Bitcoin provenance

Data model

The description below explains how the Bitcoin blockchain is represented in the W3C PROV framework.

The data model allows rapid graph traversal of paths between arbitrary pairs of transactions, computation of the lineage of a payment, derivation of all transitive payees, identification of all payments associated with a Bitcoin address, and a suite of other analyses.

---

Blocks

Each Bitcoin block is represented by an Activity vertex. All the transactions that are part of the block are connected to it via WasInformedBy edges. Successive blocks are also connected via WasInformedBy edges.

PROV element	Annotation Key	Annotation Value's semantics
Activity
	blockHash	Identifier of the block
	blockHeight	Number of earlier blocks
	blockChainwork	Cumulative hashing to compute blockchain
	blockConfirmations	Count of later blocks
	blockDifficulty	Complexity of mining, explained here

---

Transactions

Each Bitcoin transaction is represented by an Activity vertex. All the input payments that are part of the transaction are connected to it via Used edges. All output payments that are part of the transaction are connected to it via WasGeneratedBy edges.

PROV element	Annotation Key	Annotation Value's semantics
Activity
	transactionHash	Identifier of the transaction
	transactionLocktime	Earliest time transaction is valid, explained here
	transactionCoinbase	Used to claim mining reward, explained here
Used
	transactionValue	Input payment amount
WasGeneratedBy
	transactionValue	Output payment amount

---

Payments

Each Bitcoin payment is represented by an Entity vertex. It is connected to a Bitcoin address via a WasAttributedTo edge.

PROV element	Annotation Key	Annotation Value's semantics
Entity
	transactionHash	Transaction in which the payment was an input or output
	transactionIndex	Which of the transaction's payments this is (with the count starting from 0)

---

Addresses

Each Bitcoin address is represented by an Agent vertex.

PROV element	Annotation Key	Annotation Value's semantics
Agent
	address	Payer's or payee's Bitcoin address, explained here