Blockchain explorers: how to read transactions, verify tokens and smart contracts

A blockchain can be thought of as an open database where everything is visible to every user. Any transaction, contract, or token remains available for verification. To figure out what’s happening on the network, people use a blockchain explorer — it turns the blocks’ technical data into readable tables and charts, showing fund flows, contract actions, and operation costs.

Main points of this article:

• how explorers work and what features they provide to users;
• how to use them to verify transactions, wallets, and contracts;
• how to tell a fake token from a real one and manage permissions (approve).

Once you can read explorers, it becomes easier to understand what’s happening on-chain — and much harder to fall for scams.

A blockchain explorer can be imagined as a website that connects to the network and shows what’s happening inside the blockchain. It shows every transaction, address, and contract, and the data updates in real time.

With an explorer you can see:

• the transaction history and balances of any address;
• transfer statuses — pending, successful, or failed;
• block contents and who validated them;
• smart contracts and their source code;
• token data: issuance, number of holders, latest transfers.

Each network has its own explorer blockchain. The most well-known are:

• Etherscan for Ethereum;
• TronScan for TRON;
• BscScan for BNB Smart Chain;
• Solscan for Solana and Polygonscan for Polygon.

Any of these explorers works like a search engine for the blockchain. Enter an address, a transaction hash, or a block number, and the system will immediately show the relevant data.

To understand how an explorer works, it’s enough to open any of them and enter a transaction hash or an address.

Transaction verification shows:

• status: Pending, Success, or Failed;
• sender and recipient;
• amount and fee (Gas, Energy);
• the time it was included in a block.

Wallet verification shows overall activity. The user sees the balance, all operations, and tokens. Before sending, make sure the address is correct by comparing its beginning and end to the recipient’s address.

Smart contract verification is considered an important security step. A verified contract has open source code and the Read Contract and Write Contract tabs, where you can see which functions are being called and by whom. Such smart contract checking helps avoid interacting with fake DApps.

Etherscan is the primary tool for analyzing the Ethereum network and a reference for all other explorers. It combines a simple interface with detailed information, letting you study the blockchain almost like a text file.

The homepage contains a universal search bar where you can paste a wallet address, transaction hash, block number, or token. After a query, Etherscan shows an object card with key parameters, including hash, block, time, confirmations, and fee (Gas Fee).

When you open a transaction, Etherscan shows a full report:

• Status: Pending, Success, or Failed;
• From / To: addresses of the sender and recipient;
• Value: the transferred amount in ETH and its USD equivalent;
• Transaction Fee: the fee in ETH and in Gwei;
• Gas Used / Gas Limit: the actual gas spent and the user-set limit;
• Input Data: the contract call data (if the operation involves a DApp).

When a transaction touches a smart contract, a Logs tab appears on the page. There you can see all events the contract emits to the blockchain. This is an important tool for those analyzing DeFi protocols and NFT projects.

Every wallet on Etherscan has its own page with a convenient dashboard showing the address’s entire activity:

• total balance in ETH and tokens;
• a list of recent transactions with filters for incoming/outgoing;
• the ERC-20 Token Txns tab, showing all token transfers;
• the Internal Txns tab, showing internal contract calls (e.g., swaps or deposits in DeFi).

This section helps not only to track an address’s history but also to understand which protocols it has interacted with.

The Contract section lets you study the logic of any smart contract. If a contract is verified, these tabs are available:

• Code — the source code in Solidity;
• Read Contract — public functions you can call without fees (e.g., to get a user’s balance);
• Write Contract — functions that require Gas and a transaction signature (e.g., approve() or transfer()).

This feature turns Etherscan into a full-fledged platform where you can work with the blockchain directly from your browser, without intermediaries or additional wallets.

Etherscan works not only as an explorer but also as an analytics tool. The Analytics section presents charts for the number of transactions, average fees, gas volume, and address activity.

Token pages contain:

• a description of the standard (ERC-20, ERC-721);
• current supply and number of holders;
• token distribution by addresses;
• a list of recent transfers and interactions.

Thanks to this, users can quickly distinguish a real token from a fake and track circulation dynamics.

Ethereum uses a gas model where the fee is calculated by the formula Gas Used × Gas Price. Under heavy load, Gas Price rises and fees increase. This makes fee analytics an important part of transaction verification.

By contrast, on TRON the costs are expressed in Energy and Bandwidth, making operations cheaper and more predictable. Etherscan was the first to introduce gas analytics and visualization of its distribution by blocks. Later, other explorers adopted these features.

As a result, if you compare explorer TRON vs Ethereum, Etherscan provides more detailed analytics and flexible tools for developers, whereas TronScan focuses on speed and accessibility.

