BscScan is the leading blockchain explorer for the Binance Smart Chain, built by the same team behind Etherscan. Besides tracking transactions, verifying smart contracts and other features, BscScan is also the leading validator for BSC.
Blockchain explorers are essential for any cryptocurrency. BscScan, the blockchain explorer of Binance Smart Chain, is built by the team responsible for creating Etherscan. The block explorer label only explains part of what one can do with this tool, though, as its functionality encompasses a growing variety of features and services.
What Is BscScan?
At its core, BscScan is very similar to any other blockchain explorer for whichever cryptocurrency one wants to keep tabs on. It is possible to lookup wallet addresses, transactions, smart contracts, and much more by navigating the menus or using the search bar at the top. Learning more about the Binance Smart Chain ecosystem is very straightforward and transparent.
The visual interface by BscScan is very similar to Etherscan, as both services are built by the same team. There are no unnecessary bells and whistles to keep the platform as accessible by novices as possible. As its functionality and features continue to grow and improve, the blockchain explorer brings more usefulness to its users.
Indexing the Binance Smart Chain and making it searchable through a convenient user interface provides everyone transparent access to the ecosystem.
Similar to Etherscan, it is possible to set up an account on BscScan. Doing so is not required to access the functionality, although it can prove beneficial to developers. Moreover, BscScan does not act as a wallet service, as users will need to find external solutions for that purpose. However, one can connect existing wallets – MetaMask, TrustWallet and others – together with BscScan.
How Do I Find Transactions On BSCScan?
Looking up a transaction through BscScan is not that different from other block explorers. Using the transaction ID or any wallet addresses involved in a transaction will yield the results one needs. Once the information has been entered into the search box, BSCScan will query its details – including transaction amount, date, block number, balances, transaction fees, status and more.
Users will see its balance when entering information for a wallet address depending on the BNB – Binance Coin – and USD value. However, BscScan also supports BEP-20 and ERC-721 token balances, which can be found under the "Token" field.
Looking Up Transactions by ID Or Hash
A very common way of looking up transactions through BscScan is by using its Transaction Hash. This hash is a string of letters and numbers to track the status of Binance Smart Chain transactions. Entering a Transaction Hash into BscScan provides much useful information, including:
- Transaction status: will either be pending, successful, or failed.
- Block height: serves as a network identifier to confirm when miners recorded the transaction on the blockchain
- Transaction value: displayed in BNB and USD value
- The transaction fee: a representation of how expensive it was to complete the transaction on the Binance Smart Chain.
- A private note: senders can include a private message with their transaction, which is visible to BscScan users after they log in to their account.
All of these details are crucial aspects of the transparent nature of blockchain technology, in this case, the Binance Smart Chain.
What is the Validator Leaderboard?
Unlike most proof-of-stake blockchains where user nodes validate transactions, the Binance Smart Chain requires validators. Currently, there are 43 validators for this ecosystem, indicating there is some degree of centralization. In addition, every validator has voting power, depicted by the amount of BNB their node holds.
Users can see when the validator became active – depicted by the block header – and the last block they validated on the validator leaderboard. Furthermore, the leaderboard shows how many blocks the validators processed in the past day, week, and month. It also shows whether they are still active on the network.
The top 21 validators by BNB staked will be chosen to be active validators. BscScan is the leading validator and holds the highest voting power, with 745,525 BNB staked. Holders can delegate their BNB to BscScan and earn 13.8% APR.
The Yield Farms List
Similar to Ethereum, the Binance Smart Chain is home to numerous decentralized finance projects. Yield farming is a crucial aspect of DeFi, and BscScan helps users find an up-to-date list of the options at their disposal. At the time of writing, the list was not populated yet, despite several dozen yield farming opportunities on the blockchain. The yield farms list is a new feature, though, and may not be fully implemented yet.
BEP-20 And ERC-721 Tokens
The Binance Smart Chain ecosystem supports two token types: the BEP-20 variant, which is native to this blockchain, and Ethereum's ERC-721 variant.
For BEP-20 tokens, users can track the top tokens, prices, volume, market cap, number of holders, and whether the asset is cross-chain compatible. The ability to transfer value between multiple blockchains is gaining momentum every quarter, as blockchains interoperability is one of the problems that third generation blockchains are tackling.
The reason to support ERC-721 is that several of these tokens are cross-chain compatible. Additionally, some projects may issue half of their tokens on one chain and half on a different ecosystem. Over 5,200 ERC-721 token contracts can be tracked on BscScan, creating a rather intriguing scenario.
What Does "Verify Contract" Do?
The Binance Smart Chain supports smart contracts. Users of BscScan can enter any contract address to verify it and see if the compiled code is the same as the one currently running on this blockchain. Allowing users to independently audit and verify code is a useful feature, as it contributes to the overall transparency of the Binance Smart Chain ecosystem.
Is BSCscan Compatible With NFTs?
As BscScan lets users track ERC-721 tokens, it is fully compatible with non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. Like Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain is home to multiple NFT-oriented projects due to its lower fees and higher overall efficiency and throughput. Users can look up their NFTs with BscScan through the transaction hash, NFT smart contract, or their wallet address.
However, the blockchain explorer is not capable of depicting the art found within that non-fungible token. Users will need to connect to a marketplace or other service provider supporting the NFT token standard, and project one acquired to see the artwork. However, BscScan will depict the token ID, the NFT project, the transaction history, and the interaction with the smart contract.
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