Bitcoin: A Historical Analysis before the Fourth Halving
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52428/20758944.v20i55.1145Keywords:
Halving, Hash rate, Blockchain, Cryptography, Decentralization, Consensus protocol.Abstract
Since its inception in 2008, Bitcoin has experienced a notable evolution in its network, becoming an increasingly intense mining competition. This article analyzes the network's behavior through information extracted from Bitcoin blocks, obtained by a node connected to the network, before the fourth halving occurs and block mining rewards are halved. The data analysis reveals how Bitcoin's growing popularity has led to an increase in block size, from weighing less than 1 MB per block to the 4 MB allowed by the network. Additionally, the implementation of new technology has significantly increased the network's difficulty in generating new blocks, reaching highs of up to $5x10^13$ T hashes. Blocks were also studied by categorizing them according to the number of transactions each block contains, revealing a trend towards blocks with a similar number of transactions. Furthermore, block arrival times were examined, revealing temporal anomalies in their arrival since the first halving, and decreasing the number of anomalies as the network evolves.
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References
Nakamoto, S. (2008). Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. Decentralized Business Review, Oct. 31, 1-6.
Hankerson, D., Vanstone, S., & Menezes, A. (2004). Elliptic Curve Arithmetic in Guide to Elliptic Curve Cryptography. Springer New York, pp. 75-152.
Antonopoulos, A. M., & Harding, D. A. (2023). Mastering Bitcoin. Inc. O'Reilly Media, 3 Nov 15-29,111-134.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Richard Brandon Ramos Pacheco, Juan Crespo Vargas, Alfredo Carrillo Mendoza
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