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The explosion in cryptocurrencies: a black hole analogy

Author

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  • Antonis Ballis

    (Athens University of Economics and Business)

  • Konstantinos Drakos

    (Athens University of Economics and Business)

Abstract

Using an analogy between finance and astrophysics, this study aims to investigate whether there exists a mechanism that can describe the explosive increase in the number of traded cryptocurrencies and the cryptocurrency market in general. In physics, the Schwarzschild radius indicates that black holes are constantly expanding because of their mass increase. Enriching this analogy, we consider the cryptocurrency market as a self-gravitational body whose mass is denoted by (1) the number of traded cryptocurrencies and (2) in terms of increasing market capitalization for a given number of traded cryptocurrencies. By analyzing weekly snapshot data of all traded cryptocurrencies from January 4, 2009, to June 14, 2020, we find evidence that the above-mentioned mechanism exists. The results clearly indicate the self-gravitational property of the cryptocurrency market, which is direct evidence toward the hypothesis that the changes in the traded cryptocurrencies are a positive function of the previous period’s number of traded cryptocurrencies.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonis Ballis & Konstantinos Drakos, 2021. "The explosion in cryptocurrencies: a black hole analogy," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:fininn:v:7:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1186_s40854-020-00222-0
    DOI: 10.1186/s40854-020-00222-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ballis, Antonis & Drakos, Konstantinos, 2020. "A Markov Chain Analysis for Capitalization Dynamics in the Cryptocurrency Market," MPRA Paper 109329, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. George Vlahavas & Kostas Karasavvas & Athena Vakali, 2024. "Unsupervised clustering of bitcoin transactions," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 10(1), pages 1-31, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bitcoin; Cryptocurrencies; Econophysics; Negative specific heat; Thermodynamic disequilibrium;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors

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