Level: MA 
Responsible Person: Dr. Nicolò Vallarano
Keywords: Network Science, Data Engineering, Ethereum, Transaction Networks 

The Ethereum ecosystem has thrived in recent years, establishing itself as the leading environment for blockchain innovation. A defining feature of Ethereum is the existence of ERC-20 tokens, which are cryptocurrencies that operate on top of the Ethereum network. The aim of this thesis is to develop an efficient pipeline for extracting and defining a time series of transaction networks for a given ERC-20 token. The tasks involved include both technical and theoretical components. 

On the theoretical side, the student must understand how an ERC-20 token is defined and deployed on the blockchain, as well as determine the best way to represent transactions as a network. On the technical side, the student must gain proficiency in extracting transaction data from the Ethereum blockchain and implement an efficient method for storing and making the data accessible. As a final goal, the student will derive a case study to demonstrate the features of the proposed approach. 

References: 

• Ethereum Improvement Proposals: eip-20, https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-20 
• Vallarano, Nicoló, Claudio J. Tessone, and Tiziano Squartini. "Bitcoin transaction networks: an overview of recent results." Frontiers in Physics 8 (2020): 286.