Primary Data Sources: Where to Check Anything

Entry last verified July 2026.

The table

Question	Primary source	Commonly used instead
What did this transaction do	Block explorer, transaction page	A screenshot
What is the total supply	The token contract	A data aggregator
What is a protocol’s rule	The specification or improvement proposal	Coverage of it
What does a regulation require	The regulator’s own publication	A news article
What does a venue charge	The published fee schedule	A comparison site
What is the spot price and depth	The venue’s order book	An aggregated index
What did an exchange report	Its own reserve attestation and filings	An analyst’s estimate
What are a fund’s holdings	The issuer’s daily disclosure	An aggregator
Which contracts can move my tokens	Block explorer approval tool	Assumption
Is this firm authorised here	The regulator’s public register	The firm’s own website

Why the distinction matters

Derived sources introduce a methodology, a lag and an interpretation layer.

For orientation that is fine. For anything you will act on, the difference between the two columns is where errors enter, and it is largest exactly when conditions are volatile and the numbers matter most.

The three that almost nobody uses

The regulator’s register, which answers the authorisation question in thirty seconds.

The approval tool, which lists every contract with permission to move your tokens. Most people have dozens of live approvals and have never looked.

The venue’s own order book, which shows what a purchase will actually cost rather than a quoted price with a margin added.

Each takes under five minutes and each closes a category of problem.

The venue-level question

For price and depth, venues publish their own data, which is primary for their own market.

Aggregated volume figures have historically included fabricated activity from smaller platforms, which is why venue-reported figures from supervised platforms, including exchanges quoting a direct fiat pair, are more reliable than a combined total.

The habit

For anything involving a number you intend to act on, go to the left column.

It is slower by a few minutes and it is the difference between checking and believing, which is the entire difference between research and reading.