plain transaction but it is important for Contract interactions |
Sending FEED Tx
Every token on BSC (besides BNB) is a smart contract. The user with the address 0x1735794f80b1e94fac5da2bdf19fd86e99a72441 sent 483 FEED token to 0x67d66e8ec1fd25d98b3ccd3b19b7dc4b4b7fc493. The transaction has the hash/id of 0xf8dc09d206bee157381c29b6f607e623fd76491705fac5e6f038a71828f594ad. You can find it here. Most details are the same but there are some key differences:
Field | Explanation |
Interacted With | Instead of having a "To" field we have this one. Since BEP-20 tokens are smart contracts you have to interact with them when wanting to transfer tokens |
Tokens Transferred | Displays how many tokens have been transferred from the sending address to the receiving. |
Input Data | A very important field when interacting with contracts is this one. Here you can see which data the transaction submits to the blockchain. For a BEP-20 the transaction includes a recipient and the amount. It is noteworthy that you have to convert the amount to a different unit by multiplying the number by 10^-18. |
It is important to note that you have to "decode" the input data before being able to read it properly.
Conclusion
Congratulations! Now you know how to find your way through a Block Explorer. This guide is not covering every detail but is a good fundament to explorer BscScan in more detail!
Need help?
The Feeder Finance team always welcomes newcomers. If you experience any problems, don't hesitate to ask for help: Community Telegram: https://t.me/FeederFinance Official Discord: https://discord.gg/e3uvPRJM
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