The Blockchain browser is essentially a blockchain search engine designed to provide comprehensive information about the status and activity of the blockchain. It acts as a graphical user interface (GUI), allowing users to easily navigate and interact with blockchain data. The interface is not only used to view transaction history and wallet balances, but can also be extended to a variety of other detailed blockchain metrics.

The work of blockchain explorers involve multiple technical components. It utilizes application programming interfaces (apis), rational databases, and Structured Query Language (SQL) databases combined with blockchain nodes. This setting helps retrieve information from the web, organize it into a searchable database, and display it in a user-friendly format.

When users interact with blockchain browsers, such as the popular Blockchain.com, they see advanced data about the blockchain, such as transaction volume, hash rate, and price. The home page usually contains charts showing price trends and memory pool sizes, and focuses on monitoring recent blocks and transactions.

The key components of the browser include:

Prices: A summary of US dollar prices in different markets, allowing users to choose their preferred currency.

Transactions: Shows the only transactions that have been verified and confirmed in the last 24 hours.

Estimated hash rate: represents the computing power of miners in a proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain and is often seen as a proxy for cybersecurity.

Memory pool size: Tracks the total size of transactions waiting to be included in a block, providing insights on transaction fees to speed up confirmation.

Volume: Shows the total value of confirmed transactions on the blockchain in the last 24 hours.

Estimated Volume: Calculate the actual volume of transactions between different wallets, excluding returned change.

Latest block: Details the most recently confirmed block, including timestamp, block size, and height.

With its GUI, the blockchain browser makes it easy for users to search, create web pages in HTML format for easy understanding. This interaction between the user interface, apis, and back-end servers ensures that search requests are processed efficiently, providing a seamless experience for those seeking detailed blockchain data.

Examples of blockchain explorers

The blockchain browser is a key tool in the cryptocurrency world, enabling users to track and analyze transactions across various blockchains. Each browser caters to specific needs and blockchains, and some of them offer the ability to search across multiple chains.

Blockchain.org (formerly Blockchain.com) : Blockchain.org, primarily known as the Bitcoin block browser, allows users to search for transactions, addresses, or blocks in the Bitcoin blockchain. It is the preferred resource for many Bitcoin users to monitor or record Bitcoin transactions, showing basic details such as the hash value, wallets involved, transaction amount, date, time, and block number.

Blockchair: The browser stands out for its versatility, allowing search across multiple blockchains, including Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Bitcoin. Users can view everything from words, mining difficulty, Mempool size and nodes. This multi-chain capability makes Blockchair a valuable tool for users dealing with various cryptocurrencies.

Etherscan: Etherscan is touted as an important browser for the Ethereum network, showing transactions of Ethereum and ERC20 tokens, which are commonly used in most decentralized applications (DApps). It lists the transaction hash number, status, block number, confirmation count, and often the online name of the user if they choose to include this information. Etherscan is an important tool for anyone involved in Ethereum trading, smart contracts, and wallet tracking.

BscScan: BscScan is a dedicated blockchain browser for Binance Smart Chain (BSC), which has gained popularity due to its high transaction capacity and low fees compared to other major blockchains such as Ethereum. BscScan provides users with comprehensive data on transactions, smart contracts and addresses on the Binance smart chain. It is particularly useful for those involved in the rapidly growing decentralized applications (DApps) and BSC-based token ecosystem. The browser allows users to view transaction history, wallet balances, and details of various decentralized applications and tokens running on the Binance smart chain. In addition, BscScan includes tools for validating smart contracts, exploring validators, and viewing the latest blocks and transactions on the network.

Solana Explorer (explorer.solana.com) : This browser is dedicated to the Solana blockchain and provides detailed information about Solana transactions. It provides an array of common blockchain browser data and includes additional network statistics such as average ping times, enhancing the usefulness of users investing in the Solana ecosystem.

Tokenview: Launched in 2018, Tokenview is based in China and supports search on more than 20 different blockchains. Its wide range makes it an excellent resource for users who need comprehensive data on various cryptocurrencies.

These blockchain browsers provide a window into the complex world of cryptocurrencies, providing detailed insights and analysis indispensable to traders, investors and enthusiasts. From transaction history to network statistics, these tools enable users to navigate and understand the complex dynamics of various blockchain networks.