Block Explorer
/block-explorers17
Block explorers are changing, and the industry is vibing.
4 years ago today, a small team of 5 people with a grant launched a block explorer for the Avalanche community.
We didnât know anything about how to build such a product, but we knew we wanted to have an impact.
4 years later, the team has grown 4x and is a group full of very talented people that are pushing the boundaries of whatâs possible with a block explorer, by reducing the pricing and increasing the quality by an order of magnitude, thereby becoming widely recognized by the whole industry.
Iâm so proud of what we did, and canât wait to see whatâs next.
We didnât know anything about how to build such a product, but we knew we wanted to have an impact.
4 years later, the team has grown 4x and is a group full of very talented people that are pushing the boundaries of whatâs possible with a block explorer, by reducing the pricing and increasing the quality by an order of magnitude, thereby becoming widely recognized by the whole industry.
Iâm so proud of what we did, and canât wait to see whatâs next.
Block explorer devs using server-side rendering: how big is your cache right now?
Sad to see a very good experiment in reimagining the block explorer shutting down.
I liked the horizontal navigation.
But I know Jordan will make something better đ
I liked the horizontal navigation.
But I know Jordan will make something better đ
I honestly know very little about this, because I guess that nobody knows anything about this.
What is a successful way of monetizing a block explorer that doesn't rely on a chain paying for it?
What is a successful way of monetizing a block explorer that doesn't rely on a chain paying for it?
L3s ainât working.
I mean, they are live, but they donât make money onchain. Whatâs the way to sustainability? Does it need to be offchain?
Every chain needs a block explorer. But if a gaming L3 is not financially sustainable, who pays for it?
https://jaack.montaigne.io/how-to-sustain-block-explorers-for-l-3-s
I mean, they are live, but they donât make money onchain. Whatâs the way to sustainability? Does it need to be offchain?
Every chain needs a block explorer. But if a gaming L3 is not financially sustainable, who pays for it?
https://jaack.montaigne.io/how-to-sustain-block-explorers-for-l-3-s
We have an impactful goal for EOY: 100% align with the most powerful contract verification system.
This is part of our efforts for the
@verifalliance
and our quest to make the whole industry get rid of the block explorer monopoly.
Competition is okay, monopoly is risky.
This is part of our efforts for the
@verifalliance
and our quest to make the whole industry get rid of the block explorer monopoly.
Competition is okay, monopoly is risky.
Imagine u'r building an L1. Or an L2 on Ethereum. Or any other EVM.
U r just focusing on the chain, on ur mktg, on some execution optimization.
U have a devnet. But uâll have many in a short time, and then uâll go to testnet, and then mainnet after a couple months. But u need devs first and users next to try the chain, give feedback, airdrop farm and build cool apps on it.
So u need a block explorer.
But right now building a block explorer is a tedious process: contact the provider, or use an open source version, host it and tweak it to your needs.
But what if you could just spin up a new explorer, whenever you need it, just like you do for an EC2 on Amazon?
And then pay-as-you-go, and scale fast with discounts the more transactions you have on the chain.
99.99% uptime. Dedicated node. 24/7 support.
Pay for it on a web page, with crypto/fiat, and have it ready in a few minutes or hours.
We're building that. It's the ultimate step towards the ultimate block explorer setup.
It's gonna be exciting.
U r just focusing on the chain, on ur mktg, on some execution optimization.
U have a devnet. But uâll have many in a short time, and then uâll go to testnet, and then mainnet after a couple months. But u need devs first and users next to try the chain, give feedback, airdrop farm and build cool apps on it.
So u need a block explorer.
But right now building a block explorer is a tedious process: contact the provider, or use an open source version, host it and tweak it to your needs.
But what if you could just spin up a new explorer, whenever you need it, just like you do for an EC2 on Amazon?
And then pay-as-you-go, and scale fast with discounts the more transactions you have on the chain.
99.99% uptime. Dedicated node. 24/7 support.
Pay for it on a web page, with crypto/fiat, and have it ready in a few minutes or hours.
We're building that. It's the ultimate step towards the ultimate block explorer setup.
It's gonna be exciting.
I have this intuition that the crypto community doesn't value block explorers so much.
We're not featured as much in the news, or in talks or even in sponsorship lists.
I believe it's because most of explorers don't have a token, so there's no speculation.
If that's the reason, it's sad honestly.
We're not featured as much in the news, or in talks or even in sponsorship lists.
I believe it's because most of explorers don't have a token, so there's no speculation.
If that's the reason, it's sad honestly.
The Etherscan brand is so solid and intertwined with the Ethereum ecosystem that it is basically wrong to have any other explorer if you're extending Ethereum (read, scaling with an L2).
But this can't be a decentralized future.
But this can't be a decentralized future.
Slowly, then all at once.
Weâre finally starting to address the major aspects of our work that we started discussing a couple of years ago.
We want to give back to the community and run analyses, research and development for a more understandable future for blockchain tech.
