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Temporal and Geographical Analysis of Real Economic Activities in the Bitcoin Blockchain

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  • Rafael Ramos Tubino

    (DM2L - Data Mining and Machine Learning - LIRIS - Laboratoire d'InfoRmatique en Image et Systèmes d'information - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - ECL - École Centrale de Lyon - Université de Lyon - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon - INSA Lyon - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon - Université de Lyon - INSA - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, LIRIS - Laboratoire d'InfoRmatique en Image et Systèmes d'information - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - ECL - École Centrale de Lyon - Université de Lyon - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon - INSA Lyon - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon - Université de Lyon - INSA - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon)

  • Rémy Cazabet

    (DM2L - Data Mining and Machine Learning - LIRIS - Laboratoire d'InfoRmatique en Image et Systèmes d'information - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - ECL - École Centrale de Lyon - Université de Lyon - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon - INSA Lyon - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon - Université de Lyon - INSA - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, LIRIS - Laboratoire d'InfoRmatique en Image et Systèmes d'information - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - ECL - École Centrale de Lyon - Université de Lyon - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon - INSA Lyon - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon - Université de Lyon - INSA - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon, IXXI - Institut Rhône-Alpin des systèmes complexes - ENS de Lyon - École normale supérieure de Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJML - Université Jean Moulin - Lyon 3 - Université de Lyon - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon - INSA Lyon - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon - Université de Lyon - INSA - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - Inria - Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes)

  • Natkamon Tovanich

    (CREST - Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique - ENSAI - Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse de l'Information [Bruz] - X - École polytechnique - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris - ENSAE Paris - École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, X - École polytechnique - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris)

  • Céline Robardet

Abstract

We study the real economic activity in the Bitcoin blockchain that involves transactions from/to retail users rather than between organizations such as marketplaces, exchanges, or other services. We first introduce a heuristic method to classify Bitcoin players into three main categories: Frequent Receivers (FR), Neighbors of FR, and Others. We show that most real transactions involve Frequent Receivers, representing a small fraction of the total value exchanged according to the blockchain, but a significant fraction of all payments, raising concerns about the centralization of the Bitcoin ecosystem. We also conduct a weekly pattern analysis of activity, providing insights into the geographical location of Bitcoin users and allowing us to quantify the bias of a well-known dataset for actor identification.

Suggested Citation

  • Rafael Ramos Tubino & Rémy Cazabet & Natkamon Tovanich & Céline Robardet, 2023. "Temporal and Geographical Analysis of Real Economic Activities in the Bitcoin Blockchain," Post-Print hal-04188062, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04188062
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04188062
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Fabian Nemeczek & Daniel Weiss, 2023. "Insights on Crypto Investors from a German Personal Finance Management App," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-38, April.
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    1. Rafael Ramos Tubino & Remy Cazabet & Natkamon Tovanich & Celine Robardet, 2023. "Temporal and Geographical Analysis of Real Economic Activities in the Bitcoin Blockchain," Papers 2307.08616, arXiv.org.

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    Keywords

    Bitcoin blockchain analysis; Weekly activity patterns;

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