Block explorers have been a popular part of the cryptocurrency industry, specifically for developers that aim to develop decentralized applications (dApps) on top of a specific blockchain network or simply traders that want to have an in-depth look at a specific blockchain before making an investment.
Through the utilization of block explorers, users can gain access to all of the information that they require, and all they have to do is use simple commands in order to connect.
Today, we are going to go over everything you need to know about block explorers, who can use them, how to use them, and which ones are available on NOWNodes, so let’s dive in.
What are Block Explorers?
A block explorer is defined as a specialized tool that works as a search engine for a specific blockchain network.
You typically use Google to search for websites, and you typically use YouTube to search for videos. Well, through a block explorer, you would enter commands and search for specific information found within a blockchain network.
You can explore a variety of different blocks, all of which feature data, and you can discover the state of a transaction, the transaction history, the balances of a specific address, and the hash rate of the blockchain network in question. Alongside all of that, you can get access to data surrounding the growth of the transactions within a given blockchain network.
Who can use Block Explorers?
You might be wondering who can use block explorers and who these block explorers are actually for.
You can get data surrounding the hashrate, difficulty, block height, wallet addresses, transaction data, balance history tickers list, or anything else that you need.
What this means is that there are two main use-cases of block explorers, but this is not a limit of any sort, just a perspective of who typically uses them.
First, there are miners. Miners will typically take advantage of block explorers in order to confirm that they have mined a block successfully.
Second, there are traders. Traders will typically utilize a block explorer to check the status of transactions and get an in-depth look at details such as the payment status, overall network congestion, the block height before an upgrade, and other information that they can utilize in order to make trades at the perfect point in time.
However, just about everyone can use a block explorer, even those just curious about reviewing some data on it.
How can you use Block Explorer
If you are curious about using NOWNodes, you can find a complete list of all of the requests you can make on the NOWNodes block explorer; you can navigate to the official documentation here.
For the time being, we will go over some notable examples that you need to be aware of.
Now, when it comes to using NOWNodes specifically, here is how you can connect to and utilize the block explorer.
Let’s say you want to list all of the assets associated within a specific wallet and the metadata if known on Cardano (ADA).
In that case, you would use this command:
- curl –location -g –request GET ‘https://ada-index.nownodes.io/v2/wallets/{walletId}/assets’
This is the response you would receive:
But let’s say that you want to connect to the BNB Smart Chain. In that case, you would need to access a block explorer specific to it.
This is what you would need to enter to get the status page, which will return the current status of the blockbook and the connected backend:
- curl –location –request GET ‘https://bsc-blockbook.nownodes.io/api’ \
- –header ‘api-key: your api-key’ \
- –header ‘Content-Type: application/json’
And this would be the example response:
This is essentially how you would use a block explorer to get access to any data that you require.
Our Block Explorers
NOWNodes gives you access to over 40 of the most popular blockchain networks.
You can find a full list of all of the block explorers here.
Here is an individual breakdown of each block explorer available by default:
- ada.nownodes.io
- algo.nownodes.io
- bch.nownodes.io
- bsc.nownodes.io
- bsv.nownodes.io
- btc.nownodes.io
- btc-testnet.nownodes.io
- btg.nownodes.io
- clo.nownodes.io
- dash.nownodes.io
- dcr.nownodes.io
- dgb.nownodes.io
- doge.nownodes.io
- doge-testnet.nownodes.io
- dot.nownodes.io
- eos.nownodes.io
- eth.nownodes.io
- eth-ropsten.nownodes.io
- grs.nownodes.io
- kmd.nownodes.io
- terra.nownodes.io
- ltc.nownodes.io
- ltc-testnet.nownodes.io
- nano.nownodes.io
- ont.nownodes.io
- trx.nownodes.io
- usdt-omni.nownodes.io
- vet.nownodes.io
- xem.nownodes.io
- xmr.nownodes.io
- Xtz.nownodes.io
- xvg.nownodes.io
- xzc.nownodes.io
- zec.nownodes.io
- zen.nownodes.io
- zil.nownodes.io
If you make a specific request, you can also access the following:
- aya.nownodes.io
- bcd.nownodes.io
- bcha.nownodes.io
- btx.nownodes.io
- bnb.nownodes.io
- bth.nownodes.io
- cream.nownodes.io
- ela.nownodes.io
- etc.nownodes.io
- exp.nownodes.io
- firo.nownodes.io
- lbtc.nownodes.io
- lrc.nownodes.io
- lsk.nownodes.io
- near.nownodes.io
- neo.nownodes.io
- nlg.nownodes.io
- ocean.nownodes.io
- qtum.nownodes.io
- rvn.nownodes.io
- ubq.nownodes.io
- vtc.nownodes.io
- waves.nownodes.io
- yec.nownodes.io
About NOWNodes and our Nodes
NOWNodes is a blockchain-as-a-service provider that will give you access to over 40 of the most popular blockchain networks, where every single coin or token’s blockchain can be fully explored.
You can access full Nodes and block explorers through an API. The service provides a high-quality infrastructure that is quick, cost-effective, and reliable, with an uptime of 99.95%, a connection time of less than 1 second, and 24/7 surveillance.
CRYPTO CONTRIBUTOR, CONTENT CREATOR, INVESTOR & FOUNDER OF MT AGENCY.
I have written guides and educational content on thousands of cryptocurrencies and financial services and conducted various types of analysis, including price forecasts and technical analyses of blockchain projects.
