EXPLORING THE BLOCK. One of the main draws of a blockchain is that it’s a public record. Anyone, anywhere, can look at every cryptocurrency transaction on the blockchain — unlike the transactions made via traditional financial institutions, the information isn’t secreted away in a server somewhere.
To access this data, users often turn to websites called BlockExplorers, which allow them to search transactions, view recent trends, or even look up the activity of a specific crypto account. Etherscan is one of the most popular BlockExplorers for the Ethereum blockchain, and on Monday, it was the target of hack that, while seemingly harmless, could have had repercussions for the entire crypto market.