The Basics of Blockchain Explorers: BaseScan, EtherScan, BscScan

In this article, you will enhance your skills in using blockchain explorers. The article presents screenshots from BaseScan, yet the information is also applicable to other EVM networks due to their similar logic.

The Basics of the Interface

This is the main page of BaseScan, displaying general information about the blockchain:

Ethereum's current price and market capitalization.
Data on the most recent blocks and transactions.
The number of transactions in the last 14 days.

The graph clearly depicts the community's interest in the network. In our case, it's Base Chain. On March 16th, activity on Base Chain spiked. A new narrative emerged within the community: "Base Season" (base szn).

How to Check Your Wallet on BaseScan or EtherScan?

Copy your Base Chain wallet address and paste it into the BaseScan search box. Press enter or click on the search result.

Here you can view the current balance of your (or another's) Ethereum wallet. Additionally, you can see the total value of other tokens held in the wallet at the bottom. Sometimes, the total value of all other tokens may be zero due to the following reasons:

The token has only recently commenced trading.
The tokens hold no market value, which may indicate a recently created token or one that has experienced a rug pull.

Note that Wrapped Ether (WETH) is also listed among the tokens. Experienced traders often use WETH for trading, which may be reflected in the token list as a significant part of their balance.

Exploring the Types of Transactions

Half of your screen will display the wallet's transaction history. For convenience, transactions are divided into several categories:

Transactions.

Displays a comprehensive list of all wallet transactions, including all functions called by the wallet. This provides a convenient overview of the wallet's activity sequence. However, this can often be cluttered with numerous functions that may impede analysis. To alleviate this, you can switch to other transaction types or apply filters.

Internal Txns.

Collects all incoming transactions, useful for identifying the original funding sources of the wallet. Sometimes, a new wallet may be created to divert attention from the primary wallet.

ERC20 Token Token Txns.

Shows transactions where the wallet has engaged with ERC20 token contracts. This is useful for quickly assessing the tokens traded by the wallet owner. By analyzing these transactions, one can gauge the trading acumen of the wallet's owner.

ERC721 (NFT) txns.

This standard pertains to NFTs. In this tab, you can see the NFT collections the wallet has interacted with. To learn more about a collection, copy its contract address and search for it on Opensea.

ERC1155 (multi- token) txns.

ERC1155 is a multi-token smart contract standard, capable of representing various tokens within a single contract. This tab reveals all transactions adhering to this standard.

Main Transaction Methods

Transfer: A simple coin transfer from one wallet to another;
Approve: Requests user confirmation before interacting with a new contract or function;
Multicall: Enables calling multiple functions through a single transaction. Commonly used for token swaps on DEXes.
Mint/Create: Generates new tokens;
Renounce Ownership: Relinquishes control over contract management rights. If this function has been called, the creator can no longer alter the smart contract, which is typically a positive indicator for the token.

Not all existing methods are listed here. In practice, you will encounter many more methods with your own eyes.

Reading Transaction

Final Word

By integrating these basic principles of wallet analysis, you can extract a wealth of information. Although the process can be arduous, the transparency allows you to gain exclusive insights or trace a complete chain of fund transfers to identify the primary wallet address or establish connections.