Structure and Anonymity of the Bitcoin Transaction Graph

Future Internet

Micha Ober¹  Stefan Katzenbeisser¹ 

[1] Department of Computer Science, TU Darmstadt, Hochschulstr. 10, D-64289 Darmstadt, Germany; E-Mail:

关键词: graph structure;    Bitcoin;    network dynamics;    anonymity;    privacy;   

DOI  :  10.3390/fi5020237

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The Bitcoin network of decentralized payment transactions has attracted a lot of attention from both Internet users and researchers in recent years. Bitcoin utilizes a peer-to-peer network to issue anonymous payment transactions between different users. In the currently used Bitcoin clients, the full transaction history is available at each node of the network to prevent double spending without the need for a central authority, forming a valuable source for empirical research on network structure, network dynamics, and the implied anonymity challenges, as well as guidance on the future evolution of complex payment systems. We found dynamical effects of which some increase anonymity while others decrease it. Most importantly, several parameters of the Bitcoin transaction graph seem to have become stationary over the last 12–18 months. We discuss the implications.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.