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Many networks, none connected
Ethereum, Solana, BNB Chain, Arbitrum — separate blockchains with their own coins, addresses and rules. A token sent on the wrong network means recovery hassle at best, permanent loss at worst.
Three families you will work with:
Ethereum and EVM networks. Ethereum is the largest smart-contract platform. Its virtual machine (EVM) has been copied by dozens of networks: BNB Chain, Polygon, Avalanche. Addresses look identical (0x...), one wallet works across all EVM networks.
L2s — layers on top of Ethereum. Arbitrum, Base and Optimism execute transactions on their own rails and write the results to Ethereum. They inherit its security and cost hundreds of times less. Same 0x... addresses.
Solana. A separate architecture: its own address format (no 0x), its own wallets, thousands of transactions per second and negligible fees.
The same USDT exists separately on every network. Before sending to an exchange or a person, match the network: the recipient must accept the token on the exact network you send it on.
The explorer — a window into the blockchain
An explorer shows everything inside a network: transactions, addresses, balances, contracts.
- Ethereum — etherscan.io
- BNB Chain — bscscan.com
- Arbitrum — arbiscan.io
- Base — basescan.org
- Solana — solscan.io
What an explorer can do:
- Search by address — balances and full operation history of any wallet.
- Search by transaction hash — status, amount, fee, sender and recipient.
- Token page — contract, holder count, volumes.
The rule: a wallet can lie, an explorer cannot. Transaction stuck, tokens missing, balance looks odd — open the explorer first and see what the network actually recorded. We'll practice this in module 5.
Key takeaways
- Networks are isolated; a token exists separately on each one.
- The EVM family (Ethereum, BSC, L2s) shares
0x...addresses and a single wallet. - The explorer is the source of truth for any transaction and any address.