Blockchain Explorer
Definition
A web interface or API that indexes a blockchain and allows queries by address, transaction hash, or block. Examples: Blockstream.info for Bitcoin, Etherscan for Ethereum. Explorers provide the raw transaction graph; commercial analytics tools layer attribution data and clustering on top.
- Function
- Web/API interface indexing a blockchain for lookup
- Query types
- By address, transaction hash, or block
- Examples
- Blockstream.info (Bitcoin), Etherscan (Ethereum)
- What it lacks vs commercial tools
- Attribution/clustering data layered by paid analytics platforms
Common questions
What can an investigator get from a free blockchain explorer that a commercial tool adds to?+
A free explorer shows the raw transaction graph, balances, and timestamps for any address or transaction hash. Commercial platforms build on that same public data by adding entity labels, risk scoring, and clustering heuristics that identify which addresses likely belong to exchanges, mixers, or known criminal wallets.
Is data shown on a blockchain explorer itself sufficient as court evidence?+
The raw ledger data is generally treated as reliable because it is drawn directly from the immutable public chain, but investigators typically also document the explorer used, the query date, and independently verify key figures, since explorer front-ends can occasionally have indexing bugs or lag behind the live chain.
Related terms
- Address Clustering
- A technique that groups blockchain addresses likely controlled by the same entity. The most common method uses the common-input-ownership heuristic: all input...
- KYC (Know Your Customer)
- The identity verification process that regulated exchanges and virtual asset service providers (VASPs) are legally required to perform before allowing users to...
- Mixer / Tumbler
- A service that pools cryptocurrency from multiple users, exchanges it, and returns equivalent amounts to different addresses, intentionally breaking the transaction graph....
- UTXO (Unspent Transaction Output)
- The fundamental accounting unit of the Bitcoin protocol. Each transaction consumes previous UTXOs as inputs and creates new UTXOs as outputs. The...
- VASP (Virtual Asset Service Provider)
- The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) term for businesses that exchange, transfer, or custody cryptocurrency on behalf of customers. VASPs are subject...