How to check a Bitcoin or Litecoin transaction on a block explorer

To check a Bitcoin or Litecoin transaction, open a block explorer for that coin, paste the transaction ID or your own address into its search box, and read three things: whether your address is in the outputs, how much it received, and how many confirmations the transaction has. Everything else on the page explains where the coins came from and what the sender paid to send them. This guide walks through every field, then follows one escrow deal from deposit to payout.

What a block explorer is and what you need

A blockchain is the public record of every transaction on a coin's network. A block explorer is a free website that lets you search that record. It is read-only: you can look, but you can't move coins from it. You never need to log in, connect a wallet or type anything secret into an explorer.

To search, you need one of two things:

• A transaction ID. Also called a txid or transaction hash: the long string of letters and numbers that names one transaction. Wallets show it after you send, and escrow bots post it after a payout.
• An address. The string coins are sent to. Bitcoin addresses usually start with 1, 3 or bc1. Litecoin addresses usually start with L, M or ltc1. The start is a quick hint about which network, and so which explorer, you need.

Use an explorer for the right coin. A Bitcoin txid won't be found on a Litecoin explorer, and the other way round. Some explorers cover several coins and have a network switch near the search box, so check it before you search. Type the explorer's web address yourself, or use the "view on explorer" button in your own wallet, rather than a link someone sent you. Our guide on how to tell if a crypto payment is real explains why.

Reading a transaction page, field by field

Explorers use slightly different layouts and names, but every Bitcoin or Litecoin transaction page shows the same facts.

Transaction ID

The txid at the top of the page. It is the transaction's name, nothing more. A txid on its own proves nothing about who was paid.

Status, block and confirmations

"Unconfirmed", "pending" or "in mempool" means the transaction has been broadcast (sent out to the network) but isn't in a block yet. The mempool is the waiting room for transactions that miners haven't picked up. Once a miner includes it, the page shows the block height (the block's number in the chain) and a count of confirmations: one for the block it is in, plus one for every block added after it.

Inputs

Inputs are where the coins came from: earlier payments the sender received, now being spent. Each input shows an address and an amount. Coins are spent whole, like a banknote, so inputs often add up to more than the payment.

Outputs

Outputs are where the coins went. Each output is an address and an amount. A typical payment has two: one to the person being paid, and one back to the sender. That second one is called change, like the change you get back when you pay with a big note. The only output you can be sure about is the one with your own address.

Fee and fee rate

The fee is what the sender paid the network to include the transaction. It is the difference between the total of the inputs and the total of the outputs, so it never appears as an output. The fee rate is the fee divided by the transaction's size, usually shown in satoshis per virtual byte (sat/vB). A satoshi is the smallest unit of Bitcoin, one hundred-millionth of a coin. Miners tend to pick transactions with higher fee rates first, so the fee rate, not the total fee, tells you how quickly a transaction is likely to confirm.

The "replaceable" flag

Some explorers show a label such as "RBF" or "replaceable" on an unconfirmed transaction. RBF stands for replace-by-fee: the sender's wallet marked the transaction so it can be swapped for a new version with a higher fee before it confirms. The new version can also pay a different address. It is a normal wallet feature, and one more reason to wait for a confirmation before you treat a payment as done.

Value in dollars

Many explorers show a dollar value next to each amount, often at today's price. For a deal agreed in dollars, compare the coin amount with what you agreed at the time, not with whatever the explorer works out today.

Reading an address page

Searching an address shows its whole history. You'll usually see:

• Total received: everything ever paid to the address.
• Total sent: everything ever spent from it.
• Balance: received minus sent, which is what sits in the address now.
• Transactions: every transaction that paid into or spent from the address, usually newest first, often with a plus or minus amount.

Starting from your own address is the safest way to check a payment, because you know the address is yours. A transaction in your address's list really did touch your address. A txid someone hands you might not.

An address used for many payments mixes them together. That's why an escrow deal usually gets its own deposit address: its page then holds the history of one deal and nothing else.

