Research Tracks Bitcoin Mining from Hobby to Big Business


Nearly all bitcoin miners have been transferring their rewards within 36 hours of obtaining them, researchers at New York University have found.

Luqin Wang and Yong Liu's paper, an analysis on the "evolution" of pool mining, found that less than 1% of miners left their rewards untouched in 2012 and 2013.

Those who did transact with their rewards did so within a week in 2012, and within 36 hours the following year. The researchers did not perform the analysis for 2014.

Miners' hasty transfers in recent years contrasts sharply with the behaviour of early miners. In 2009, 66% of miners left their rewards untouched. Those who did make a transaction did so about four months after obtaining the reward.

(Read more...)