A Primer on Bitcoin Cross-Border Flows: Measurement and Drivers

Eugenio Cerutti, Jiaqian Chen and Martina Hengge

No 2024/085, IMF Working Papers from International Monetary Fund

Abstract: The rapid growth of crypto assets raises important questions about their cross-border usage. To gain a better understanding of cross-border Bitcoin flows, we use raw data covering both on-chain (on the Bitcoin blockchain) and off-chain (outside the Bitcoin blockchain) transactions globally. We provide a detailed description of available methodologies and datasets, and discuss the crucial assumptions behind the quantification of cross-border flows. We then present novel stylized facts about Bitcoin cross-border flows and study their global and domestic drivers. Bitcoin cross-border flows respond differently than capital flows to traditional drivers of capital flows, and differences appear between on-chain and off-chain Bitcoin cross-border flows. Off-chain cross-border flows seem correlated with incentives to avoid capital flow restrictions.

Keywords: Crypto assets; Bitcoin; Cross-border flows; Capital flows; bitcoin blockchain; capital flow restriction; bitcoin flow; cross-border flow; Bitcoin transaction; Blockchain and DLT; Currencies; Financial activity tax; Global (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43
Date: 2024-04-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-fdg, nep-ifn, nep-int, nep-opm and nep-pay
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