The Past and Present of blockchain explorer: From Tools to Windows

From a functional perspective, blockchain explorer have now undergone changes from tools to Windows.

The initial function of the blockchain browser was to search and query the recharge, transfer, and transaction progress of digital currencies. At this stage, its users were mainly developers, miners, community members, and early traders.

After more than a decade of development, with the increasing market heat, transaction activity, and public popularity of blockchain technology, the functions of blockchain explorer are also increasing. From single currency to multi-currency, from basic search to today's comprehensive, three-dimensional, and multi-level visual data display, blockchain explorers have evolved from basic tools for searching specific information to important windows for browsing blockchain information queries.

Taking OKLink, a multi-currency blockchain browser, as an example, it can be seen that current browsers can already query multiple on-chain data such as BTC, BCH, LTC, etc. From conventional basic data, including network computing power, difficulty, rewards, block height, market value, circulation, transaction volume, and TPS, as well as data related to mining pool computing power, wealthy addresses, etc., data visualization has also been achieved.

Zhang Chao, Vice President of OKLink Products, stated during a discussion on his blockchain products that, "Data on the blockchain is a treasure trove, with a large amount of information that needs to be explored and digested. For example, parameters such as on-chain transaction volume, average transaction cost, network hash rate, active address, inflation rate, block size, and mining difficulty can help us better understand the detailed situation of specific blockchain networks. The blockchain browser is a window for visualizing on-chain data."