Key Points
BscScan is a blockchain information lookup tool that allows users to easily track transactions, check wallet balances, and interact with smart contracts on the BNB Smart Chain (BSC).
BscScan also provides a range of features such as gas price tracking, BEP-20 token tracking, and checking the number of unique addresses.
These metrics can help users measure network activity, identify congestion status, and assess token performance, which is very useful for investors, traders, and application developers on the blockchain.
Introduction
We often talk about the permissionless nature of public blockchains, meaning anyone with an address can interact with this blockchain. But did you know that developing applications on a blockchain is also permissionless? Anyone with relevant expertise can deploy DApps on a blockchain, and no one can stop them.
This reality has led to the rapid growth of the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. Although it is a young blockchain, BNB Smart Chain (BSC) has shown impressive growth rates. You may wonder how impressive this blockchain is? The answer is that there is a lot of public on-chain data that allows traders and investors to easily check the network's activity.
If you are looking for a way to access data on this chain, a blockchain explorer like BscScan is the easiest way to find everything you need.
What is BscScan?
BscScan is a blockchain information lookup tool developed by the same team behind Etherscan. BscScan provides an analytical platform for BNB Smart Chain and has many other interesting features. This can be a great source of information if you want to track DeFi projects built on BSC.
You can also use BscScan to:
1. Look up transactions and check their progress.
2. View the latest blocks added to the blockchain.
3. Check wallet balances and any transactions they have made.
4. Search, read, and interact with smart contracts deployed to the blockchain.
5. Research token supply and other types of cryptocurrencies.
All this information is available without registration and is completely free. The blockchain information lookup tool displays all content in a simple and easy-to-use manner.
Why should I use BscScan?
BscScan is designed by a trusted development team behind EtherScan - the popular Ethereum blockchain information lookup tool. Beyond reputation, BscScan can help you explore the world of blockchain. By learning some basic knowledge on how to use it, you can quickly troubleshoot and perform basic queries.
For example, knowing how to look up a smart contract on BscScan is a useful skill for anyone using DApps. You can check if the smart contract has been verified, and you can even interact directly with the smart contract via BscScan (this feature is useful when the DApp's API goes down). But on-chain information is not just about checking smart contracts and basic transactions.
For instance, you can set up whale alerts to monitor large-value transactions. In some cases, if a large amount of cryptocurrency is transferred to an exchange, this could be a sign that a sell-off is about to occur. You can even monitor the wallets of DeFi protocol founders to see if they are moving their tokens anywhere. Let's explore some of the most commonly used tools and metrics that you can look up using BscScan.
How to find the average gas price of the BNB Smart Chain?
First, hover over the [Resources] section, click on [Charts and Statistics], and then click on [Average Gas Price Chart].
Now you will see the average gas price chart used to calculate the gas fees that users have to pay for transactions on BSC.
As we mentioned, BSC has relatively low fees. On BSC, 1 gwei is equivalent to 0.000000001 BNB. With an average gas price of about 3.5 gwei, sending 100 BNB will only cost less than 10 cents. In fact, sending 10 or even 100 times that amount still costs no more than 30 cents.
From transaction history, we can see that people have been paying higher than normal transaction fees. Some users may still hold onto old habits when using Ethereum or other blockchains. However, this is really unnecessary. The BNB Smart Chain is very resistant to congestion, so if network conditions remain stable, 3.5 gwei is sufficient for a simple transaction.
How to find the number of unique addresses on the BNB Smart Chain?
The number of unique addresses on BscScan is useful data to use if you want to roughly estimate the number of users on the network. You can find the number of unique addresses by hovering over the [Resources] section and then clicking on [Charts and Statistics]. Next, click on [Unique Address Chart].
If a blockchain has 100 unique addresses, does that mean this blockchain has 100 unique users? Absolutely not! Anyone can create multiple addresses. But thanks to the magic of cryptography, even if that happens, we will not run out of addresses for a long time. Even then, it is still very difficult to determine whether those addresses belong to the same entity.
We know that anyone can create multiple addresses and the number of users is not as high as this metric shows. However, the number of unique addresses can give us a preliminary insight into the development of the network.
How to find the daily transaction count on the BNB Smart Chain?
This chart shows us the total number of transactions on the BNB Smart Chain on a specific day. Once again, this information is available in the [Charts and Statistics] section.
Although some smart contracts require more transactions than others to execute, this chart can still provide us with an overview of network activity and whether the network is likely to be congested. This is also a sign that the network is healthy.
What are the top BEP-20 tokens?
The Token Tracker page allows you to track the top BEP-20 tokens by market capitalization or daily trading volume. This page will help you know which tokens have the highest accumulated value and the highest trading volume on the BSC blockchain.
One thing to note here is information about tokens. Token/contract owners can update information about their tokens on BscScan to provide you with more detailed insights about the token. If the BscScan team has not verified the token contract address, that address may not be trustworthy.
You will see many wrapped tokens on this page. This is the tokenized version of a coin or token belonging to another blockchain. Binance-Peg ETH is one example.
This means you can buy, sell, and trade the ETH version on BSC without having to bridge BSC to the Ethereum blockchain. In other words, ETH wrapped on BSC is the tokenized version of the original ETH that belongs to the Ethereum blockchain.
Is BscScan compatible with NFTs?
Just like any other digital asset on BSC, you can quickly look up individual NFTs and their smart contracts. BEP-721 and BEP-1155 tokens are the most popular standards of BSC for NFTs. Now let's take a quick look at an example. This is a PancakeSwap NFT from the Pancake Squad collection:
If we copy the contract address (0x0a8901b0E25DEb55A87524f0cC164E9644020EBA) into the search bar of BscScan, we can find the contract creator and the token tracker page.
If you click the Token Tracker link, we can check the token supply, number of holders, and total transfer amount. We can also use the tabs below to take a closer look at each of these metrics and other details, such as the number of tokens currently available and the contract source code.
How to look up validators on the BNB Smart Chain?
Simply put, validators are the ones who ensure that BSC can operate. By staking BNB, they can process transactions and confirm new blocks. In return for providing this service, they earn transaction fees from activities on the network.
BNB Smart Chain uses a consensus mechanism called Proof of Staked Authority (PoSA). This consensus model can speed up block creation times and reduce fees. You can check the top validators on the BNB Smart Chain on the Validator Ranking in the [Validator] tab.
Who can become a validator? Essentially, anyone can become a validator. However, the actual requirements are relatively high. After all, the security of the network lies in the hands of these individuals. If you want to read more about how to become a validator on the BNB Smart Chain, check the official BNB Chain documentation.
How to verify a smart contract on BscScan?
BscScan users can input any contract address to verify and see if the compiled code matches the code running on the blockchain. This is easily recognizable - you will see a green checkmark next to the contract on the toolbar as well as the notification [Contract source code verified].
Allowing users to independently check and verify code is a valuable feature as it enhances the overall transparency of the BNB Smart Chain ecosystem. You can also interact directly with smart contracts by connecting to a cryptocurrency wallet like MetaMask.
Conclusion
Whether you are a DeFi expert or just getting familiar with the BSC network, learning how to use BscScan will help you understand blockchain better. However, remember that the market is unpredictable and often tends to be highly volatile. Doing your own research is a key factor for success in trading. This may include checking whether the token is certified by the BscScan team, whether the contract is open-source and audited, as well as accessing the project's blog or social media accounts to learn more. Make sure you understand the risks before participating in the DeFi market.
Read more:
Introduction to BNB Smart Chain (BSC)
What is BNB Chain?
What is Etherscan and how to use Etherscan?
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