Decoding Raw Blockchain Data — Logs, Traces, and Transactions

Decoding Raw Blockchain Data — Logs, Traces, and Transactions (4 Weeks)

Objective:
Gain hands-on experience with raw blockchain data across EVM and non-EVM chains. Learn to extract, decode, analyze, and derive insights from transactions, event logs, and execution traces.

 Module 1: Working with Transactions

Focus: Understand the structure and significance of blockchain transactions across Ethereum and Solana.

Key Topics:

• Anatomy of a blockchain transaction: Inputs, outputs, gas usage, fees
  
  
• Accessing transaction data from Etherscan, Solscan, and public APIs
  
  
• Parsing and normalizing raw transaction data for structured analysis
  
  

 Project:
Build a basic transaction explorer

• Fetch and display transactions from Ethereum and Solana
  
  
• Show key details: sender, receiver, gas used, and transaction status
  
  

 Module 2: Decoding Event Logs

Focus: Learn how smart contract logs capture events and how to interpret and analyze them.

Key Topics:

• How smart contracts emit events (topics and data fields)
  
  
• Understanding event signatures and decoding logs with ABI
  
  
• Writing SQL on platforms like DuneSQL to extract DeFi protocol events

 Project:
Parse and analyze Uniswap trade logs

• Extract swap events using event signatures
  
  
• Decode event fields to calculate trading volume over time
  
  

 Module 3: Execution Traces and Smart Contract Analysis

Focus: Dive deeper into how smart contracts interact internally and how to analyze those flows.

Key Topics:

• What are traces, and how do they differ from event logs?
  
  
• Using traces to follow internal contract calls and value transfers
  
  
• Identifying failure points in transactions using trace data
  
  

 Project:
Trace a complex Ethereum transaction

• Analyze a multi-step DeFi action (e.g., liquidation or leveraged trade)
  
  
• Map out internal calls and interactions between contracts
  
  

 Module 4: Analyzing Solana Raw Data

Focus: Learn Solana’s data structure and how it differs from EVM-based chains.

Key Topics:

• Transaction flow on Solana: instructions, logs, and postTokenBalances
  
  
• Understanding innerInstructions for program-level insights
  
  
• Whale tracking and high-volume token movement analysis
  
  

 Project:
Track whale activity on Solana

• Monitor large token swaps and transfers
  
  

Analyze patterns and build alerts for notable wallet behavior