ZachXBT criticizes block explorers on L1 chains, calls for overhaul

Crypto sleuth ZachXBT shared his frustrations in an X post on Sept. 5, discussing the poor quality of block explorers available for several layer-1 (L1) blockchains.

Responding to Arthur_0x, the founder of DeFiance Capital, ZachXBT categorized block explorers into tiers, highlighting the need to improve onchain transaction tracking on various L1s outside of Ethereum.

According to ZachXBT’s initial response, most explorers beyond the Ethereum ecosystem that he rates as “okay” require a “complete overhaul.”

Related: ZachXBT claims 21 North Korea crypto devs are making $500K a month

The good 

ZachXBT acknowledged that Blockchair, Mempool and WalletExplorer for Bitcoin (BTC) were “acceptable,” rating them as “good block explorers” for transaction tracking. 

When the community asked ZachXBT whether it would build a “multi-chain block explorer,” ZachXBT responded that it was “nice in theory,” but due to profitability, a lot of chains are “not worth building on.”

However, ZachXBT explained one such venture he would pursue in a further response.

“[The] only sort of analytics company I would ever consider building is private tools/data for compliance teams, LE, etc bc overall the crypto community is far too entitled to create products for in its current state.”

Related: Memecoin ‘mastermind’ Sahil likely made $3M from ‘Celeb meta’ — ZachXBT

The “okay”

ZachXBT rated the block explorers on Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible chains supported by OKLink, Solana’s Solscan, and Ripple’s Bithomp as “okay” but not optimal.

Solscan received a slightly more favorable take, attributed to it at least being able to “filter for most information nowadays,” while Tron “could be better” despite allowing basic filters.

“Ripple has Bithomp which has good attribution for services/exchanges.”

Related: ZachXBT criticizes Irene Zhao’s new memecoin amid past failures

The ugly

ZachXBT reserved the “bottom tier” for Cosmos, Bittensor, Hedera, Harmony, Algorand, Aptos and Sui, particularly describing Aptos and Sui as “not great.”

In an Aug. 12 X post, ZachXBT discussed Sui’s “nonexistent” block explorer, SuiVision, for specific failings, including “no way” to filter out spam transactions or “tokens, amounts, date/time, etc.”

He described SuiVision as “complete garbage” but did suggest there is “potential” if someone makes the “right updates” or “gives grants” to the right teams.

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