The block browser is a system that resembles a search engine and contains up-to-date information about the blockchain network. Thus, information becomes accessible in a transparent and user-friendly manner.
What is Block Scanner?
A blockchain browser is similar to a search engine that displays information about the past and current state of the blockchain. These scanners can be useful when you want to track the status of a particular payment or review the balance and history of an address. Anyone with an internet connection can use the browser to view all transactions on a public blockchain network.
How to Use Block Scanner?
All blockchains have a Command Line Interface (CLI) to interact with the database and view the history of the network. But CLI browsers do not provide a user-friendly experience for everyone. That’s why most blockchains also have a browser that uses a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that displays information in a more user-friendly format.
One of the widely used Bitcoin browsers blockchain.com Let’s examine it. Other alternatives for BTC are blockchain.comAnd blockcypher.com‘Stop.
On the home page of the website, you can see some advanced information about the Bitcoin network. This page includes price, estimated hash rate, number of transactions per day and trading volume. There are also graphs showing price and memory pool size. At the bottom, it is possible to follow the latest blocks and transactions.
Price: Compound USD price information from different markets. The price often depends on the sources the information comes from and does not represent the spot price on a particular exchange.
Estimated Hash Rate: It is an estimate of the computational power miners currently have to secure the blockchain. It can be said to represent the security level of a Proof of Work (PoW) network.
Transactions: The number of all discrete transactions confirmed in the last 24 hours. For a transaction to be considered confirmed, it must be included in a verified block (completion of mining for that block).
Transaction Volume: The total value (in BTC) of outputs confirmed within the network in the last 24 hours. Because of the way Bitcoin works, this total value also includes any unspent output that is returned as change to the “spending” wallet.
Trading Volume (estimated): It is an estimated value (in BTC) of the actual transaction volume transferred between all wallets. It is calculated from the Transaction Volume (above) minus the estimated value of the outputs returned in change to the spending wallets.
Memory Pool Size: Memory pool (Mempool) size refers to the total size (in bits) of transactions waiting to be added to a block. It shows how much activity is in the blockchain and can serve as an indicator of the transaction fees required for fast confirmation.
New Blocks: It is a reordered list of approved blocks. It includes information such as block height, timestamp, miner’s name (if known), and block size. By clicking on “Block height” you can get information about the transactions included in the block. Clicking on “miner” will show information about the address of the miner of the block. The miner’s public address can be a well-known mining pool address. If you don’t know what a mining pool is, you can check out this article.
Final Operations: It is the list of valid processes sent to the memory pool. Here too, transactions are considered unconfirmed until they are included in a verified block. From this page, you can also track other metrics of the blockchain, such as the difficulty level of the network, the fee per transaction, and the average confirmation time. Some block scanners also allow you to connect to their APIs.
