A straightforward data point - the total supply of bitcoin hit 17 million.
As some celebrated once the mark was hit on bitcoin data provider Blockchain's website, others took to Twitter to rain on their parade.
"Today I've learned that a lot of data sources are incorrectly reporting the total bitcoin supply. We haven't actually hit 17 million BTC yet."
Info, one of the most popular and highly-regarded sources for blockchain network data, among others, had not accounted for instances in which bitcoin miners, due to bugs and other causes, did not claim their full block reward.
These discrepancies in the total bitcoin supply metric are not the exception, but part of a larger problem that stems from the "Opaque" methodologies these blockchain data analysis providers use, according to Greg Cipolaro, the CEO of Digital Asset Research, a firm that provides blockchain analysis to clients.
Still, many people who depend on public blockchain data don't realize how flawed some of this data is.
Due to the issues with public data sets, many blockchain data professionals avoid using them and instead use data they calculate internally whenever possible.
Chainalysis, a firm that analyzes blockchain data for clients including the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, is certainly skeptical.
Kimberley Grauer, Chainalysis' chief economist, said she prefers to use internal data because, "I know where the errors are; I know where the vulnerabilities are." DAR's Cipolaro echoed that, telling CoinDesk the company runs its own code, gleaning data from its own bitcoin node.
Still, despite their shortcomings, Cipolaro has high praise for the free sites that make bitcoin data available to the public.
The Blockchain Data Problem Is Bigger Than You Think
Udgivet den May 3, 2018
by Coindesk | Udgivet den Coinage
Coinage
Seneste nyheder
Se alt
Blockchain Bites: Bitcoin's Run, Uniswap's Hemorrhaging Value, Anchorage's Banking Bid
Bitcoin is nearing all-time highs in price and market cap last set three years ago.
Japan's megabanks to lead experiment with digital yen
We have, in order, Cheese Bank with a $3.3 million theft, Akropolis with its $2 million loss, Value DeFi with a whopping $6 million exploit and finally Origin Protocol's loss of $7 million.
Number of new Bitcoin addresses spikes amid growing FOMO
Japan's three largest banks, as part of a group of 30 private sector actors, are set to collaborate on an experiment with a digital yen.
Not just Wall Street: Quant trader explains why Bitcoin price is going up
Sam Trabucco, a quantitative trader at Alameda Research, believes four general factors are pushing up the price of Bitcoin.