dataforge-labs/bitcoin-network-propagation

Bitcoin network propagation

Timestamped block and transaction announcements received from connected Bitcoin peers, with peer metadata and advertised relay-fee floors. These observations support analysis of announcement timing and differences between connected peers.

Contents

Table	Record
bitcoin_block_announcements	A peer's announcement of a block, timestamped on receipt
bitcoin_transaction_announcements	A retained transaction announcement from a peer, timestamped on receipt
bitcoin_peer_relay_fees	A peer's advertised minimum relay fee at the time it was received
bitcoin_peer_connections	Peer address, user agent, services and connection or handshake state

Timing and sampling

Compare receipt times for the same block or transaction across peers. The earliest recorded announcement is a reference within this observer's sample; it is not the original broadcast time. Multiple peer announcements of the same block should not be counted as separate blocks.

Transaction announcements are sampled by transaction hash at roughly one in sixty-four. The same hash rule is applied across peers, allowing comparisons for the retained transactions. This does not remove gaps caused by late connections or disconnected peers.

The Bitcoin collector targets roughly 120 concurrent peer connections.

Limitations

• Measurements come from one collection location and include network latency, peer announcement policies and connection state. Transaction-announcement timing is not a pure measure of network transit time.
• Peer availability changes during collection. Use the peer table to distinguish missing observations from delayed announcements.
• User agents are self-reported and should not be treated as verified software or chain identities.
• Advertised relay floors describe connected peers' policies. They do not establish a network-wide minimum fee or guarantee miner acceptance.
• Short collection windows can contain few distinct blocks. Check the collection manifest and unique block counts before comparing periods or chains.

Files and access

Data is stored as Parquet files under table_name/YYYY/MM/, with partitions for collection windows. Each measurement table has a fixed 7-day sample beginning at its configured collection start date. The sample windows in this repository span 2026-08-29 to 2026-09-04. Availability within each window depends on successful collection. The public sample dates remain fixed as additional history accumulates privately. Contact DataForge through the discussions tab to enquire about additional history.

Load a table

Install datasets and pandas to run this example. The train split contains all observations in the selected table; it is not a predefined modelling split.

from datasets import load_dataset

data = load_dataset("dataforge-labs/bitcoin-network-propagation",
                    "bitcoin_block_announcements", split="train")
df = data.to_pandas()

Coverage

collection_runs records collection windows, poll counts and failures. It is published in full and may cover dates beyond the fixed data sample. Collection gaps are not interpolated. Use this table together with measurement timestamps and error fields to assess coverage.

License and contact

The public sample is published under ODC-BY. Attribute it to "DataForge (dataforge-labs)". For questions about the data or access to additional history, open a discussion in this repository.

Earlier file paths

Each table is stored under a directory with the same descriptive name. The file contents and date partitions are unchanged. Scripts using an earlier directory name should use the corresponding table name below, or pin downloads to revision before-folder-rename-20260915 to access the original layout. Internal collector IDs are retained in the private archive and may appear in raw coverage records.

Current table and directory	Earlier directory
bitcoin_block_announcements	e21_btc_block_propagation/
bitcoin_transaction_announcements	e21_btc_tx_propagation/
bitcoin_peer_relay_fees	e21_btc_relay_floor/
bitcoin_peer_connections	e21_btc_p2p_peers/
collection_runs	e0_run_manifest/