On-Chain Series VI: The Address Metadata Endpoint

In our previous blog posts, we covered the evolution of our on-chain data processing infrastructure, from optimising block data retrieval with NFS in On-Chain Series IV to leveraging Azure’s L-Series machines for efficient processing in On-Chain Series V. These advancements have set the stage for our latest offering: the Address Metadata Endpoint. This endpoint provides comprehensive insights into blockchain addresses, serving as a cornerstone for future developments. In this post, we’ll explore the capabilities of the Address Metadata Endpoint, how it integrates with our infrastructure, and why it’s an essential tool for developers, analysts, and other blockchain users. Additionally, we’ll discuss why we built this endpoint and how it’s already being used internally to streamline our operations.

What is the Address Metadata Endpoint?

The Address Metadata Endpoint is an API that delivers real-time detailed metrics on specific blockchain addresses. Users can specify the blockchain asset (e.g., Ethereum) and the address of interest to access a wide range of data, including:

Address Type: Identifies whether the address is a wallet or a smart contract.
Interaction History: Details the first and last interactions of the address.
Transaction Data: Provides transaction hashes for the first and last transactions involving the address.
Supply Metrics: Includes information on circulating, locked, and burnt supply.
DeFi Data: Offers essential information such as the address name, symbol, decimals, and total supply.

This endpoint is a practical and reliable tool for analysing address-level activity and attributes, built on the foundation of our robust data processing infrastructure.

Why We Built It

The Address Metadata Endpoint was born out of our need to simplify and automate the mapping and discovery processes associated with blockchain assets. Historically, we’ve built our infrastructure to meet our own internal needs first — ensuring that every tool we develop is battle-tested and ready for real-world application.

When evaluating existing solutions from other on-chain data providers, we conducted a thorough investigation and found that none of them fully met our stringent standards for quality, accuracy, and comprehensive data coverage. The available endpoints either lacked the depth of information we required or did not support the broad range of use cases we needed to cover. Given these limitations, we made the decision to build our own solution. This allowed us to maintain control over the data quality, ensure it met our specific requirements, and provide a tool that not only supports our internal operations but also offers unmatched value to our customers.

Internal Use Across Asset Metadata Platforms: Within our asset manager platform, we leverage the Address Metadata Endpoint to streamline and enhance the accuracy of listing assets and their supported platforms. This integration makes the process more efficient and reduces the likelihood of errors, ensuring a more reliable and seamless experience. This includes mapping DeFi instruments, where we need accurate decimal points and smart contract data, as well as mapping addresses to assets. Previously, these tasks were manual, requiring our content team to add decimal points, launch dates, and smart contract symbols by hand when listing new assets. By using the Address Metadata Endpoint, our team now only needs to select the chain and the address, and the endpoint automatically fills in all the necessary data, significantly reducing the time and effort required for asset listing.
Integration with Risk Analysis and Metrics: The Address Metadata Endpoint plays a crucial role in our internal risk analysis and metrics systems by enabling the rapid and accurate mapping of blockchain addresses to specific assets. This capability significantly enhances our risk analysis processes by ensuring that all relevant data points are considered when assessing the financial health and stability of entities within the blockchain ecosystem. One of the other critical applications of this integration is in linking exchanges to their reserves. By accurately mapping exchange addresses to their hot and cold storage accounts, we can provide a clear and comprehensive view of an exchange’s actual asset holdings. This is vital for assessing the true value of an exchange’s balance and reserves, which in turn helps us monitor their solvency and ensure they maintain adequate reserves to cover user deposits. Accurate tracking of exchange reserves is not only essential for internal risk management but also supports broader industry transparency and trust, as it allows for more precise reporting and auditing of exchange assets.
First Customer Advantage: As with many of our developments, we are our own first customer. By building tools that meet our internal needs, we ensure that the products we offer to the market are robust, reliable, and tailored to solve real-world problems. The Address Metadata Endpoint is a perfect example of this philosophy in action — it started as a tool to streamline our internal processes and has evolved into a powerful API that we now offer to our customers.

Capabilities and Use Cases

Identify Address Type: Developers and analysts need to distinguish between smart contracts and wallets. Knowing the address type is crucial for understanding its role in the blockchain ecosystem, whether it’s executing automated transactions, interacting with other contracts, or holding assets.
Historical Activity Analysis: Understanding the activity patterns of specific addresses is essential for tracking key players in the blockchain space. Analysts can use this data to monitor the behaviour of significant wallets, identify dormant addresses, or analyse participation in specific blockchain events.
Transaction Verification: Auditors and compliance officers can verify an address’s historical activity using the transaction hashes for its first and last interactions. This ensures that all transactions are properly recorded and traceable, supporting transparency and accountability.
Supply Metrics Analysis: The endpoint provides insights into how an address affects the supply of a blockchain asset. This is particularly valuable for analysing token distribution, understanding asset flows, and making informed decisions in the context of decentralised finance (DeFi).
DeFi Data Retrieval: DeFi developers can use the endpoint to integrate crucial data such as address name, symbol, decimals, and total supply into their applications. This data is necessary for building functional and accurate DeFi platforms, from token swaps to liquidity pools.

Integrating with Our Infrastructure:

The Address Metadata Endpoint is the first step in a series of enhancements that build on our existing infrastructure:

NFS-Based Data Retrieval: As detailed in Series IV, our hybrid NFS solution allows for quick access to full block data, which is critical for processing and updating address metadata efficiently. This infrastructure ensures that the Address Metadata Endpoint can deliver up-to-date and reliable information even as blockchain activity scales.
Azure L-Series Machines for High-Performance Processing: Also detailed in Series V, Azure L-Series machines enable us to process and index large datasets, such as the entire Ethereum blockchain, within a 48-hour timeframe. This processing power is key to the Address Metadata Endpoint’s ability to offer comprehensive data on every Ethereum address, regardless of transaction history or complexity.

Expanding Beyond Ethereum

While Ethereum is the starting point for the Address Metadata Endpoint, we’re not stopping there. In the near future, we’ll be processing and indexing address metadata for other major blockchains, including Bitcoin, Binance Smart Chain, and Base. This expansion will provide similar levels of detailed analysis across multiple blockchain networks, making the Address Metadata Endpoint an even more valuable resource for our users.

Advantages for Users:

Efficiency: The Address Metadata Endpoint offers detailed blockchain address metrics quickly, allowing developers to build applications and analysts to generate insights based on real-time data.
Cost-Effectiveness: Users can rely on our infrastructure instead of investing in their own, saving on costs and reducing the complexity of managing large-scale blockchain data.
Scalability: As we expand our blockchain coverage, the Address Metadata Endpoint will continue to provide consistent, reliable data across various networks, ensuring that our solution grows alongside your needs.
Comprehensive Data Access: The endpoint simplifies in-depth blockchain analysis by consolidating a wide range of address-level data into a single API, making it easier to track token movements, verify transaction histories, and more.

The Address Metadata Endpoint is just the beginning. Our next step is to index all transactions by address, which will provide even deeper insights into blockchain activity. This upcoming feature will allow users to retrieve a complete, real-time, transaction history for any address, offering unparalleled transparency and analysis capabilities. As we continue to develop these tools, our goal is to create a comprehensive suite of blockchain analysis tools that cater to the evolving needs of the blockchain community.

How to Use the Address Metadata Endpoint

The Address Metadata Endpoint is easy to integrate into existing systems via a straightforward API call. It’s designed to be flexible, allowing users to specify the blockchain asset and address, and retrieve the data points that matter most.

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Disclaimer: Please note that the content of this blog post was created prior to our company's rebranding from CCData to CoinDesk Data.