Blockstream rebuilds Bitcoin and Liquid block explorer with new UI

Blockstream just overhauled its Bitcoin and Liquid block explorer for the first time since launching the original version back in November 2018. The new design turns what was essentially a blockchain search engine into something closer to a network command center, complete with live mempool visualizations, fee recommendations, and a dedicated Liquid network dashboard.

The explorer, freely accessible at blockstream.info, remains built on the open-source Esplora framework. But nearly everything sitting on top of that foundation has been rethought.

What the new explorer actually does

The most visually striking addition is the live next-block mempool visualization. Pending transactions appear as colored tiles, sized according to their virtual size and color-coded by fee band.

The redesigned dashboard surfaces a handful of metrics that previously required bouncing between multiple tools. Time since the last block, suggested transaction fees displayed in both sat/vB and their USD equivalents, and mempool congestion gauges all live on the main page now.

Price charts are baked in as well, which means users no longer need to cross-reference a separate site just to contextualize on-chain activity against market movements.

For the Liquid network, Blockstream’s federated sidechain, the explorer now features its own dedicated health view. This dashboard highlights key asset metrics, transaction volumes, and network statistics specific to Liquid. It also supports tracking of peg-in and peg-out transactions, the mechanism by which Bitcoin moves between the mainnet and the Liquid sidechain, along with confidential transactions that obscure amounts and asset types.

The explorer covers Bitcoin mainnet and testnet alongside Liquid mainnet and testnet, making it a single pane of glass for developers working across both networks.

Built for developers, not just browsers

One detail worth noting: every page in the new explorer is powered by the same public Blockstream Explorer API that third-party applications already use. That means the dashboard isn’t pulling from some hidden internal data source. If you see a metric on the explorer, you can programmatically access the same data for your own app.

The new version also adds enhanced tracking of SegWit versus legacy transaction fee savings. SegWit, the protocol upgrade that restructured how transaction data is measured, typically allows users to pay lower fees. Surfacing those savings directly in the explorer gives users a concrete reason to ensure their wallets support the newer format.

Privacy as a feature, not a footnote

The site operates as a no-tracking, privacy-oriented public resource, meaning it doesn’t harvest user data or build advertising profiles from search queries.

The Liquid-specific privacy tools add another layer. Confidential transactions on Liquid hide the amounts and asset types being transferred, and the explorer is designed to respect and display these transactions without undermining their privacy properties.

The original Blockstream Explorer launched in November 2018 alongside the Liquid Network itself. What differentiates Blockstream’s offering is the dual coverage of both Bitcoin and Liquid from a single interface, combined with the API-first architecture that makes every displayed metric available programmatically.