Perhaps you’ve heard the term “block explorer” or “Blockchain browser” before but didn’t understand what it means.
A block explorer allows you to search and navigate through the block chain. Using a block explorer you can check the balance of different Bitcoin public addresses, track coin transfer histories watch how many confirmations a transaction has and get a wide variety of statistics about the network such as the current hash rate and more.
For each block chain there is a different block explorer – so for example you won’t be able to use a Bitcoin block explorer in order to examine Litecoin’s blockchain unless you use a multi-blockchain block explorer like Blockchair.
What can you do with a block explorer ?
Usually the block explorer software will supply some or more of the following:
- a list of a chain’s recent blocks
- transactions in a given block
- links to the previous and next transaction involving each input and output
- a list of all transactions involving a given address
- current and historical address balances
- a way to search for blocks, transactions, and addresses
Here’s an example of how to examine a public Bitcoin address using the most popular block explorer today blockchair.
I just paste the public address into the block explorer and now I can see how many Bitcoins this wallet holds and its recent transactions.
If I click on a specific transaction a can see details about this transaction such as when it was received, the number of confirmations it has or when it is estimated to be confirmed, the inputs and outputs of this transaction and how many Bitcoins were transferred.
A list of 8 different Bitcoin block explorers
Blockchair– The most versatile and robust blockchain explorer on the market. This platform allows users to search across 43 different blockchains and has multiple additional features such as portfolio trackers, ENS lookup, transaction receipts, wallet statements, node explorers, datasets, news aggregation and more. You can learn everything you need to know about it in our detailed Blockchair Review.
Blockchain.info – One of the most popular Bitcoin block explorers today. The company also provides a very popular (and recommended) Bitcoin wallet.
Blockr.io – A multi-currency block explorer. Used not only for Bitcoin but also for Litecoin, Peercoin and more. On August 2014 Coinbase purchased Blockr.io (mainly for the talent of the developers).
Blockexplorer.com – Perhaps not as well designed as the others but definitely the longest existing block explorer. The website supplies the basic information for all Bitcoin transactions and wallets.
Insight.is – The Insight REST API provides a convenient, powerful and simple way to read data from the bitcoin network and build your own services with it.
And if you’re still looking for different block explorers you can try one of these as well: Blocktrail, Biteasy, BTClook, BitcoinChain.
99Bitcoins may receive advertising commissions for visits to a suggested operator through our affiliate links, at no added cost to you. All our recommendations follow a thorough review process.
Free Bitcoin Crash Course
- Enjoyed by over 100,000 students.
- One email a day, 7 days in a row.
- Short and educational, guaranteed!
Why you can trust 99Bitcoins
Established in 2013, 99Bitcoin’s team members have been crypto experts since Bitcoin’s Early days.
Weekly Research
100k+Monthly readers
Expert contributors
2000+Crypto Projects Reviewed