Metcalfe’s Law as a Model for

Bitcoin’s Value
Timothy F. Peterson, CAIA
Bitcoin1 and network economics are areas Metcalfe’s law is relatively untested. Until
Cane Island Alternative Advisors
which may be unfamiliar to many. To aid recently, sufficient data has not existed to test
in understanding bitcoin as a network, we network value models in general. However, it
compare it to a now defunct Italian telephone has recently been shown that Metcalfe’s law is
token called the gettone, an ecosystem which evident in the valuations of Facebook, Tencent,
married a telecommunications network with a and internet usage in general. While Metcalfe’s
currency. law is well known in the computer sciences, it is
virtually unheard of in economics.
Traditional currency models fail with bitcoin,
but various mathematical laws which explain We believe we are the first to model bitcoin as
network connectivity offer compelling a digital token currency network. Our goal is
explanation of its value. Our purpose in not to offer a comprehensive valuation model
conducting this research is to examine bitcoin’s in the strictest sense. Rather, we demonstrate
price as a function of the network effect. We how Metcalfe value can be used to evaluate
use the word “currency” for convenience, if bitcoin’s price is behaving as model factors
without opining on the efficacy or suitability of would predict. We conclude with the finding
bitcoin in that capacity. We stipulate that bitcoin that Metcalfe’s law helps explain bitcoin’s price
is a fiduciary currency which has no intrinsic formation. An unexpected but welcome finding
value by definition. Fiat currency is associated was corroboration that bitcoin’s price was
with governments, and so bitcoin does not probably manipulated in 2013.
strictly meet the definition of fiat currency.2

