What Is Etherscan and How to Use It?

Etherscan is an Ethereum blockchain explorer. It indexes public Ethereum data. You can look up wallet addresses, transaction hashes, token transfers, gas fees, and smart contracts.

Etherscan puts public Ethereum data in one place, making it easier to review transactions, addresses, tokens, contracts, and other on-chain activity. Whether you're a casual user or a developer, Etherscan gives you the tools to better understand how Ethereum works on a technical level.

Etherscan has also expanded beyond Ethereum. Its API covers more than 60 EVM chains, and if you search a transaction hash from another supported network, Etherscan shows a preview with a link to the right explorer.

• Etherscan indexes data from Ethereum nodes, including blocks, transactions, and wallet addresses.

• The platform acts as a search engine, allowing users to look up specific details such as pending transactions, completed transfers, and smart contract execution records.

Etherscan is a simple tool that can be used for various purposes, from tracking transactions to checking smart contract details. Below are some common ways to use it.

How to use Etherscan to check gas fees

1. Visit the Etherscan homepage and navigate to the “Gas Tracker” section.

2. View the Standard, Fast, and Rapid gas estimates in gwei, along with the estimated confirmation time for each.

3. Use this information to estimate how much you’ll need to pay for a transaction.

How to use Etherscan to look up a wallet

1. Enter a wallet address into the search bar on Etherscan's homepage.

2. Review the wallet's transaction history, and open the Assets tab to see its token holdings and multichain portfolio.

3. Use the Analytics tab to see the address's activity over time, including a transaction heatmap, the dApps it uses most, and the addresses it interacts with most.

4. Check the Internal Transactions and Token Transfers tabs for activity that doesn't appear in the main transaction list.

How to use Etherscan to look up a transaction

1. Copy the transaction hash (TxHash) from your wallet or exchange.

2. Paste it into the Etherscan search bar and hit Enter.

3. Review details such as the sender and receiver, gas fees, and transaction confirmation status.

How to track cross-chain transactions on Etherscan

1. Search the wallet address and open the Other Transactions tab.

2. Select Cross-Chain Transactions.

3. Review the source transaction and chain, the asset sent, the asset received on the destination chain, the recipient address, and the bridge used.

This helps when assets leave Ethereum through a bridge and end up on another network.

How to use Etherscan to look up a smart contract

1. Find the smart contract address and enter it into Etherscan's search bar.

2. Open the Contract tab to see whether the source code has been verified and review details such as the published code, compiler information, ABI, creation code, and deployed bytecode.

3. Use Read Contract to view data without changing anything. Write Contract sends transactions to the contract and requires a connected wallet.

Verified source code means the published code matches what's deployed on-chain. It doesn't mean the contract has been audited or is safe.

Etherscan is used to:

• Track Ethereum transactions and confirm whether they succeeded.

• Verify wallet balances and token holdings.

• Review smart contracts and their verified source code.

• Track transfers between blockchains through supported bridges.

• Analyze blockchain data for trends and patterns.

• Find on-chain records to support your crypto tax reporting.

• Transparency: Look up any public Ethereum transaction, address, or contract as new blocks are added.

• Verification: Check a transaction's status and review its on-chain details.

• Research: Analyze token projects, wallet activity, and contract functionality.

• Security: Check address labels, contract verification, and existing token approvals for warning signs before you interact.

Etherscan provides more information for review, but it doesn't guarantee that a contract, token, or transaction is safe.

Etherscan shows public on-chain activity associated with an Ethereum address, making it a useful source for tax records.

To download a wallet's history, search the address and use Etherscan's CSV export. Choose the activity type and the date range you need. Etherscan separates normal transactions, internal transactions, token transfers, and NFT transfers, so you may need multiple exports to build a complete record. Each export includes only the earliest 5,000 records in the date range, so an active wallet may need several exports, such as one per year.

Each transaction page shows details such as the timestamp, assets moved, and gas fee, which can help support your transaction records. When you use ETH to pay gas, the IRS generally treats the ETH used for the fee as a disposition, which may create a gain or loss. Depending on the transaction, the fee may also affect your basis or amount realized. See whether Ethereum gas fees are tax deductible.

The IRS requires taxpayers to keep records sufficient to support the positions reported on their returns, which can include records of digital asset receipts, sales, exchanges, dispositions, transfers, and fair market values. Basis and holding-period records may also need information from exchanges, wallets, or your own records.

Etherscan's main explorer covers Ethereum. Its Cross-Chain Transactions tab shows transfers made through supported bridges, but activity on other networks and trades inside an exchange account need their own records.

Your wallet records still matter if you receive Form 1099-DA. Brokers must report gross proceeds for sales on or after January 1, 2025. For sales on or after January 1, 2026, they must also report basis for covered digital assets, which are generally assets you bought in that broker account on or after January 1, 2026, and held there. Basis reporting for noncovered digital assets is voluntary, so a form may not include everything you need, especially for assets transferred into an exchange or acquired before 2026. See crypto tax forms.

TokenTax also supports importing transaction data from Ethereum and other wallets and blockchains, so you don't have to rely on manual CSV exports alone.

Yes. Etherscan's Read Contract and Write Contract tools let you interact directly with supported smart contracts.

Read Contract lets you view information without changing anything on-chain. Write Contract lets you submit transactions that change the contract's state, such as transferring tokens or approving permissions. You'll need to connect a wallet, approve the transaction, and pay any applicable gas fee. If you use Write Contract to claim an airdrop or rewards, the tokens are generally ordinary income at their fair market value when you gain control of them. See how crypto airdrops are taxed.

Before using Write Contract, verify the contract address through the project's official source and make sure you understand the function you're calling. Scammers often send people to fake contracts, so never approve a transaction on a contract you don't trust.