Etherscan has long been more than a typical explorer. It’s a tool that helps verify projects, analyze data, and control the security of your funds.

The official explorer for the TRON network is considered to be TronScan. This tool is used to verify operations, contracts, and TRC-20 tokens. Today it has become the main usdt trc20 explorer, through which almost all USDT transactions in the TRON ecosystem pass.

TronScan receives data directly from the TRON network and displays blocks, transactions, and contracts in a clear, easy-to-read format. Its interface is simple but provides access to all key data — from fund movements to the allocation of Energy and Bandwidth resources.

To understand how to check a USDT TRC-20 transaction, just take the hash (TxID) and paste it into the search bar on TronScan. On the transaction page you will see:

• Status: SUCCESS, PENDING, or FAILED;
• Block: the number of the block that included the operation;
• Timestamp: the exact execution time;
• From / To: the sender and recipient addresses;
• Token Info: the token name (e.g., USDT TRC-20) and its contract;
• Energy / Bandwidth: how many resources were spent;
• Fee: the fee amount in TRX.

This information lets you understand not only the fact of transfer but also its cost, which is especially important when handling large volumes. If you’re unsure where to view a TRON transaction, simply open TronScan. It displays all operations on the TRON network with real-time updates.

The Account tab on TronScan is a full wallet profile showing:

• total balance in TRX and TRC-20 tokens;
• the number of frozen coins (Frozen Balance);
• the presence of network resources — Energy or Bandwidth;
• a list of all incoming and outgoing operations;
• a separate Approvals tab where you can manage DApp permissions.

This page enables a complete wallet address check, shows its activity, and helps you understand how the owner uses network resources.

TronScan provides a convenient interface for analyzing contracts. In the Contract section it displays:

• the source code (if the contract is verified);
• Read Contract and Write Contract tabs for interacting directly via the browser;
• a chronology of transactions that invoked the contract’s functions;
• verification information and the owner (Owner).

This is an important tool for auditors and advanced users who need a quick smart contract check before interacting with it.

TRON differs from Ethereum in that fees are fixed and do not depend on network load. Every operation consumes resources:

• Bandwidth — spent on all token transfers, including TRX;
• Energy — used for smart contract calls (e.g., sending USDT).

If a user lacks sufficient resources, some TRX is burned as a fee. On a TronScan transaction page, the fee is shown in TRX and as the equivalent Energy/Bandwidth consumed.

To reduce fee expenses, you can freeze TRX and obtain Energy resources yourself. This method works but requires significant capital even for 1–2 transactions per day.

It’s much more convenient to use resource rental via Tron Pool Energy. The service automatically provides the required amount of energy and helps save up to 65% on fees without sacrificing speed or convenience. For active TRON users, this is the most rational way to optimize costs and maintain a stable resource balance.

TronScan also serves as an information portal for TRC-20 and TRC-721 tokens. On any token’s page you’ll see:

• total supply;
• number of holders;
• a list of recent transfers;
• token distribution by addresses;
• contract activity (Transfers, Holders, Info).

This data makes it easy to check a TRC-20 token and ensure it’s genuine. Lack of verification, a small number of holders, and incomplete data usually indicate a fake token.

TronScan also shows network activity charts: daily transaction counts, block production rate, total energy consumption, and address growth. This makes it not just an explorer but a full-fledged TRON analytics dashboard.

In Account → Approvals you can check which contracts have access to your tokens. This is where the revoke permissions tron feature is available, letting you revoke unnecessary permissions.

Many users lose funds because they don’t close old Approve sessions. In TronScan it’s enough to click Revoke, confirm the action, and access will be closed.

Scammers often create copies of popular tokens with the same tickers. To avoid getting fooled, you need to distinguish the original from the fake.

Verification algorithm:

1. Find the official contract address on the project’s website, CoinMarketCap or CoinGecko.
2. Paste this address into an explorer. This is how you can check a TRC-20 or ERC-20 token — the principle is the same.
3. Make sure the contract has a verification mark (a blue check).
4. Check the Holders tab: real tokens have tens of thousands of holders; fakes have only a few.
5. Compare the official links and social media listed on the token’s page.

If even one point doesn’t match, you’re looking at a fake.

Figuring out how to check a token’s contract is very simple. Open the Contract tab and see whether the source code is published. Contracts without code or with a suspiciously low holder count often turn out to be unreliable.

Explorers remain one of the key tools of crypto security. With them you can verify the authenticity of tokens, wallet addresses, and smart contracts, ensure transaction transparency, and avoid interacting with fake projects.

If you use explorers together with aggregators like CoinMarketCap or DefiLlama, the picture of blockchain activity becomes complete and clear. This approach helps you see not only individual transactions but also overall liquidity flows, fund movements between networks, and the behavior of large holders.