Block Explorer

What is Explorer?

Security and transparency are critical for trading platforms. Rails uses on-chain custody but centralized order processing, and we want our customers to have proof that their transactions remain untampered with and immutable.

To uphold our commitment to security and transparency, we created Block Explorer, a tool that enables you to independently validate your transactions on the blockchain. Every transaction on our platform—whether it's a deposit, withdrawal, trading fee, realized profit/loss, funding event, or position opening/closing—can be independently verified without compromising privacy.

Why This Matters to You

• Transparency: You can independently verify every transaction, ensuring that no unauthorized actions were taken with your funds.

• Security: Your transactions are protected by cryptographic proof, meaning they cannot be altered without detection.

• Efficiency: Instead of costly, slow transactions flooding the blockchain, our rollup system ensures low-cost, fast verification.

• Privacy: Transaction verification is done without exposing personal or sensitive information.

How It Works

Rails Pro has on-chain custody and centralized order matching & transaction processing. We need a handshake between the two systems to know that transactions are not tampered with. In order to do this, we calculate hashes of each transaction that form a root via Merkle Tree, a cryptographic structure that allows for secure, efficient, and scalable transaction validation. This root hash is then posted publicly on the chain.

This way we provide transparency from a non-central system and prove that our automated central system can be trusted via posting the root hash.

Breaking It Down

1. Bundling Transactions: Rails central system batches individual transactions into a single block.

2. Creating a Unique Summary: The transactions are structured into a Merkle tree, which compresses them into a single summary called the Merkle root. The Merkle root, displayed as the Root Hash, acts as a fingerprint for the block, uniquely identifying all transactions. Along with the root hash is the sum total of all fees and withdrawals included in the block

3. Submitting to the Blockchain: Instead of submitting every transaction separately, only the Merkle root is published on the blockchain. This makes the process more efficient while maintaining anonymity of user data to avoid trade front running. We also submit the latest root hash to our Smart Contract.

4. Verifying the Transactions: To validate a transaction, the “Validate Block” button applies each transaction hash in the block to the Merkle tree algorithm, which then generates the root hash. If this matches the established root hash, you can be confident that no transactions in that block have been altered.

How to Use Block Explorer

To validate a transaction or block of transactions, follow these steps.

1. Click on Explorer in the top left corner of your dashboard.

1. Find the block you are interested in verifying and click View to see the lis of transactions contained in that block.

   1. To search for a specific transaction, you can view your trade and transfer history in the Portfolio tab.

1. Click on Validate Block and wait for the validation response.

1. If you want further confidence, click the link under View On Chain to confirm that what’s published to the blockchain matches what’s displayed in Explorer. You may need to scroll to the right depending on your browser settings.

1. A URL from inkonchain.com should open, displaying the transaction representing this block on the blockchain. Scroll down and click View details.

1. Hit Ctrl+F/CMD+F in the browser and paste your Root Hash from Explorer to search for its value to confirm you are viewing the correct block on the blockchain. It will be displayed under both the Raw input and Decoded input data sections.

1. Navigate to the Decoded input data section to verify the fees and withdrawals summaries. These are displayed in HEX format on the blockchain, but we’ve converted the value to dollars in Explorer. To verify the values match, divide the newFees or newWithdrawals data by 1,000,000 and round to 2 decimal places, then compare to the Explorer summary.