A Survey on Analyzing Bitcoin Transactions

Abstract

Global payment systems powered by blockchain technology through various cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethreum are growing rapidly providing public access to its database. The technology eliminates the need for a central authority like bank to control the data. Instead, verification and integrity of data are provided through cryptographic techniques. Bitcoin is not a monetary generated by a government. Analyzing the public dataset and exploring its statistical property can uncover some hidden facts in cryptocurrency and the blockchain protocol. There are two underlying motivations for us to write this survey. First is to provide an up-to-date literature survey on Bitcoin transaction analysis, and second is to understand the hidden facts that could be revealed by analyzing Bitcoin transactions. To provide a comprehensive survey, we categorize existing analysis based on anonymity, user behavior, wealth accumulation and currency rate prediction. Analyzing the Bitcoin transactions can help to understand it from a broader perspective that can help investors in decision making.