Analysis of Tainted Transactions in the Bitcoin Blockchain Transaction Network

María Óskarsdóttir, Jacky Mallett, A. L. Arnarson, Alexander Snær Stefánsson

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Blockchain technology, with its decentralised peer-to-peer network and cryptographic protocols, has led to a proliferation of cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin at the forefront. The blockchain publicly records all Bitcoin transactions which can be used to build a dynamic and complex network to give a representation of the transactions in the underlying monetary system. Despite the cryptographic guarantees there exist inconsistencies and suspicious behavior in the chain. We reported on two such anomalies related to block mining in previous work. In this paper, we build a network using bitcoin transactions and apply techniques from network science to analyse its complex structure. We focus our analysis on sub-networks induced by the two sets of anomalies, and investigate how inequality in terms of wealth and anomaly fraction evolves from the blockchain’s origin. Thereby we present a novel way of using network science to detect and investigate cryptographic anomalies.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationComplex Networks and Their Applications IX - Volume 2, Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Complex Networks and Their Applications COMPLEX NETWORKS 2020
EditorsRosa M. Benito, Chantal Cherifi, Hocine Cherifi, Esteban Moro, Luis Mateus Rocha, Marta Sales-Pardo
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages571-581
Number of pages11
ISBN (Print)9783030653507
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021
Event9th International Conference on Complex Networks and their Applications, COMPLEX NETWORKS 2020 - Madrid, Spain
Duration: 1 Dec 20203 Dec 2020

Publication series

NameStudies in Computational Intelligence
Volume944

Conference

Conference9th International Conference on Complex Networks and their Applications, COMPLEX NETWORKS 2020
Country/TerritorySpain
CityMadrid
Period1/12/203/12/20

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Other keywords

  • Bitcoin
  • Blockchain
  • Cryptography
  • Transaction network

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