The blockchain technology is a complex trustless system built upon the shoulders of decentralization.
The system gives users the freedom to transact without having constraints that fiat experiences in our commercial world. However, this freedom does not come without an appropriate checks and balances to fish out humans who may want to violate the network’s trustless environment. The freedom is governed by everyone on the platform and that is where the idea of decentralization stems from. A system that is not built for somebody but for everybody. How then do we check this information as crypto enthusiasts? How do we know what is going down on the crypto network we have invested in? Well the answer is simple; BLOCK EXPLORER.
Particularly, the focus of this article will be on Open Chains, a budding crypto explorer platform that has been making waves in the crypto industry. We’ll however start with what a block explorer is in the first place and how it functions, and then we’ll take a holistic look at how Open Chains is performing, what it has to offer its subscribers, and how it can get better.
WHAT IS A BLOCK EXPLORER?
You know the way you search the web for anything you want to find out about? That’s exactly what a block explorer is, but for crypto currencies. Imagine a Google for Blockchain. A Block Explorer is a web space or software which allows users search for blocks on a crypto network, look up wallet addresses, network hashrate and all possible crypto transaction data.
It is however important to note that each crypto has it’s own dedicated block explorer. For instance, the explorer built to look up info on Litecoin transactions cannot be used to search for data on Bitcoin. That which is dedicated to Ethereum cannot be used to dig up data about Icon.
About Open Chains
The Open Chains platform is a block explorer service that has been set up to enable crypto currencies and other altcoins create a proper block explorer which can be accessed by their users or platform. Open Chains has made the process much more easier for crypto project developers to enlist their project on the platform with a guarantee of security and effectiveness. Currently, the platform houses block info for big names in the crypto industry like Bitcoin, Dash and Litecoin. The listing process is completely safe and simple. It is also totally free of cost. There are however different packages depending on the project which is to be enlisted and the services which the project developer wants Open Chains to offer its consumers.
The landing page of the platform is intuitive and really simple to navigate. With a search bar at the top of the page. The search bar is used to choose from the available coins on the platform and make the dutiful search as the user wants. A little scrolling down will show a few of the supported Crypto coin and altcoin already listed on the platform. Once a coin is selected you will be taken to a page listing all the blocks on that chain starting with the most recent. Click on a block and you will see all the details about that block including the transaction contained in that block. Selecting a transaction will give all the data about that transaction. If the blockchain supports masternodes there will be a button on the sidebar to view all the masternodes and their statues. The peers button will give you a list of all the peers that have been seen in the last 24hrs, also you can generate an addnode list if you need help getting your wallet sync’d. The Open Chains developers are very active, they are adding new features all the time. Have a feature you would like to see drop by their Discord (https://discord.gg/kBPYA9s) and let them know about it. Getting listed on Open Chains is super simple and fast. Just fill out the form (https://openchains.info/add) on the site and they will reach out to you via Discord or email to get the process started.