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With the advent of several blockchains, getting specific chain data including their transaction performance has become tougher.
For example, consider these questions:
- What is the status of a specific transaction on Ethereum? Has it been confirmed or is it pending?
- How many transactions are included in a particular block on Bitcoin?
- What is the balance of a specific address on the Solana network?
- How many active nodes are there on the Avalanche chain?
- How many bitcoin transfers have occurred during this week?
And, the answer: Blockchain Explorers — they can answer all these questions and more.
Blockchain Explorers are online versatile tools that allow you to explore and interact with data on a blockchain network. They provide visibility into the transactions, blocks, addresses, and other technical information stored on the blockchain. Blockchain explorers typically offer search functionality, enabling users to query for specific transactions or addresses and view their details.
Open-source blockchain explorers, in particular, provide transparency, while enabling developers to customize and contribute to their functionality.
Here, we delve into eight of the best open-source blockchain explorers, highlighting their key features and functionalities.
Understanding blockchain activity can be complex and confusing for a blockchain or a crypto rookie. There is a vast amount of information generated that is difficult to read without assistance. This is where blockchain explorers can simplify things.
- They enable transparency of transactions — users can track them in real-time
- They provide historical data for users to analyze the network and enable them to take appropriate decisions regarding their own transactions on the chain
- They are extremely useful for investigating crimes on the network, especially for finance companies
- They foster research and analysis to gain in-depth knowledge of blockchains and crypto activity
- They are very useful for gathering mined blocks and rewards data, which otherwise may be tough to get
Bitquery Blockchain Explorer is an open-source tool offering data on 40+ chains. It stands out by offering multi-dimensional analytical capabilities, leveraging OLAP databases to aggregate data by dimensions such as time, block, address, and token. You can find the github repository here.
Based on the data, Bitquery also provides data visualizations using graphs, diagrams, plots, maps, and histograms, tailored to specific tasks and problems.
The Bitquery Explorer is built as a client-side web application with independent components or “widgets,” enabling users to customize and personalize explorer pages or to build dashboards. That is why it is “user-centric”, not “blockchain-centric”.
Key features:
- Supports several blockchains, more than 40 and counting
- Provides unified and extensible UI
- Aggregates and collates different types of data
- Provides both real-time and archive data and tracking
- Support for Cloud data sets such as AWS, Azure, Google, etc
- Provides robust data analysis
- Open source, which is free to use, build on, deploy, or customize
Tracing on the Explorer
A very interesting feature of Bitquery Explorer is the tracing feature — you can track or trace transactions and money flows between addresses. Tracing can also be used for investigating a variety of financial crimes and suspicious activities on the network.
Key features:
- Enables tracing of activity on Ethereum, BSC (Binance Smart Chain) or Artbitrum networks
- “Tree” visualization for easy analysis
- Detailed analysis of chain activity including type of transaction, such as swap, transfer, balance, gas used, return etc
- Easy and clear visualization of money flows or fund transfers between addresses
To use the feature, simply use the Tracing tab after selecting a transaction hash from the Bitquery Explorer. For example, let’s trace the transaction of an address “0xe9809d1e85633da95664e29489f625813bb9300b21455388353ff8b61da59315” in Bitquery (shown below).
Money Flow
If you scroll down the tracing page, you can see the visualization of transactions of the selected address, as shown below.
NFT Explorer
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are unique digital assets identified by special codes that can’t be swapped for other tokens directly. They’ve become increasingly popular, especially in digital art, collectibles, and gaming communities.
So, how do you analyze or monitor NFT data on blockchains? Simple, through Bitquery’s NFT APIs and explorer. NFT API allows you to retrieve NFT activity on several blockchains, such as top NFT creators or holders, NFTs owned by an address, NFT trades and transfers, calls and more.
To view NFT data, navigate to the NFTs tab on supported blockchain networks. For example, you can explore the top NFT token transfers and top-traded NFT tokens on Ethereum using Bitquery NFT explorer, as shown below.
Token Holder Explorer
If you want to know who the top token holders are at any given point on BNB, Ethereum, or Arbitrum networks, you can easily obtain the information from Bitquery explorer.
Key features:
- Information on token holders/specific tokens
- Token distribution analysis using indexes and factors, such as Gini factor, Nakamoto index, and Theil index to obtain the corresponding coefficients
- Total supply of tokens during a specified period
To retrieve this data, simply go to the Holders tab after selecting the required token from the explorer. For example, here we are getting data on Wrapped Ether (WETH) on Ethereum mainnet.
BlockScout is an open-source Ethereum blockchain explorer with a user-friendly interface and a wide range of functionality. This explorer supports Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) blockchains, such as Ethereum Mainnet, Ethereum Classic, Optimism, Gnosis chain, and other Ethereum testnets.
It offers detailed information on transactions, blocks, account balances, and addresses.