We recently started working with the Open Label Initiative lead by @growthepie and Open Source Observer, and we believe the approach to standardize address labeling onchain still to be discovered fully: we label a ton of addresses every day on the 45+ chains that we support, both on testnet and mainnet, and we believe our approach is more flexible, even though it doesnât seem like it from a first impression.
In the article we dive deep into what are the differences between our and OLIâs approach, and why ours could be a more straightforward choice.
https://mirror.xyz/0x4E4c1d3D2896890cE5a12ecaB70E311B47237142/5Abep2DaaMb7qZoIfd6zRUYnMFPLd7ECi2Aqf-rvQkw
Weâre finally starting to address the major aspects of our work that we started discussing a couple of years ago.
We want to give back to the community and run analyses, research and development for a more understandable future for blockchain tech.
We recently started working with the Open Label Initiative lead by @growthepie and Open Source Observer, and we believe the approach to standardize address labeling onchain still to be discovered fully: we label a ton of addresses every day on the 45+ chains that we support, both on testnet and mainnet, and we believe our approach is more flexible, even though it doesnât seem like it from a first impression.
In the article we dive deep into what are the differences between our and OLIâs approach, and why ours could be a more straightforward choice.
https://mirror.xyz/0x4E4c1d3D2896890cE5a12ecaB70E311B47237142/5Abep2DaaMb7qZoIfd6zRUYnMFPLd7ECi2Aqf-rvQkw
Weâre starting with Kinto L2, and weâll be growing that into a full-fledged ecosystem explorer with a proper name đ
We're open sourcing our labelling system with the community.
This is part of our efforts for the Open Label Initiative along with @growthepie and Open Source Observer.
So happy to start to give back to the community!
This is part of our efforts for the Open Label Initiative along with @growthepie and Open Source Observer.
So happy to start to give back to the community!
After the latest meeting today with prospects, I acknowledged that we can now take this further.
Weâre scaling routescan to index tens of chains every month potentially.
Weâre already adding about 5 per week now, between mainnets and testnets.
Itâs a SaaS, but thereâll be more.
Weâre scaling routescan to index tens of chains every month potentially.
Weâre already adding about 5 per week now, between mainnets and testnets.
Itâs a SaaS, but thereâll be more.
Lately, Iâm getting more direct when talking to chains that have their in-house explorer, by asking a few questions:
- do u rlly believe you can reach feature parity?
- do u rlly think u can save money?
- do u rlly think devs will come build on your chain with an explorer thatâs not integrated in the EVM toolset?
- do u rlly believe you can reach feature parity?
- do u rlly think u can save money?
- do u rlly think devs will come build on your chain with an explorer thatâs not integrated in the EVM toolset?
I believe one of the most important reasons why chains use Etherscan and want to pay their premium is because Etherscan is perceived as the most Ethereum-aligned explorer.
How can you change that?
And also, what exactly does it mean to be eth-aligned these days?
How can you change that?
And also, what exactly does it mean to be eth-aligned these days?
It is highly likely that @routescan will end 2024 with at least 100 unique chains indexed, with over 250 TPS in aggregate.
Most of them will be paying few hundred dollars per month to have a full-fledged, developer focused block explorer.
Weâre bringing high-quality indexing to the masses.
Most of them will be paying few hundred dollars per month to have a full-fledged, developer focused block explorer.
Weâre bringing high-quality indexing to the masses.
Yesterday we got two more explorer deals in.
Itâs getting harder and harder by the day to convince new chains to use a full-featured explorer, bc:
- they are abstracted from actual chain creation using RaaS and/or infra providers
- they donât see the value in providing state of the art dev tooling
Itâs getting harder and harder by the day to convince new chains to use a full-featured explorer, bc:
- they are abstracted from actual chain creation using RaaS and/or infra providers
- they donât see the value in providing state of the art dev tooling
Since early last year, I've grown obsessed over making a sustainable business out of a block explorer.
Block explorers are perceived as a public good, but someone has to pay for them, in one way or another, because they're a critical piece of infra.
It's like RPC nodes: how can one access the blockchain w/o it?
Block explorers are perceived as a public good, but someone has to pay for them, in one way or another, because they're a critical piece of infra.
It's like RPC nodes: how can one access the blockchain w/o it?
The issue with block explorers right now is that there are two types: the ones that compete with etherscan, and the ones that want to innovate so much that it's hard to see it as a 'block' explorer anymore.
Etherscan won't be good for everyone forever, but it is now.
Traction is key,.
Etherscan won't be good for everyone forever, but it is now.
Traction is key,.
block-explorers is a space to discuss all-things block explorers.
It seems like there's not much activity going around block explorers, but there is. Starting a channel is a good way of making the industry segment more relevant and getting its own space.
It seems like there's not much activity going around block explorers, but there is. Starting a channel is a good way of making the industry segment more relevant and getting its own space.