9
Quarter 2 • 2018 Metcalfe's Law as a Model for Bitcoin's Value
Bitcoin Kristoufek [2013] also showed that not only are the search queries
and prices connected, but there exists a pronounced asymmetry
Bitcoin was the first digital currency to solve two challenges between the effect of an increased interest in the currency when
associated with digital money—controlling its creation and price is above or below its trend value.
avoiding its duplication—at once. Any currency which becomes
successful is subject to the originator wanting to issue more of Garcia et. al. [2014] identified two positive feedback loops that
it. This inflationary effect reduces the currency’s value. Bitcoin’s lead to price bubbles in the absence of exogenous stimuli: one
production process (called “mining”) limits the production of driven by word of mouth, and the other by new Bitcoin adopters.
coins to 21 million over a period of approximately 150 years. They also observe that spikes in information search precede
Since the upper limit of bitcoins is fixed, over time bitcoins should drastic declines in price.
become more valuable relative to other currencies as the supply
Kristoufek [2015] found that standard fundamental factors—
of government-backed fiat currencies continue to increase. Its
usage in trade, money supply and price level—play a role in
certain limited supply is a unique feature that stands in opposition
bitcoin price over the long term, and that bitcoin price is driven
to nearly every other traditional currency.
by investors’ interest.
The actual number of bitcoins available will always be less than
Hayes [2016] concluded that the total money supply, or ultimate
the maximum number created, because bitcoins can be “lost.”
number of units to ever be created is, not a driving factor in value
Bitcoins must be stored on an electronic medium. Loss of that
creation. Rather it is the rate of unit creation that matters. Hayes’
medium (or loss of one’s own private key) removes those bitcoins
framework did not examine network effects in arriving at its
from the marketplace, forever. Some Bitcoin wallets have only
conclusion, but rather computational power (indirectly difficulty),
remnants of activity, called “bitcoin dust,” that are too small to
coins per minute, and which algorithm is used.
spend or exchange in practicality (for example, balances worth
less than $1). Some wallets hold bitcoins which have never been Ciaian et. al. [2016] found that that market forces and bitcoin
spent or sent. Ratcliff [2014] identifies approximately 200,000 attractiveness for investors and users have a significant impact on
such “zombie” bitcoins in only four wallets. Ratcliff further bitcoin price but with variation over time.
estimates the number of bitcoins held in inactive addresses
Price Manipulation in the Bitcoin Ecosystem
(defined as 18 months of inactivity) to be as much as 30% of all
created bitcoins. Gandal et. al. [2018] analyzed the impact of suspicious trading
activity on the Mt. Gox bitcoin currency exchange between
Over 75% of all bitcoins that will be created have been created. As
February and November 2013. They observed two distinct
of 2017, the rate of new bitcoin creation is approximately 60 per
periods in which approximately 600,000 bitcoins valued at $188
hour, creating near-perfect price inelasticity of supply.
million were acquired by agents who did not pay for the bitcoins.
Classical Currency Models and Bitcoin Price Models During the second period, the U. S. dollar-bitcoin exchange rate
rose by an average of $20 at Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange on days
There are two dominate schools of thought relating to the
when suspicious trades took place, compared to a slight decline
determination of the “equilibrium” value of a currency over the
on days without suspicious activity. The authors concluded
long term. The theory of purchasing power parity (PPP) states
that the suspicious trading activity caused the unprecedented
in its relative form that exchange rate movements reflect long-
spike in the U.S. dollar-bitcoin exchange rate in late 2013, when
term difference between the respective inflation rates. The second
the rate jumped from around $150 to more than $1,000 in two
explains the behavior of exchange rates by means of relevant
months. Gandal’s work is crucial because, if correct, it means that
economic variables. These two classical approaches are not likely
pricing during that period was not the result of normal market
to yield reasonable results for bitcoin.
conditions.
By design, Bitcoin is intentionally disconnected from direct
Network Economics and Theoretical Framework
government oversight, fiscal policy, and monetary policy.
Grinberg [2012] explains that because bitcoins earn no interest, Network economics is an emerging field within the information
its value is inoculated against country-specific differentials in society. Its premise is that products and services are created and
purchasing power. Its decentralized nature is a characteristic value is added through networks operating on large or global
envisioned by Hayek [1978] and favored by Mises [2014]. scales. This is in sharp contrast to industrial-era economies, in
Kristoufek [2013] and Ciaian [2016] also concluded that macro- which ownership of physical or intellectual property originated
financial developments do not drive bitcoin price in the long run. from a single enterprise.
Brunner [1971] and Skaggs [1995] are part of a long list of In a New York Times article, Varian [2014] raises a fundamental
researchers that cite Thorton’s [1965] rationale for holding question: why are the dollar bills in people's pockets worth
currency rather than spending it.3 anything? According to Varian, there are two possible
explanations for this: (a) the dollar bills carry value because the
There exists relatively little peer-reviewed, published research
government in power says so and (b) because people are willing
on bitcoin as compared to other assets. Van Wijk [2013] asserts
to accept it as payment. He concludes that the value of a dollar
bitcoin has value only in future exchange. Yermack [2013] and
comes not so much from government mandate as from network
Begstara [2014] argue that bitcoin is not a currency at all, but
effects.
simply a speculative investment.
10
Metcalfe's Law as a Model for Bitcoin's Value
Italian Gettone Analogy participant receives 39 confirmations that his or her rejection of
the ask price was justified. The important thing to note here is
Bitcoin is best analyzed as a digital token. Some history regarding
that all participants have gained value from the network, even
a popular Italian telephone token−the gettone−is necessary
though no transaction actually occurred.
because Metcalfe’s law, upon which our work is based, originated
from a description of telephone networks. Now suppose John is in the ticket sales business. He lists
many thousands of tickets at various prices. Some ticket-price
The word gettone (pronounced “jet-TONE-ay”, plural: gettoni)
combinations attract a large number of bids, and some ticket-