Key features:
- Support for multiple projects and chains, forks, sidechains etc
- Token analytics
- Smart contract interactions
- API support
- Real-time data availability
- Robust search capabilities
- Customizable and easily deployable
Blockdaemon Explorer is a robust platform designed to offer comprehensive insights into blockchain networks. It provides users with a user-friendly interface and powerful analytical tools to navigate and understand blockchain data effectively.
With support for multiple blockchains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more, Blockdaemon Explorer enables users to track transactions, monitor network activity, and explore addresses with ease. It also provides robust solutions for staking and transactions.
Key features:
- Real-time updates
- Customizable dashboards
- Advanced search capabilities
- Easy scalability
- Support for several protocols and integrations, such as Algorand, Aptos, Avalanche, BNB chain, Cardano, and more
API integrations support Staking/Staking Reporting, NFTs, RPC ,and REST API.
Etherscan Blockchain Explorer or Ethernal as it is called, is easy to use and offers real-time updates on Ethereum network activity and supports many EVM blockchains.
With Etherscan, you can track transactions, monitor contracts, and explore token transfers seamlessly. You can also analyze events, variables, and functions on the chain.
Key features:
- Automatic syncing of transactions, blocks and contracts
- Easy interface for contract interactions
- Easy tracing of transactions
- Blockchain analytics of transactions, wallets, token transfers, token holders and more
- Automatic detection of new ERCs
- Customized branding and labeling
Ethernal’s REST API can be used to obtain transaction data for integrating into your applications.
Insight is an open source blockchain explorer developed by BitPay for multiple cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.
Insight also supports advanced features such as multi-signature wallets and HD wallets. It provides a REST API for getting data from the Bitcoin chain, which can be used for building customized services.
Key features:
- Sleek and customizable interface
- Quick and easy navigation
- Real-time updates on transactions, blocks, and addresses
APIs that are supported are REST and Websocket. Key integrations include Bitcoin, Bitcore and LevelDB.
Glassnode explorer provides data and insights about blockchains. Glassnode platform shows real-time data about blockchain activity and important metrics, along with clear visualizations of data. Moreover, it provides in-depth metrics for various cryptocurrencies and advanced data analytics.
Key features:
- Data science methodology for on-chain metric data
- Wallet tracking algorithms
- Extensive coverage of exchanges
- Robust API support
- Customized dashboards for market analysis
Glassnode API provides a host of endpoints to obtain key statistics related to addresses, blockchains, exchanges, DeFI, mining, transaction fees, transactions, and more.
Crystal open source blockchain explorer is a powerful tool for investigating and analyzing blockchain activities. It’s targeted for law enforcement and financial companies for tracking fraudulent transactions or suspicious activity on the network. For example, Crystal can help in tracing a Bitcoin transaction to a person, identify connections between criminals, or monitor suspicious online activity.
Crystal Blockchain Explorer provides transaction analysis, tracks chain activity, and alerts you about potentially unusual actions. It helps you follow regional rules and keeps the blockchain transparent for businesses, banks, and government agencies.
Key features:
- Robust intelligence with a wide geographical area coverage
- Easy platform collaboration
- Easy investigation and AML compliance
- Support for several blockchains
- Real-time tracking of funds
- Coverage of high-risk activities
- Customized dashboard
Blockchair is a versatile blockchain explorer that supports multiple blockchain networks, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Avalanche, Solana, and many more. It offers a user-friendly interface with advanced search functionalities, allowing users to explore transactions, blocks, and addresses effortlessly. Blockchair is open source, and focuses on data privacy.
Key features:
- Easy sorting, filtering, and compilation of data
- Secure transactions and user privacy
- Token explorer analytics
- Browser extension to track real-time crypto prices and portfolios
Blockchair explorer also offers a versatile API to obtain real-time data on various blockchain networks and supports integrations with HollaEx, PayBitoPro, Bitcoin, GitHub Student Developer Pack, Ripple and Ethereum.
- Select an explorer depending on the network you want to analyze. For example, to get data on Bitcoin, use a Bitcoin blockchain explorer. Alternatively, you can select a comprehensive blockchain indexer and explorer like Bitquery to get access to more than 40 blockchains.
- Check for ease of use in terms of the UI- the simpler the UI, the better to use and navigate
- Look for features like query and search- you will need them to search for blocks, specific transactions, top trades, and more. Moreover, see if they have sorting and filtering capabilities to narrow down your search. For example, if you are looking for top NFT holders on a particular day, you should be able to query or search for it.
- Check if the explorer provides real-time, latest updates
- Check if it provides extensive network metrics, statistics
- Look for API extensions and whether it is open source, which can help developers
- Lastly, find out if the explorer uses secure protocols and encryption
In conclusion, open-source blockchain explorers play a vital role in promoting transparency and accessibility within blockchain networks. The eight explorers highlighted above offer a diverse range of features and functionalities, catering to the needs of users, developers, and researchers.
Whether you’re tracking transactions, exploring smart contracts, or analyzing blockchain data, these open-source explorers provide the tools you need to delve into the fascinating world of blockchain technology.
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Blog written by Aparna Sridharmurthy
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