Overview
Internal transactions are a critical part of many EVM-based interactions - and without them, your data is incomplete. Moralis provides full historical and real-time support for internal transactions, allowing you to capture value transfers and contract interactions that do not appear as standalone blockchain transactions. This is a key differentiator versus many APIs that only index external (user-initiated) transactions. Related pages:What are internal transactions?
Internal transactions are value transfers and contract calls that occur during the execution of a transaction, rather than being initiated directly by an externally owned account (EOA). They typically occur when:- A smart contract calls another contract
- A contract transfers native currency (ETH, BNB, etc.)
- A single transaction triggers multiple downstream actions
Internal transactions are not separate blockchain transactions - they are derived from EVM execution traces.
Why internal transactions matter
Without internal transactions, you miss:- Native transfers triggered by smart contracts
- Airdrops distributed within a single transaction
- Protocol rewards, fees, and payouts
- Full wallet balance movements
- Complete contract execution paths
Example
A user interacts with a DeFi protocol:- User sends one transaction
- Contract distributes ETH to multiple addresses internally
- Only internal transactions show where value actually moved
- Wallet history is incomplete
- Net worth calculations are wrong
- Important events appear to be missing
What Moralis provides
Moralis indexes full EVM execution traces, enabling:- Historical internal transactions
- Real-time internal transaction detection
- Native value transfers inside contract calls
- Consistent internal transaction data across APIs
- Complete wallet activity
- Accurate portfolio and PnL calculations
- Better protocol analytics
Supported chains
Internal transactions are supported across all major EVM networks, with full historical coverage.| Chain | Real-time | Historical |
|---|---|---|
| Ethereum Mainnet | ✅ | ✅ |
| Ethereum Sepolia | ✅ | ✅ |
| Polygon Mainnet | ✅ | ✅ |
| Polygon Amoy | ✅ | ✅ |
| BNB Chain | ✅ | ✅ |
| BNB Testnet | ✅ | ✅ |
| Arbitrum | ✅ | ✅ |
| Avalanche | ✅ | ✅ |
| Base | ✅ | ✅ |
| Base Sepolia | ✅ | ✅ |
| Optimism | ✅ | ✅ |
| Fantom | ✅ | ✅ |
| Linea | ✅ | ✅ |
| Chiliz | ✅ | ✅ |
| Chiliz Testnet | ✅ | ✅ |
| Monad Mainnet | ✅ | ✅ |
Internal transactions vs external transactions
| Feature | External | Internal |
|---|---|---|
| Initiated by user | ✅ | ❌ |
| Has its own tx hash | ✅ | ❌ |
| Appears on block explorers by default | ✅ | ❌ |
| Transfers native value | ✅ | ✅ |
| Required for full wallet history | ✅ | ✅ |
Streams support
Internal transactions are also available in Streams, enabling:- Real-time detection of internal value transfers
- Monitoring protocol payouts and rewards
- Capturing native transfers triggered by contracts
Summary
Internal transactions are essential for accurate, production-grade blockchain data. Moralis provides:- Full historical and real-time internal transactions
- Broad EVM chain coverage
- Simple access via existing and dedicated endpoints