TL;DR - SUMMARY
Etherscan is a blockchain explorer for the Ethereum network. The website allows you to search for transactions, blocks, wallet addresses, smart contracts and other on-chain data. It is one of the most popular and free to use Ethereum blockchain explorers.
Using Etherscan can help you understand exactly how you interact with the blockchain, other wallets, and DApps. This knowledge can also help you stay safe and spot suspicious behavior.
To use Etherscan, you will need to copy a wallet address, transaction ID (TXID), contract address, or other identifier to paste into the search field. The information you'll see will depend on what you're looking for, but most of it will be transactions, addresses, timestamps, and amounts.
You can also interact directly with smart contracts to carry out transactions, verify gas fees and search for airdrops through Etherscan.
Introduction
If you use Ethereum for more than just HODLing or sending a few transactions, learning how to navigate the blockchain is very beneficial. Etherscan is one of the most popular options, so it's a great place to start learning the basics. You can use most of the features without having to connect your wallet or even open an account. Let's go over the most common ways to use Etherscan and what you can do with the information you find.
What is Etherscan?
Etherscan is a block explorer that allows you to view public data about transactions, smart contracts, addresses, and more on the Ethereum blockchain. All interactions on Ethereum are public and Etherscan allows you to view them like a search engine. You can use a transaction hash (transaction ID) to verify all related activity, including tokens, smart contracts, and wallet addresses.
You don't need to register with Etherscan, but you can create an account to get additional features. For example, you can set up alerts to receive notifications of incoming transactions, access developer tools, and create data sources.
Etherscan does not provide you with an Ethereum wallet to use or store any of your private keys. You can't use it for trading either. It only functions as a blockchain information source and smart contract database. To transact or store cryptocurrencies, you will need a crypto wallet such as Trust Wallet, MetaMask, Math Wallet, or Binance Chain Wallet.
Why should you use Etherscan?
Etherscan is one of the most popular and trusted block explorers for Ethereum. However, it is more important to understand why you should use a block explorer like Etherscan to verify on-chain information. Having more knowledge of how you interact with the blockchain can help you better understand what is happening with DApps and transactions. This knowledge can also keep you safe and help you detect suspicious activity on the blockchain.
For example, whale alerts let you know if large amounts of a cryptocurrency have been moved to an exchange. While not always the case, this information could suggest a big sell-off. You can also see what the founders of a project are doing with their project tokens. This can help you detect possible scams or rug pulls, where developers abandon their projects and sell their coins.
How to find a transaction and wallet in Etherscan
A basic feature of Etherscan is transaction tracking. Understanding how to track your cryptocurrency is key to unlocking all the rest of the information on a blockchain. For example, imagine you sent 0.025 ether (ETH) from your wallet to the following public address: 0x480bbcb368197d44c6f54a738e59c33eff004b6a.
You also paid a transaction fee in ETH of 0.001559212674537. After completing the transaction, your wallet displays this TXID:
0x80a3cc0f344651b3de745b2f1efbe8d35d4f348e95b345c8a840ebf955414fa5
Let's say you want to check the number of confirmations the transaction has and see if it was sent correctly.
1. Go to the Etherscan home page and look for the search field at the top of the page.
2. Next, copy and paste the transaction ID (TXID) into the search field and press the search icon.
3. Now you can see all the details related to your particular transaction:
4. You can also press the [Click to see more] button for more detailed information, but for now, let's just look at the default screen:
From the above data, it is easy to see that the transaction was successful and received enough confirmations. You can also check the status of your transaction by taking a look at the receiving wallet.
To do this, you must return to the search bar and paste the address of the receiving wallet:
0x480bbcb368197d44c6f54a738e59c33eff004b6a
At the bottom of the page, we can see the list of all transactions associated with the address:
The transaction in red is the 0.025 ETH you originally sent. You can see it marked as In , which shows that the address you searched for was on the receiving end. At the top of the page, you can also see an overview of your wallet balance.
How to search for smart contracts in Etherscan
If you regularly interact with smart contracts in DApps, it's a good idea to learn how to find them on Etherscan. This way, you can verify that you are sending your funds to the correct contract.
If you ever need to add a new token to your wallet, you will need to find the token's contract address. The smart contract address contains the logic of the token, such as how token transfers and other behaviors are performed.
To find a token address, you can head to CoinMarketCap, CoinGecko, or the official project website. You can also check https://etherscan.io/tokens.
Always make sure you add the correct token address by double checking it with the websites mentioned above. Let's take a look at the Uniswap ERC-20 token on Ethereum:
0x1f9840a85d5af5bf1d1762f925bdaddc4201f984
1. Copy and paste the smart contract address into the search field.
2. You will now see details about the contract balance and other general information about the Uniswap token (UNI) contract.
3. Below, we have more options to view, including transactions, a comments section, and the smart contract itself. Click [Contract] below to see the options available to interact and read the Uniswap rules.
4. The [Read Contract] tab displays general contract information. It allows you, for example, to check the balance of specific addresses or wallets that have permission to use the token in your wallet.
Clicking [Write Contract] allows you to interact with the contract directly. This is useful when DeFi platforms and DApps are unavailable, perhaps due to a technical issue or website outage. In some cases, you can try to interact with the smart contract instead, without using the project API.
Clicking [Connect to Web3] will allow you to connect a crypto wallet such as MetaMask or Binance Chain Wallet and interact with the contract.
The simplest action here would be a coin transfer. With [transferFrom], you can transfer tokens from an address you have permission to to other addresses.
[transfer] allows you to transfer the token associated with the contract from your connected wallet. The transaction below would send 1 UNI from our connected wallet, to the pasted receiving wallet address. You should also make sure you include the correct number of decimal places for the amount you want to send.
Most users will never need to use these features. However, it is still useful to know where they are in case you need to access funds stored in a smart contract.
How to check Gas prices on Etherscan
Gas prices are part of Ethereum transaction fees. These fees change depending on the block in which your transaction is included. Each block has a fixed commission that varies depending on network traffic. The gas tracker on Etherscan shows you the difference in price and time at different gas prices. It's a useful tool for roughly predicting how congested the network is and how much you'd probably have to pay to send a simple transfer or interact with a more complicated smart contract.
In conclusion
Etherscan is free and easy to use, and is a great tool when you need more information than your wallet or exchange can show. For the most basic functions, you can quickly learn how to use them in a short time. Etherscan is also the basis for other block explorers like BscScan, making your skills easily transferable. Whether you want to confirm the status of a transaction or view the smart contract of your favorite DApp, Etherscan is a good place to start.
