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Bitcoin's Crypto Flow Network

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  • Yoshi Fujiwara
  • Rubaiyat Islam

Abstract

How crypto flows among Bitcoin users is an important question for understanding the structure and dynamics of the cryptoasset at a global scale. We compiled all the blockchain data of Bitcoin from its genesis to the year 2020, identified users from anonymous addresses of wallets, and constructed monthly snapshots of networks by focusing on regular users as big players. We apply the methods of bow-tie structure and Hodge decomposition in order to locate the users in the upstream, downstream, and core of the entire crypto flow. Additionally, we reveal principal components hidden in the flow by using non-negative matrix factorization, which we interpret as a probabilistic model. We show that the model is equivalent to a probabilistic latent semantic analysis in natural language processing, enabling us to estimate the number of such hidden components. Moreover, we find that the bow-tie structure and the principal components are quite stable among those big players. This study can be a solid basis on which one can further investigate the temporal change of crypto flow, entry and exit of big players, and so forth.

Suggested Citation

  • Yoshi Fujiwara & Rubaiyat Islam, 2021. "Bitcoin's Crypto Flow Network," Papers 2106.11446, arXiv.org, revised Jul 2021.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2106.11446
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hideaki Aoyama, 2021. "XRP Network and Proposal of Flow Index," Papers 2106.10012, arXiv.org.
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    6. Rubaiyat Islam & Yoshi Fujiwara & Shinya Kawata & Hiwon Yoon, 2019. "Analyzing outliers activity from the time-series transaction pattern of bitcoin blockchain," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 239-257, June.
    7. D'aniel Kondor & M'arton P'osfai & Istv'an Csabai & G'abor Vattay, 2013. "Do the rich get richer? An empirical analysis of the BitCoin transaction network," Papers 1308.3892, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2014.
    8. Dániel Kondor & Márton Pósfai & István Csabai & Gábor Vattay, 2014. "Do the Rich Get Richer? An Empirical Analysis of the Bitcoin Transaction Network," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(2), pages 1-10, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Andreas Thiemann, 2021. "Cryptocurrencies: An empirical view from a Tax Perspective," JRC Working Papers on Taxation & Structural Reforms 2021-12, Joint Research Centre.
    2. Hideaki Aoyama, 2021. "XRP Network and Proposal of Flow Index," Papers 2106.10012, arXiv.org.

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