Reading an address page
An address is where coins live on the chain. It works a little like an account number: you can give it to anyone who needs to pay you, and anyone who has it can look up what it holds. Unlike a bank account number, everything about it is public.
Having someone's address does not give you any control over it. Looking is safe, for you and for them.
The top of the page
The address itself, in full, with a copy button next to it. Use that button rather than selecting the text by hand.
The QR code button opens the same address as a square you can scan with a phone. Useful when you want to receive a payment from someone standing next to you.
If the address belongs to a smart contract, the page says Contract instead of Address. See Smart contracts on the explorer for what that means.
If the address has been reported as a scam, a red warning sits at the top of the page. Take it seriously.
The overview
Balance is how much L2P the address holds right now. Next to it you may see a small badge with an animal, from a shrimp up to a whale. It is a friendly way of showing roughly which size bracket the balance falls into, and nothing more.
Balance updated at block is when that figure was last confirmed.
Transactions is how many transactions this address has been part of, whether it sent them or received them.
Token holdings lists the tokens the address holds alongside its L2P. If there are many, the small search box filters them.
The tabs
Each tab is a different view of the same address.
| Tab | What is in it |
|---|---|
| Transactions | Everything the address sent or received, newest first |
| Internal transactions | Movements caused by a smart contract while some other transaction was running |
| Token transfers | Tokens moving in and out, rather than L2P |
| Tokens | The tokens the address currently holds, with balances |
| Collectibles | NFTs the address owns |
| Coin balance history | A chart of the L2P balance over time |
| Blocks validated | Only on validator addresses: the blocks this validator produced |
| Contract | Only on contracts: the program's code and functions |
Direction
In the transaction list, each row is marked In, Out or Self, seen from the address whose page you are on. Out means this address sent it, In means it received it, and Self means the address sent something to itself.
This is the quickest way to answer "did the money leave or arrive". Look at the direction first, the amount second.
When the page says data is unavailable
A notice sometimes appears saying live chain data is temporarily unavailable, so the balance is not shown. The address exists and its history below is complete. Only the two figures that are read from the chain at that instant are missing. Reload in a moment.
If it says the address is not valid
Then what you pasted is not a well-formed address. An address is 0x followed by 40 characters. Copy it again in one piece.
A word about "someone else's address"
You can open any address on the chain, including one that appears in a transaction with you. That is normal and it is not prying: the chain is public by design. Equally, anyone can open yours. Nothing you can do on this page affects any address, yours or anyone else's.