AI summary
The article provides a comprehensive guide to using Etherscan, a public blockchain explorer for the Ethereum network, which allows users to search and analyze transactions, wallet addresses, and smart contracts without needing an account or wallet connection. It explains key transaction details such as status, value, and gas fees, and highlights Etherscan's importance for monitoring on-chain activity, verifying transactions, and understanding network behavior. The article also addresses common questions about using Etherscan and interpreting transaction data.
Getting comfortable with blockchain explorers is incredibly useful when you actively use Ethereum or ERC-20 tokens. Etherscan is one of the simplest places to start. You can access nearly all of its tools without connecting a wallet or creating an account. Below is a clear walkthrough of what Etherscan is and how to use it to analyze transactions.
What Is Etherscan?
Etherscan is a public blockchain explorer for the Ethereum network. It lets you search and inspect details about transactions, wallet addresses, smart contracts, token transfers, blocks, and more. Think of it as a search engine for on-chain data. Every interaction on the Ethereum blockchain is public, and Etherscan organizes that information in a way that allows anyone to navigate it.
Block explorers serve as interfaces for reading blockchain data. Just as Google or Bing index information on the internet, Etherscan indexes the Ethereum network and presents it cleanly, so you don’t need deep technical knowledge.
Etherscan doesn't store private keys, offer a wallet, or allow trading. It's an informational platform. If you want to transact or store crypto, you'll still need a dedicated wallet such as Tangem Wallet.
Why People Use Etherscan
Etherscan is considered one of the most trusted and widely used Ethereum explorers. It helps users learn more about what's happening on-chain, which makes it easier to understand how DApps work, confirm transfers, and detect suspicious activity.
A few examples:
Whale monitoring: Large transfers can signal a big market move.
Tracking project wallets: Watching developer wallets can reveal warning signs of scams or potential rug pulls.
Verifying approvals: You can check which smart contracts have permission to use your tokens.
How to Look Up Transactions or Wallets on Etherscan
To inspect a transaction or wallet, paste the transaction hash or the wallet address into the Etherscan search bar. You'll get a complete overview of all related activity and can drill down into specific details. Below is a breakdown of the main fields you'll see when inspecting a transaction.
Key Transaction Fields on Etherscan
Transaction Hash
The transaction hash is the unique identifier for a transaction.
Why it matters: It lets anyone verify that a specific transaction exists on-chain. If you pay someone in crypto, you can share the transaction hash so they can confirm the sender, receiver, amount, timestamp, and other details. If someone sends crypto to you, comparing the hash ensures you received the exact transaction they claim to have sent.
Status
A transaction can show one of four statuses:
Success: The system completed the transaction.
Failed: An error occurred, and the transaction was not processed.
Pending: The transaction is waiting in the mempool for a miner to process it.
Dropped and Replaced: The system resubmitted the transaction with different parameters, usually a higher fee.
Why it matters: You can confirm whether your transaction succeeded or decide if you need to resend it or adjust the gas settings.
Block
The explorer shows which block includes your transaction and how many blocks the network has added after it.
Why it matters: The more confirmations a transaction has, the more secure and final it becomes. Different services require different numbers of confirmations. For example, Binance requires 12 confirmations.
Timestamp
The explorer displays the date and time when the network mined the block containing your transaction.
Why it matters: It gives you a fixed point for when the system recorded the transaction. If the timestamp appears outdated, refresh the page, as block explorers don't always auto-update.
Transaction Action
This section describes what the transaction actually did. It may display a token transfer, a swap, or a change in approval.
Why it matters: It clarifies what happened behind the scenes. In the example you described, the action 'Revoked USDT From Trade On MetaMask: Swap Router' indicates that the user removed a token approval rather than sending funds.
Below this section, you'll also see "From" and "To" addresses. In many cases, the "To" address is a smart contract rather than a personal wallet.
Value
The explorer displays the amount of ETH sent in the transaction. If you see 0 ETH, it usually means the transaction did not transfer any ETH at all. Token approvals, swaps, and other smart contract interactions often show a value of zero because they involve complex interactions, not simple transfers.
Why it matters: It helps you distinguish between actual transfers and contract interactions.
Transaction Fee
Every transaction includes a network fee paid in ETH. The fee amount depends on network load and your gas settings.
Why it matters: It helps you understand how much you paid and whether the network was busy at the time.
Gas Details and Fee Components
If you click Show More, you'll see deeper information about gas usage:
Gas Limit: The maximum amount of gas you were willing to pay.
Gas Used: The amount actually consumed.
Base Fee: The minimum fee set by the network (burned).
Max Fee: The maximum you were willing to pay.
Max Priority Fee: The miner tip.
Burnt & Savings: How much gas the system burned versus how much it saved.
Why it matters: These values show how busy the network was and whether you could have paid less. For example, if the gas used is far below the limit or the base fee is low, the network wasn't congested.
Other Technical Fields
Txn Type: For example, Type 2 indicates an EIP-1559 transaction (the updated fee structure).
Nonce: The number of transactions sent from the account.
Position: The transaction's order within its block.
Why it matters: These fields are primarily for advanced users, but can be helpful when troubleshooting or analyzing behavior.
Input Data
Includes the raw data sent with the transaction. It often contains parameters like contract addresses, spender addresses, and encoded values.
Why it matters: Developers and advanced users utilize this to decode more complex transaction logic.