literally means "token." The first Italian telephone token was
price combinations attract a small number of bids. Thus,
created in 1927. It was a little disc made of an alloy of copper,
transaction volume at a specific price level also provides valuable
nickel and zinc, or bronze. Production stopped in 1983 when it
information, and this value accrues to all participants, whether
was replaced with magnetic phone cards. It is estimated that 600
they actually engage in a transaction or not.
million such tokens were produced.
Economides is prolific on the subject of network economics.
Gettoni were commonly used as and interchangeable with a 50
Economides [1993] explains that we do not need to know the
Lira coin until 1980, when its value (and the cost of a phone call)
nature of the transactions to value a currency as a medium of
suddenly doubled to 100 Lira. The doubling occurred again in
exchange.4 Appropriately, Economides [1995] uses a telephone
1984, to 200 Lira, again a result of a price increase associated with
network to explain value in a financial transaction network:
pay-phone calls. It remained at that value until 2001, when the
Euro was introduced and the gettone suddenly lost its money-like “[J]ust as in the telephone network, the addition of a new
nature in the Italian economy. component (say a new offer to buy) affects positively the
complementary components (the matching offers to sell).
The parallels between the gettone and bitcoin are many.
Further, the benefits of an additional offer to buy are not
Interestingly, during the periods in which the token’s price was
limited to the party (component) that directly matches this
increasing or expected to increase, Italians hoarded gettoni.
buy offer. In general, the addition of a new buy offer has
Gettoni were readily exchanged into Lira, but not other
beneficial effects (through price) for a wide subset of sell
currencies. Both serve only limited roles as a literal form of
offers. Thus ‘network externalities’ in a financial central
currency, and as fiat money both are intrinsically worthless. It was
exchange network appear in a subset of traders ‘on the other
not necessary to have a gettone to make a phone call; one could
side’ of the market.”
use a phone at the home or office to do that. Likewise, one is not
required to use bitcoin to make purchases, but can choose to do Lastly, a network’s value cannot grow forever. Transaction volume
so for convenience or other reasons. People carried both gettoni and other factors such as transaction cost and decay of quality of
and Lira, in the same way people hold bitcoins and their currency information are captured in a coefficient Metcalfe calls “Affinity
of domicile. Like bitcoin, the cost to counterfeit a gettone, relative Value per User.” While this topic is important, the complexities of
to its value as a medium of exchange, was so high it was ridiculous these considerations require us to reserve a thorough analysis of
to even consider it. And, like bitcoin, a user could do one of three Metcalfe’s A value and diminishing marginal returns for another
things: spend it, exchange it for government currency, or hold it. paper.
The holders of gettoni and the payphones themselves are a Overview of Network Models
network. The value of a gettone to someone in that network,
We briefly review various network models, roughly in order of
when spending the coin, is one of convenience and the value
their introduction, and by proportionality factor (value relative to
of the information relayed over the network. If we assume a
number of users).
growing number of pay telephones and callers, and then apply the
constraint of a fixed number of gettoni, we have mirrored the key Sarnoff (n). David Sarnoff of Radio Corporation of America
elements of bitcoin’s supply and demand characteristics. is attributed with the statement that the value of a broadcast
network is directly proportional to the number of viewers.
Network Economics Explained
Sarnoff felt value lay with its one-to-many broadcast application
In the context of financial transactions, larger networks would as opposed to peer-to-peer application.
seem to have more value than smaller networks. Suppose there
Metcalfe (n2). Metcalfe’s law is based on the mathematical
is a network of four friends: John, George, Ringo, and Paul. John
tautology describing connectivity among n users.5 As more people
has tickets to a concert he believes is popular. He offers to sell the
join a network, they add to the value of the network nonlinearly;
tickets for a large markup over face value to George, Ringo, and
i.e., the value of the network is proportional to the square of the
Paul. No one accepts his offer. What can John conclude about the
number of users. The underlying mathematics for Metcalfe’s law
asking price of the tickets? Perhaps none of his friends are free the
is based on pair-wise connections (e.g., telephony). If there are 4
night of the concert. Perhaps they don’t like that type of music.
people with telephones in a network, there could be a total of 3
Perhaps they don’t like concerts.
+ 2 + 1 = 6 connections. This law, like most other laws, assumes
John lists his tickets on a popular website where his offer is viewed equality among the members’ network connections. The full math
by 40 would-be purchasers. Still, he receives no bids. Now John for Metcalfe’s reasoning leads to the sum of all possible pairings
is more likely to conclude that his price is too high. The network between user, so the value of the network of size n is
has provided valuable information to John about his ask price. n(n-1) (1)
But everyone in the network receives valuable information: since 2
all other participants see that the ask was not accepted, each
11
Quarter 2 • 2018 Metcalfe's Law as a Model for Bitcoin's Value
Metcalfe himself applies a proportionality factor (A), which up with an altogether different test of Metcalfe’s law, as well as an
Metcalfe admits may decline over time. Metcalfe’s law was alternative that they call Briscoe’s law, but found Metcalfe’s law
originally designed to identify the breakeven n where total superior. Van Hove [2016a] finds that Metcalfe’s law outperforms
network costs (c × n) are recouped. It is expressed more precisely competing network laws. Zhang et al. [2015] repeated Metcalfe’s
as test in a more systematic way using data for both Facebook and
(Chinese equivalent) Tencent and found that Metcalfe’s law fits
n(n-1) (2)
c×n=M=A× the better than competing laws.
2
Bitcoin Inflation
Reed (2n). Reed's law is the assertion that the utility of large
networks, particularly social networks, can scale exponentially We are not interested in value per user (wallet), we want value
with the size of the network. The reason for this is that the per unit (bitcoin). The final step in our model development is to
number of possible sub-groups of network participants is adjust for the creation of new bitcoins.7 Over the subject period,
the number of bitcoins more than doubled from 7.7 million to
2n - n - 1 (3) over 16 million (Exhibit 1).

