Inferring short-term volatility indicators from Bitcoin blockchain

Blockchain as a new technology has a potential to change the traditional way of communication, contracting, and financial management. The first and still most popular use of blockchain technology is its use as a digital currency, or cryptocurrency, as a part of the the Bitcoin protocol [1]. There the payments are processed by a peer-to-peer Bitcoin network where users announce new transactions and which are verified by network nodes and recorded in a blockchain - a public distributed ledger. Beyond its usage in cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology's essential importance is to offer a new way to record and store confidential information.