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How to track a bitcoin transaction: an overview

Anyone asking "How to track a bitcoin transaction?" needs one idea first: an address is public, a key is not. A wallet address is the public string a wallet shows for receiving coins. Anyone who knows it can send to it, but only the matching private key can move what arrives. On public networks an address does reveal the balance and history behind it. For a player moving coins to and from a casino, reading an address correctly matters as much as reading the amount.

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A blockchain explorer is a public website that reads a network's records and presents them in plain form: transfers, addresses, balances, fees and confirmations. Each network has its own, so a TRC20 transfer is looked up on a TRON explorer and a bitcoin transfer on a bitcoin one. Using a blockchain explorer needs no account, only a hash or address pasted into its search box. A screenshot proves nothing when the hash cannot be found there, while transfers inside one exchange may never reach the network and appear only in its internal history.

To track a bitcoin transaction, copy its transaction ID, also called the hash, from the wallet's history and paste it into a bitcoin explorer. The result shows whether the transfer is still waiting or already confirmed, how many confirmations it has gathered and what fee was paid. Confirmation time depends on how busy the network is and on the fee offered, so a low fee can leave a transfer waiting for quite some time. Searching an address instead shows its balance and every transfer, open to anyone who has it.

Questions and answers

What is a wallet address?

The public string a wallet shows for receiving coins; anyone can send to it, but only the matching private key can move what arrives.

How do I track a bitcoin transaction?

Paste its transaction ID, the hash, into a bitcoin explorer to see whether it is waiting or confirmed, how many confirmations it has and the fee paid.

How can I tell whether my wallet supports TRC20?

Open the screen for receiving USDT and read the networks offered; TRON or TRC20 has to be listed by name.

What pays the fees on a TRC20 transfer?

TRX held in the wallet, energy and bandwidth that cover part of each transfer, or TRX burnt when those run short.

Should a wallet address be typed by hand?

No. Copying and pasting it, or scanning its square code, avoids typing errors, and the start, middle and end are worth comparing afterwards.

What is a blockchain explorer used for?

Reading a network's public records: transfers, addresses, balances, fees and confirmations, each network on an explorer of its own.