What is a Bitcoin block explorer?

A Bitcoin block explorer is a tool or website that provides detailed information about blocks, transactions, and the state of the Bitcoin blockchain. It essentially acts as a search engine for the blockchain, allowing anyone to view information about the blocks, addresses, and transactions created by the Bitcoin network.

Using a Bitcoin block explorer

Just paste the transaction ID (TXID), also known as a transaction hash, into the explorer's search bar. You can also paste any Bitcoin address into the search bar.

Where do I find my Bitcoin transaction ID?

From the Bitcoin.com Wallet app's home screen, tap on the "Funds" icon in the bottom toolbar.
Select the blockchain of the transaction you are looking for. For example, if your transaction was on the Bitcoin blockchain, select Bitcoin.
Choose the wallet of the transaction you are looking for (eg. "My BTC Savings Wallet.") This will display a list of all transactions for this wallet.
Select the transaction. This will display information about the transaction.
Select "View transaction on block explorer." This will bring up the Bitcoin block explorer. Your transaction ID is shown in both the URL of the page and in a box at the top right of screen titled Transaction hash.

Where do I find my Bitcoin address?

You can find your Bitcoin address by tapping "Receive" from the Bitcoin.com Wallet app's home screen and selecting Bitcoin (BTC). You can then paste your address into the block explorer. Read more about finding and sharing your Bitcoin addresses here.

What information do Bitcoin block explorers display?

If have entered a transaction ID, the Explorer will display the following information:

Senders: The address(es) the transaction originated from.
Recipients: The address(es) the transaction output to.
Amount transacted: The amount of bitcoin sent.
Transaction fee: How much bitcoin was paid as a fee to the miner.
Transaction status: How many 'confirmations' the transaction has.
Privacy audit: The level of anonymity associated with the transaction.

If you have entered a Bitcoin wallet address, the Explorer will display the wallet's transaction history. This includes the following:

A list of all sends and receives associated with the wallet including total amount sent and received.
A transaction ID for each transaction associated with the wallet. By clicking this you can see the Bitcoin wallet addresses associated with each transaction.

What is a confirmation in the context of cryptocurrencies and blockchain?

A confirmation means a cryptocurrency transaction has been checked and added to the blockchain.

Every time you make a cryptocurrency transaction, it's sent out to the network. Miners (for systems like Bitcoin) or validators (for systems like Ethereum, Avalanche, and Polygon) check this transaction and put it in a new block of transactions. When this block is added to the blockchain, the transaction gets its first confirmation.

Every new block added after your transaction gives another confirmation. This makes the transaction more secure because it becomes harder to change or double spend. This is because changing a transaction means redoing the work for that block and all blocks after it, which requires a lot of resources.

For smaller transactions, one or two confirmations might be enough. But for larger transactions, more confirmations may be needed to make sure the transaction is valid and can't be reversed. In the case of Bitcoin, 6 confirmations is considered statistically irreversible.

How long a transaction takes to get confirmed can change depending on how busy the network is and the transaction fees.

What blockchains can I explore?

Each blockchain operates on its own network, and to track transactions on a specific blockchain, you need to use the appropriate explorer for that network. Here are the explorers for some popular blockchains:

Bitcoin: Use Mempool.space
Bitcoin Cash: Use Blockchair BCH Explorer
Ethereum: Use Etherscan
Avalanche: Use Avalanche Explorer
Polygon: Use Polygon Scan
BNB (Binance Smart Chain): Use BSCScan

These explorers allow you to search for transactions using transaction hashes, wallet addresses, or block numbers on their respective networks.