This grows much more rapidly than either the number of users
(n), or the number of possible pair connections (n2).6
Odlyzko (n log n). Briscoe et. al. [2006] believe that Metcalfe’s
and Reed’s laws are too optimistic in their values. They argue,
without mathematical proof, the growth rate of the network must
decrease as subsequent members join because the most valuable
links are likely to be formed first. This parallels the concept of
“diminishing returns” central to neo-classical economics. Such
diminishing incremental value was modelled

n × 1n(n) (4)

where future memberships have positive (but decreasing)

growth in value. Metcalfe [2006] counters that the diminishing
incremental value is already captured in his A coefficient. Exhibit 1: Total Number of Bitcoins Created
A Model for Bitcoin: Metcalfe’s Law
Bitcoin creation resembles a modest “S” curve which we model
Bitcoin’s price is best modeled as a network. Metcalfe’s law, with a Gompertz function.8 Islam et al. [2002] use a Gompertz
adjusted for the creation of new bitcoins over time, is best suited sigmoid to model mobile phone uptake, where costs were
to this task. This approach provides insight into the long-term initially high (so uptake was slow), followed by a period of
value of bitcoin, but it does not attempt to explain short term rapid growth, followed by a slowing of uptake as saturation was
price movements, which we accept can be driven by a multitude reached. Caravelli et al. [2015] use a Gompertz model to explain
of factors. participant impact in financial transaction activity.
Critics of Bitcoin, knowing that supply is essentially fixed in the Using the total number of bitcoins (B = 21,000,000) and number
short term, generally point to changes in demand as responsible of bitcoins created (b), the Gompertz growth model is
for all price changes. That may be true in the short term, but it
is also an oversimplification. Demand-side approaches are often B
bt = bt-1 × 1n (5)
misspecified because they ignore the non-proportional value bt-1
added through the addition of a new user. Rearranging, we have
Whereas most network laws are propositions, Metcalfe’s law is a
mathematical tautology. There are typically no “groups of groups” b B
= 1n II (6)
in a buy-sell financial transaction ecosystem as Reed [2001] bt-1 bt-1
suggests. Van Hove [2016b] argues Metcalfe’s law is best suited
to those cases where direct network effects dominate indirect We use the Gompertz sigmoid as a decay factor, so that our final
network effects. Further, Metcalfe’s law assumes homogeneity model becomes
among connections. This assumption is met for Bitcoin, because
n(n-1) 1
each bitcoin user transacts only in bitcoin. Social networks, V=A× × (7)
however, transact in a variety of media, the nature of which is 2 bt
heterogeneous, and the value of which is subjective.
The constant of proportionality factor A must be expressed in
Metcalfe [2013] successfully fitted his law to Facebook’s terms of dollars per transaction (for our purposes), to capture the
annual revenues over the period 2004-2013 and concluded final unit of measurement V (which is in dollars). We assume A is
that “Facebook creates much more value than is captured and constant, but it is likely not.9 The bt factor serves as compensation
monetized by Facebook selling ads.” Madureira et al. [2013] came for this assumption.
12
Metcalfe's Law as a Model for Bitcoin's Value
Methodology and Data
The Bitcoin distributed ledger, implemented through blockchain,
provides perhaps the most robust transaction dataset in history.
Every transaction since Bitcoin’s inception is recorded and
publicly available in the blockchain. Distributed across a wide
network with an inherent validation process, the blockchain is
immutable, and therefore its integrity is exceptional.
The model requires only three datasets: wallets, number of
bitcoins created, and bitcoin price. Wallets (Exhibit 2) and
bitcoins are sourced from blockchain.info and extend back to
2011.10 Bitcoin price is sourced from coindesk.com11 and is a
composite value from several active bitcoin exchanges. The U.S.
dollar is the reference currency.
There are five ways to acquire bitcoins: mining, accepting them as
Exhibit 3: Weekly Growth in Wallets Since 2012
payment, purchasing them in the open market, accepting them as
a gift, or stealing them. In every case, one must first have a wallet.
Definitionally, one cannot transact in bitcoin in any manner We selected data points at 61-day intervals, commencing with
without a wallet, just as one cannot post a message to Facebook December 27, 2011 and ending December 31, 2017.
without a Facebook account. The creation of a new wallet is prima
We transformed bitcoin price (Y) and Metcalfe value (X) to
facie evidence that one intends to transact in bitcoin (or perhaps
lognormal values. This transformation is necessary for several
another cryptocurrency).
reasons.
Bitcoin’s genesis date of January 3, 2009 predates blockchain.info’s
First, the use of lognormal returns is common practice when
inception, therefore we only have data on wallets from November
dealing with currency returns. The choice of reference currency
29, 2011, when two wallets were created (Exhibit 2).
dictates the denominator of the rate-of-change calculation.
Currency pairs trades are zero-sum results where one side’s loss is
equally offset by the other side’s gain. The use of lognormal values
ensures this condition is met by negating the effect of choice of
reference currency on return.
Second, bitcoin is constantly traded, day and night, and knows no
holidays, trading halts, or other stoppages. Lognormal values are
best suited to capture what is literally the continuous function of
bitcoin price formation.
Third, lognormal values will mitigate any heteroskedasticity
associated with the regression.
We used a generalized difference equation to mitigate
autocorrelation and fit Metcalfe’s curve to the data. We adjusted
Exhibit 2: Number of Blockchain.info Wallets
for inflation resulting from bitcoin creation with a Gompertz
function. Unfortunately, we cannot know cost per bitcoin (or
There is a two-week period, from July 14, 2017 through August user) or affinity precisely.12 Instead, our regression model will
1, 2017, where blockchain.info did not open (or did not record) serve to estimate A through the coefficient β0.
new wallets. This period coincides with a software upgrade to the
Bitcoin transaction processing protocol, known as “Segwit”, where
many were advised to not transact bitcoin or open new accounts. 1n(Yt ) - pln(Yt-1) = a0(1-p) + β0[1n(Xt) -p1n(Xt-1)] + ut (8)
The average daily growth rate for blockchain.info wallets since
2011 is 0.167%, or about 84% per year (Exhibit 3). On purely where
visual inspection, we can also see that this growth rate does not
appear to be highly sensitive to exogenous factors such as google 1n (Mt) (9)
searches or other macroeconomic events. We believe that if Xt =
bt
exogenous events increased interest in bitcoin investing, as some
suggest, we would see some sort of relationship with new wallet and Yt is bitcoin’s price, Mt is Metcalfe Value (Equation 2), bt is
creation. Testing this hypothesis is beyond the scope of this paper, from Equation 5. In our data set, ρ ≈ 0.81
and so we leave it to others to investigate any such relationship.
Results are shown in (Exhibit 4, next page).

