ChainsEthereum: chain ID, RPC URLs and explorers

Ethereum: chain ID, RPC URLs and explorers

An Ethereum RPC is the URL a wallet or app talks to when it reads Ethereum mainnet or sends a transaction, and every one of them answers with chain ID 1. Gas on Ethereum is 0.06 gwei at this check, and ether trades at $2,104.93.

By Onchain Wiki editors · checked November 9, 2026, 11:17 UTC

Ethereum network details, RPCs tested November 9, 2026
Chain ID	1 (0x1)
Native token	ETH
Public RPC	`https://ethereum-rpc.publicnode.com` `https://rpc.flashbots.net/fast`
Explorer	etherscan.io eth.blockscout.com
USDT contract	`0xdac17f958d2ee523a2206206994597c13d831ec7`
USDC contract	`0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48`
Mainnet since	July 30, 2015
Official docs	ethereum.org/ethereum-forks

Ethereum Chain ID and Network Settings

The Ethereum chain ID is 1, or 0x1 in hex, and it is one of five network settings a wallet stores for mainnet. The number comes from EIP-155, the change that made wallets sign the chain ID into each transaction so a signature made for Ethereum cannot be replayed on Ethereum Classic or a test network.¹

Most wallets ship with Ethereum already set up. The table is for a fresh install, a hardware wallet companion app or a developer tool that asks for each field.

Ethereum mainnet settings, checked against EIP-155 and chainid.network
Field	Value
Network name	Ethereum Mainnet
Chain ID	1
Currency symbol	ETH (18 decimals)
RPC URL	`https://ethereum-rpc.publicnode.com`
Block explorer	`https://etherscan.io`

Public Ethereum RPC URLs

Two public Ethereum RPC URLs passed our eth_chainId test on November 8, 2026, each replying 0x1. Both appear in the chainid.network registry and in their operators' own docs.²

https://ethereum-rpc.publicnode.com, run by PublicNode, a general read and write endpoint with no sign-up.³
https://rpc.flashbots.net/fast, Flashbots Protect. Transactions sent here skip the public mempool, the waiting room where bots can copy or sandwich a trade, and a transaction that would revert is left out instead of costing gas.⁴

We test every listed RPC daily and drop any that fails or returns the wrong chain. Free endpoints share capacity with everyone else, so an app with steady traffic usually moves to its own node or a paid plan. Developers who need test ETH rather than mainnet can use the Sepolia faucet.

Ethereum History From Frontier to Fusaka

Ethereum history runs from the Frontier launch on July 30, 2015 to the Fusaka upgrade on December 3, 2025, according to ethereum.org's fork timeline.⁵ The design started with a 2014 whitepaper by Vitalik Buterin.⁶

Three upgrades changed how the chain works for users. The Merge on September 15, 2022, at block 15,537,394, swapped mining for proof-of-stake, where validators lock ETH to propose blocks. Dencun on March 13, 2024 added blobs through EIP-4844, a cheaper lane for rollup data that cut fees on layer 2 networks. Pectra followed on May 7, 2025.

USDT and USDC Contract Addresses on Ethereum

The USDT and USDC contract addresses on Ethereum come straight from the issuers: Tether's supported protocols page for USDT and Circle's developer docs for USDC. A token with the same ticker at any other address is a different token.

Tether adds a note for developers. Its Ethereum USDT contract predates the final ERC20 standard and does not return true or false from its transfer function, so Tether asks integrators to use the SafeERC20 library.⁷ More networks are on the USDT contract address page.

Stablecoin contracts on Ethereum, read November 8, 2026
Token	Issuer	Contract
USDT	Tether	`0xdac17f958d2ee523a2206206994597c13d831ec7`
USDC	Circle	`0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48`

Ethereum Gas and Value Locked Today

Ethereum gas is 0.06 gwei at this check, and the value locked in Ethereum apps is $41.6 billion by DefiLlama's count.⁹ Gas is priced in gwei, one billionth of an ETH, and a transfer's cost is the gas it uses times that price. The gas fees page turns gwei into dollars, and the chains hub sets Ethereum beside the networks built on top of it.

Questions People Ask About Ethereum: chain ID, RPC URLs and explorers

These are the questions people ask next about Ethereum: chain ID, RPC URLs and explorers.

What is the Ethereum chain ID?

The Ethereum chain ID is 1, written 0x1 in hex, as EIP-155 set it. Wallets include it in every signed transaction, which stops the same signature from being replayed on Ethereum Classic or a testnet.

Is there a free Ethereum RPC?

A free Ethereum RPC is available from PublicNode at ethereum-rpc.publicnode.com, and there is also Flashbots Protect at rpc.flashbots.net/fast for private transaction sending. Both answered with chain ID 1 in our November 8, 2026 test and need no account.

What is the native token of Ethereum?

The native token of Ethereum is ether, ticker ETH, and every transaction pays its gas in it. CoinGecko lists ETH at $2,104.93 at this check. Validators also lock ETH to take part in proof-of-stake.

Which block explorer works for Ethereum?

One block explorer that works for Ethereum is Etherscan at etherscan.io, and Blockscout runs an open-source Ethereum explorer at eth.blockscout.com. Both are listed by ethereum.org's explorer page and by chainid.network.

Sources

Every number on this page comes from these sources, checked November 9, 2026.