# How to read a block explorer

> A practical walk-through of finding a transaction, checking a wallet, and understanding the data Quantascan shows you.

A block explorer is just a search engine for a blockchain. Every transaction ever made, every block ever produced, every address ever used — it's all public, and an explorer makes it queryable.

This guide walks through the things people most often want to do.

## Three primitives: block, transaction, address

A **block** is a batch of transactions agreed to by the network at a point in time. On QRL 2.0 a new block arrives roughly every 60 seconds (one block per consensus slot); on QRL Legacy roughly every minute too. Each block has a unique number ("height") and a unique hash. Browse the latest at [/blocks](/blocks). (New to the two-chain setup? Start with [what is QRL](/learn/what-is-qrl).)

A **transaction** is a single signed instruction — usually a value transfer, sometimes a contract call. Each transaction has a hash that uniquely identifies it. Find the latest at [/transactions](/transactions).

An **address** is a public identifier where coins can be received and from which they can be sent. On QRL Legacy these start with `Q`; on QRL 2.0 they also start with `Q` (a chain-specific prefix). Browse the largest balances at [/richlist](/richlist).

Every other page on Quantascan is some view of these three things plus their relationships.

## Searching

The search bar at the top of every page accepts:

- A block height (`4234567`)
- A block hash (`0x...`)
- A transaction hash (`0x...` — usually 64 hex characters)
- An address (`Q...`)
- A token symbol if it's been indexed

Paste, hit enter, you land on the right detail page. No exact-format requirement — the search bar autodetects.

## Checking a wallet

Go to `/address/Q...` (or paste an address in the search bar). The page shows:

- **Balance** — what the address holds right now
- **Total received / sent** — cumulative inflows and outflows over the chain's lifetime
- **Transaction count** — how many on-chain operations this address has signed or received
- **First seen / last active** — when the address first appeared on chain and when it last did anything

Below that is the full transaction history, paginated. Each row links to the tx detail and the counterparty address.

## Understanding gas (QRL 2.0 only)

On QRL 2.0, transactions consume **gas** — a unit of computational work. Three numbers matter:

- **Gas used** — how much the transaction actually consumed (lower = cheaper).
- **Gas price** — how much the sender paid per unit of gas (priority bid).
- **Transaction fee** — gas used × effective gas price, the total cost.

You'll see all three on every tx detail page. The fee shows up in the chain's native unit, Quanta (1 Quanta = 1e9 Shor = 1e18 Planck).

QRL Legacy doesn't have gas — fees are fixed per transaction type.

## Reading a transaction status

On a transaction detail page:

- **Success** (green check) — the transaction executed and the state change was applied.
- **Failed / reverted** (red X) — the transaction was included in a block but reverted. The sender still paid the gas, but no state change took effect. Usually means a contract threw an error.

Multi-recipient transactions on QRL Legacy (a single tx paying multiple addresses) are shown as a list of recipients with per-row values.

## Analytics — the part block explorers usually skip

Most explorers stop at "here's the data, paginated." Quantascan also pre-aggregates the data into rollups so you can ask harder questions:

- *How decentralised is QRL?* → [Supply page](/supply) for Gini and Nakamoto coefficients.
- *Who's accumulating right now?* → [Whale tracker](/whales) for 24h net flows on the largest holders.
- *Is the chain healthy?* → [Network page](/network) for daily active addresses, fee market, scorecard.
- *Who's running validators?* → [Validators page](/validators) for top earners + decentralisation.

These pages don't show individual transactions — they show the chain as a whole.

## Tips that save time

- **The chain toggle** in the header (top-right) flips between QRL Legacy and QRL 2.0. Same page, different chain.
- **Cards on the homepage are clickable** — each links to the underlying detail page.
- **Every address page has a link to its transaction graph** for visualising counterparty relationships.
- **The Charts catalogue** ([/charts](/charts)) lists every time-series chart on the site in one place — useful when you want a specific metric and don't remember which analytics page hosts it.

If you can't find something, the search bar is the right starting point about 90% of the time.