Disclosure of interests: This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. The author holds a small amount of BNB and related ecosystem tokens, which may be related to the tools mentioned in the article.
Do you often feel that news in the crypto world is always a step behind others? Do you only realize the market trends when they arrive? In fact, the movements of a lot of 'smart money' have been clearly documented on-chain long before. Today, I'm going to teach you step by step how to use three free tools to become an 'on-chain detective' and learn to track the real flow of funds instead of just blindly guessing based on K-lines.
Tip 1: Use BscScan to monitor 'smart money addresses'
Don't be intimidated by the term 'whale'; their wallet addresses are actually public. Taking Binance Smart Chain (BSC) as an example, searching for several key addresses on BscScan (the most commonly used blockchain explorer for BSC) is more useful than reading a hundred analyses.
For example, you can focus on tracking: 1. The recharge addresses of well-known VCs (such as institutional holding wallets disclosed by certain project parties); 2. The hot wallets of large CEXs (like Binance's official hot wallet, observing large inflows and outflows); 3. The addresses of 'farmers' deeply involved in DeFi mining. What to look for? Pay attention to their 'large transfers' (usually over $100,000), especially the actions of withdrawing from CEX to on-chain wallets, which often signal preparations for long-term layouts or participation in a certain DeFi project. By cross-verifying with the interpretations of some quality authors in the Binance Square, you can get a sense of market sentiment.
Second tip: Use DeFiLlama to understand the opportunities behind 'real TVL'.
Many people only look at the total locked value (TVL) of an ecosystem, but that's not detailed enough. On DeFiLlama, you can view data by chain and by protocol. For example, which niche track on BSC has the fastest TVL growth recently? Is it decentralized derivatives or LSDFi? This indicates where the funds are flowing.
More importantly, look at the income and fee generation of the protocol. If a protocol's income continues to grow, even if the token price remains unchanged, it may be undervalued. Here’s a simple method I share: record the income changes of the top ten protocols on BSC weekly for a month, and you'll naturally get a feel for the capital rotation. This is much more solid than chasing price increases and decreases.
Third tip: Use the 'Explore' feature of the Binance Web3 wallet to act as an early discoverer.
Don't just treat the Binance Web3 wallet as a storage tool; its 'Explore' section is a treasure. It summarizes new and popular DApps on the BSC chain (including other chains). You can click in to directly view its contracts, trading volume, and number of users.
Let's put it into practice: if you see a new project, first click on 'Contract', then check in BscScan whether the distribution of holding addresses is too concentrated (be cautious), and see if the top holders have any well-known 'smart money'. Then, use a small amount of funds in your wallet (like $20) to interact once to feel the product's smoothness. This process itself is the best learning. Remember, our goal is to build our own analysis framework, not to find a 'holy grail'.
Lastly, on-chain data is not a crystal ball; it only helps you filter out noise and verify logic. Real decision-making still requires multi-dimensional judgments that combine project fundamentals, macro environment (such as the impact of the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy on market liquidity), and more. But if you can stick to the three tips above, at least you can avoid many pitfalls of 'community shouting orders, big players dumping'.
What on-chain analysis skills do you most want to learn? Or what confusion have you encountered while using certain tools? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
