About Bluescan

Our Mission

Public blockchains are only as useful as the tools that surface their data. Bluescan exists to be that tool for MetaCoin. We index every confirmed block within seconds of it being produced, normalize the raw chain payloads into queryable structures, and present them through fast, deeply-linked pages that respect both casual readers and power users.

We believe a block explorer should do three things well: be correct, be fast, and stay out of the way. Correct because the data must match the chain byte-for-byte. Fast because users compare explorers head-to-head and switch in seconds. Out of the way because the interesting story is on the blockchain, not in the chrome that surrounds it.

How Bluescan Works

Three components run continuously in the background:

1. Block ingestor. A Node.js worker subscribes to the MetaCoin REST gateway and follows the head of the chain. Each new block is parsed, validated, and stored in a relational schema optimized for explorer-style lookups.
2. Token / NFT indexer. A second worker walks block transactions to keep the per-token transaction history, holder list, and lock state up to date. Lock balances are recomputed in real time from each holder's on-chain balance entries, so countdown timers on the holder list stay accurate without any manual refresh.
3. API + Web tier. A SvelteKit application serves the public web pages and the read-only API. Hot data is held in memory caches with short TTLs; cold reads go through MySQL with carefully chosen indexes so that even pages deep into pagination return in tens of milliseconds.

The indexer is intentionally idempotent: if it crashes mid-block, the next start re-reads the most recent committed block and continues. This is what allows us to deploy updates during the day without manual chain catch-up.

Technology & Open Standards

Bluescan is built on widely-adopted open-source technology. Doing so keeps our maintenance burden low and lets us move quickly when the underlying chain or browser ecosystem ships improvements.

• SvelteKit + adapter-node for server-rendered pages and the API.
• Node.js 20 for the indexers and the web tier.
• MySQL 9 as the primary store, with carefully tuned indexes for explorer-shaped queries (block height range scans, holder rank, token transaction history).
• Tailwind + Skeleton UI for the design system. The site is fully responsive and dark-mode aware.
• Strict Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Referrer-Policy headers on every response.

Reliability & Data Integrity

Every value Bluescan displays can be cross-checked against the underlying chain. The Raw TX and Raw Block tabs on the transaction page expose the exact payload as recorded by the network so that anyone can independently verify what the explorer shows.

The MySQL store is backed up nightly to a primary archival drive and weekly to an independent secondary drive, with SHA-256 verification on each rotation. Backups are retained for one week (daily) and two months (weekly). This protects against both operational mistakes and hardware loss.

Open and Free

Reading the MetaCoin blockchain through Bluescan is free for everyone. No account, no wallet connection, no email. The public API has a free tier that covers most personal and development use cases. Paid plans are available for projects that need higher rate limits or custom branding — see API Plans and Explorer-as-a-Service.