The Bitcoin transaction networks

The topic of the thesis is the analysis of the most popularcryptocurrency from a network perspective. Specifically, itfocuses on a bunch of network representations of the Bitcoindigital transactions that are studied at different scales (micro,meso and macro) by employing tools from physics, statisticsand economics. The thesis is divided into five chapters.Chapter 1 introduces the broad field of cryptocurrencies. Chapters2 and 3 are dedicated to the understanding of the networkproperties of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency from both astatic and a dynamical perspective and to the investigation ofthe relationships between the latter ones and purely financialquantities like the BTC price. Chapter 4 is dedicated to thestudy of the Bitcoin Lightning Network, a recently-developedprotocol to speed up the blockhain-based payment systemBitcoin rests upon. Chapter 5 illustrates the substantial modificationsthat have been required by state-of-the-art algorithmsto solve null models for networks on very large networks - asthe ones characterizing Bitcoin throughout its entire history.