Blocks

Transactions are placed into blocks. When a block is mined/validated every transaction inside that block is confirmed and a block hash is created. Any hash created can be input into a block explorer. You may have seen CEX's needing a number of confirmations before they release your funds, this is the metric they are using to make sure your transaction is sufficiently finalized. How does the blockchain determine which transactions get into the next block? Complex topic of research, but most modern chains use the idea of fees to determine who gets into the front of the line. The higher the fee, the higher the chance you move up to the front of the queue.

Addresses

A fun way to visually learn blockchain explorers is to input the address of any random transaction. Then you can move backward in time and see where the funds originated! Each transaction has both an input and output address. Armed with this information, one can readily move both forward and backward from any transaction that has been spent. For those that like puzzles, this is the digital equivalent of a huge financial puzzle, and could be used for transparency purposes. Using a blockchain explorer makes this not only much easier to visualize, it also highlights the need for transaction privacy. Unless you're using shielded Zcash, you can do this with any transparent blockchain: BTC, ETH, ATOM, DOGE, VTC, etc ... . This point is critical for anyone using the blockchain safely moving into a digital only future.

Amounts

Similar to addresses above, any transaction on a public blockchain has the amounts publicly available on full display. This includes amounts on both the input and output addresses for any transaction. One exception to this is when you choose to use Shielded Zcash -- then all amounts are hidden. For small business owners who necessarily need privacy for fair trade, this is a huge benefit!

Visual Guide

Here are four good examples of different blockchain explorers:

• Mempool.space
• Ethscan
• Zcash Block Explorer
• Mintscan