How to look up a transaction, step by step

1. Confirm the coin. Check what the deal says, BTC or LTC, and that the address you gave starts the way that coin's addresses do.
2. Open an explorer for that coin yourself. If it covers several coins, pick the right network.
3. Search your address or the txid. Paste it rather than retyping it. If the explorer finds nothing, check the network switch and that you copied the whole string.
4. Find your address in the outputs. Use your browser's find-in-page (Ctrl+F on a computer, "Find in page" on a phone) with the last few characters of your address. If your address isn't in the outputs, the transaction didn't pay you.
5. Read the amount next to your address. That is what you received. Ignore the input total and the other outputs.
6. Check the status. Wait for at least one confirmation. How many more to wait for is your decision, and bigger amounts justify more patience.
7. Save the txid. Keep it with your deal notes. If something goes wrong later, anyone can check it.

Common mistakes when reading an explorer

• Reading the big number as the payment. The headline amount on a transaction page is often the total of all outputs, change included. Only the output with your address counts.
• Searching on the wrong network. "Not found" often just means a Bitcoin txid was searched on a Litecoin explorer, or the reverse.
• Mixing up units. Some explorers show amounts in BTC, others in satoshis or other units. Check the unit label before you compare a number with your deal.
• Treating "seen" as "confirmed". A transaction in the mempool is visible, but it isn't settled until it is in a block.
• Expecting names. Explorers show addresses, not people. A label such as an exchange's name is the explorer's own guess.

For the tricks people use to fake a payment, such as edited screenshots and lookalike explorer sites, see our guide to spotting a fake crypto payment.

Following an escrow deal's money

An escrow deal leaves a short trail you can read with everything above. Say you sell a $50 design commission through an escrow. Three moments matter:

1. The deposit. The buyer sends coins from their wallet to the deal's deposit address. On the explorer, the inputs are the buyer's coins, one output is the deposit address with the deal amount, and another is usually the buyer's change.
2. The wait. The deposit address page shows the coins as received, first unconfirmed, then confirmed.
3. The payout. When the deal is released, a new transaction spends from the deposit address. Its input is the deposit, and one output is the payout address the seller gave. An output that goes back to the deposit address itself is change.

Reading the deposit and the payout shows the escrow did what it said: the money arrived, waited, and left for the seller's address. Our guide on how to check a crypto middleman shows how to use the same reading on a middleman's track record.

With Truzor

Truzor is an escrow bot that runs inside Discord and works with Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC). The buyer is the Sender and the seller is the Receiver. Here is where each transaction shows up in a deal ticket:

1. The deposit address. The Sender enters the amount in USD, the bot locks the CoinGecko rate and shows a fresh deposit address made for that deal (created through BlockCypher). Open it on any explorer: it should have no history from before your deal.
2. "Transaction has been detected". The deposit is on the network but not confirmed yet. On an explorer it shows as unconfirmed.
3. "Payment Received". The ticket shows this after 1 confirmation.
4. The payout. Only the Sender can press Release. The Receiver gives a payout address, the bot pays out and posts the transaction hash in the ticket. Open it and find the payout address in the outputs.

The bot's payment messages link to BlockCypher's public explorer, and you can open the same address or hash on any other explorer to check it independently. The Receiver gets the deposit minus Truzor's platform fee, which depends on the deal size (see Fees). On top of that, a 1.5% buffer is held back to cover the network fee for the payout. It isn't part of the platform fee, and whatever the network fee doesn't use goes back as change to the deal's deposit address, which the bot controls. So a payout output that returns to the deposit address is expected.

While a deal is open, the bot holds the key to the deposit address, so you are trusting Truzor with the funds. The Security section explains how that works.

Questions people ask

Why can't the explorer find my transaction?

Check that you are on an explorer for the right coin, that you copied the whole txid or address, and give it a minute. A transaction that was just sent can take a short while to appear, and one that was never broadcast will not appear at all.

Can a block explorer show who sent a payment?

No. It shows addresses and amounts, not names. Any name you see next to an address is a label the explorer added, and it can be wrong.

Is it safe to search my address on a block explorer?

Yes, looking is safe: an explorer is read-only and can't move your coins. Never connect a wallet or type a seed phrase into an explorer. Keep in mind that the site can see which addresses you search for.

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