Reading a single on-chain move

Every move is a public record

Each Ethereum transaction has a transaction hash, a unique ID you can paste into a block explorer such as Etherscan. The record shows when it happened (block time), who sent it, who received it, which token moved and how much.

That public record is the raw material for everything on Deep Blue Alpha. Our job is to decide which records involve tracked whales and what kind of move each one is.

From raw transfer to labeled move

A transfer says “address A sent 500 LINK to address B”. On its own that is ambiguous. If address B is a known exchange deposit address, the move is an exchange deposit. If B is a DEX pool or router, it is part of a swap. The counterparty decides the label.

The USD value is the token amount times the price at that time. Prices pass plausibility checks before they’re stored, but values for thinly traded tokens are approximations.

Check, don’t trust

The habit worth building: when a number surprises you, open the transaction. Confirm the sender, the receiver and the amount on the explorer. Large surprises are sometimes real and sometimes a labeling or pricing quirk; the raw record settles it.