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Tl;dr: Etherscan is like Google – but for the Ethereum blockchain! Use this powerful database to get detailed information on your Ethereum wallet, track Web3 transactions safely and securely, detect any suspicious activities, protect yourself from Web3 scams, view NFTs, and manage your Dapp connections.
Etherscan is an organization with a mission to provide fair and equal access to human readable blockchain data. Blockchain data can be less than easy to understand or obtain without certain technical knowledge. Etherscan seeks to provide everyone access to this data with their leading ‘BlockChain Explorer’, Search, API, and Analytics platform for the Ethereum network 🔥
What makes Etherscan really cool is that it’s a free tool, available to anyone, with dozens of advanced search functionalities: useful for beginner, intermediate, and advanced users alike!
Learning the basic features of Etherscan is pretty quick (we’ll cover top features in this post).
The nice thing about crypto is that everything is supposed to be transparent and easily-verifiable on a blockchain. Right? But how do you actually view what is going on, in a simple, straightforward way?
Enter Etherscan 😎 💪
Think of Etherscan like a search tool on steroids, but specifically for the Ethereum network. It’s like a combined ‘Google for crypto’ and domain service mixed with cool analytics and tools, and allows you to search for and verify transaction IDs, as well as dozens of other functionalities.
Some of the most popular things to do on Etherscan include:
The Etherscan team has been busy and they’ve also developed some new cool features ⚡:
These are just a few of the ways you can get started with Etherscan. Now let’s walk through the top 5 Etherscan tools you should know how to use 💪
Tool #1: How to look up a transaction on Etherscan 💸
When you initiate a crypto transaction (like sending Ether (ETH) from your cryptowallet to someone else, receiving an ERC-20 token, or receiving an NFT), you can use Etherscan to track the transaction ✅
To look up any transaction on Etherscan:
➡️ First, find the transaction hash or transaction ID (TXID). The TXID is a unique string of letters and numbers that identifies a transaction on the Ethereum blockchain.
➡️ Copy the transaction hash/ID
➡️ Open the Etherscan homepage
➡️ In the search field at the top of the page, copy/paste the TXID ‘hash’ and hit the ‘search’ icon.
➡️ Now, you can review the details regarding a specific transaction! Here, we can see that approximately .209 ETH (about $627 USD was sent from one Ethereum wallet to another Ethereum wallet 💪
Now, let’s check out the receiving wallet to see what’s in there.
➡️ Click on the receiving wallet’s address (the “To”) to learn everything about the wallet! What’s inside, what was sent and received, when, and much more!
➡️ Here, we see the receiving wallet from the previous transaction it is now .209 ETH richer 😀
Click on a specific transaction to see detailed information such as:
Bonus Tip: To look up an Etherscan transaction on Zengo:
If you used the Zengo app to buy or sell cryptocurrency, or you want to see your overall Ethereum balance and ERC 20 tokens, you can copy your TXID from the app to learn more about the transaction inside of Etherscan.
➡️ Open Zengo and go to your Ethereum wallet. When you scroll to the bottom, you’ll see all of your transaction history.
➡️ Tap on a transaction you want to learn more about, and you’ll see the status screen.
➡️ Here, it looks like you received some Ether (ETH)! Let’s learn more about this transaction. ➡️ Tap on “Confirmed” to view the transaction hash/ID on Etherscan.
➡️ Here is the transaction on Etherscan! You can see the transaction ID highlighted (sometimes referred to as the transaction ‘hash’ (TXID). The TXID is a unique string of letters and numbers that identifies a transaction on the Ethereum blockchain.
➡️ If you want to share this ID with the person who sent you the ETH, they can also look it. upon Etherscan to confirm transaction status 💪
Tool #2: How to look up a wallet on Etherscan 🔍
With Etherscan, you’re able to look up any Ethereum wallet address and check what digital assets (including ERC 20 tokens and NFTs) are in the wallet. This is a useful feature for when you’re sending crypto and want to verify your receiving address – but also, it’s just plain ‘ol interesting for the snoopy snoops out there! The power of blockchain transparency is that you can look up anyone’s wallet and see what they’re holding 🤠
To do this, you’ll follow similar steps to Tool #1 above:
Open the Etherscan homepage and in the search field at the top of the page, copy/paste the relevant wallet address and hit the ‘search’ icon.
You’ll be able to see the page for the relevant wallet, including the list of all transactions associated with that Ethereum address.
Fun tip: Click ‘Analytics’ to see detailed info for a full picture of the user’s activity, such as the user’s balance and transfer history!
Tool #3: How to check gas prices on Etherscan ⛽
To check gas prices for a potential transaction, you can use Etherscan’s Gas Tracker feature. This tool helps predict network congestion and estimate how much it’ll cost you to conduct a transaction.
Gas is measured in ‘gwei,’ short for giga-Wei. Wei is the smallest unit of the Ethereum network, used by the Ethereum community to describe the fee charged for transacting on the Ethereum network.
To use Etherscan’s gas tracker:
For example, in December 2021, the average gas price on the Ethereum network was 106 gwei, while at the time this article was written the average rate was in a range between 40-60 gwei.
Tool #4: How to view your NFTs on Etherscan 🎆
In 2022 Etherscan released a feature to allow you to view NFTs directly in their platform. This release makes it easier to buy and sell digital collectibles for newbies, increasing transparency on NFT ownership and transactions. It’s also an easy way for you to view all your NFTs in one place.
To view your NFTs on Etherscan:
You can go to the ‘Details’ column on the far right and click ‘View NFT>’ to view the NFT and its details and properties.
Tool #5: How to review and revoke your token approvals for any Dapp 🚫
When you interact with a Dapp (decentralized application), the Dapp gains access to your wallet. That’s why it’s really important that if you use Dapps, you’re cautious about which Dapps you grant access to.
And once you’ve granted a Dapp access, you can use Etherscan’s Token Approval Checker to review and revoke access to your wallet address. This is most relevant if you see any suspicious activity around that Dapp, or even think there’s a chance the Dapp has been compromised. Using this Etherscan feature, you’ll be able to block access from a specific Dapp. You can find more info on token approvals from the Etherscan team here.
To review and revoke your token approvals:
The Etherscan Team! 🙌
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