Dive Deeper into the Ethereum Blockchain

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By Tokenize Xchange
June 28, 2021

Last week, we gave our readers an insight into . It’s a and financial transactions on the network are powered by Ethereum’s native currency — Ether (ETH).

Remember that Ethereum is an , which means that its records are . While it’s illegal to access a bank’s entire transaction history, can interact with the Ethereum blockchain and explore the network’s activities through .

What is Ethereum blockchain

is currently the leading blockchain explorer for Ethereum. It displays crucial information like the current price of Ether, the amount of transactions, and the average gas price.

More importantly, Etherscan also allows users to search for transactions to and from wallet addresses. Simply put, it’s a digital, global, and live financial statement; .

This is also why we often say that blockchain technology is.

Check out our easy peasy guide on Ethereum: What Exactly is Ethereum?

So how can you start interacting with the Ethereum blockchain while utilising block explorers like Etherscan?

Similar to physical wallets that store traditional fiat currencies (government-issued like SGD or USD), cryptocurrency wallets allow users to receive, store, and send their cryptocurrencies.

: It’s common for newbies to purchase and then securely store their cryptocurrencies on exchanges such as

There are multi-cryptocurrency wallets but in the context of this article, we’ll just be recommending the — A browser extension and mobile application that allows users to store their Ether and interact with Ethereum-enabled platforms.

Examples of Ethereum-enabled platforms include and These are decentralised finance (DeFi) platforms with transaction fees paid in Ether — which explains the need for a wallet and a block explorer like Etherscan to track transactions.

ETH blockchain

Think of wallet addresses as unique “bank account” numbers.

See the “”? That’s how users can check the status of their transactions in real-time. Whether you’re transferring Ether from an exchange into a wallet, or from a wallet into an Ethereum-enabled platform,

Users can copy a wallet address into the search bar and track its activities

Here’s an example of a wallet address display (the balance as well as transactions to and from the wallet):

Ether blockchain

And a sample transaction:

ETH transaction

And a short breakdown of some important terms!

— Kind of like a receipt number. It’s a unique code that’s used to identify a specific transaction.

— Whether or not your transfer has been verified by a miner.

The amount of Ether paid to the miner for verifying the transaction.

— Gas is a unit. It measures the amount of computational effort needed to execute an operation like a transaction. Think of it as the amount of ‘gas’ needed to power a car.

Therefore, gas price is the amount of that the user wants to pay as a fee to the miner. During periods of network congestion, users can speed up transactions by setting a higher gas price. Gas price can be calculated as ‘Gwei’= 1×10^-9 Ether.

If you’ve made it this far we hope that you’re not TOO bamboozled about block explorers and the nitty-gritties of Ethereum.

Block explorers are technical and can be intimidating at first which is why it’s essential to have your own hands-on experience!

: https://etherscan.io

: https://tokenize.exchange

: https://metamask.io

Keep Tokenizing! Till next week.

Here at Tokenize, we strive to provide the best possible platform for cryptocurrency trading. More importantly, we believe in sharing our passion on all things blockchain, crypto, and DeFi.

Disclaimer

Cryptocurrencies are subjected to high market risk and volatility despite high growth potential. Users are strongly advised to do their research and invest at their own risk.

ETH
Ethereum