13
Quarter 2 • 2018 Metcalfe's Law as a Model for Bitcoin's Value
Exhibit 4

These results are plotted in Exhibit 5, and summary regression results are in Exhibits 6 and 7, next page.

Exhibit 5

14
Metcalfe's Law as a Model for Bitcoin's Value
Exhibit 6: Bitcoin Price as a Function of Metcalfe Value

Exhibit 7: Change in Bitcoin Price vs. Change in Metcalfe Value

Discussion of Results
We modeled bitcoin’s equilibrium value based solely on factors
relating to supply (number of bitcoins) and demand (number
of wallets). The resulting number of transactions, which is
proportional to n2, relate intuitively (per Economides) and
mathematically (per Metcalfe) to price. We expect deviations to
occur, but significant deviations should be subject to scrutiny.
Exhibit 8 shows bitcoin’s daily closing price as percentage above or
below the value indicated by Metcalfe’s law.
Gandal’s [2018] compelling case of price manipulation presents
us with a dilemma: do we exclude price history that is probably
fundamentally flawed, or leave the entire price series intact? If we
exclude the suspect periods, the fit will be a more conservative Exhibit 8: Price Deviation from Metcalfe Value
measure of value (because the intercept will be lower).13 If we
leave the suspect periods in, the fit will be a more conservative
activity (e.g. “irrational exuberance”), we should see transaction
measure of any suspected price manipulation (because the
activity increase relative to Metcalfe’s value. When we plot the
intercept will be higher).
ratio of daily transaction volume to Metcalfe value (Exhibit 9,next
Metcalfe’s value is a measurement of network capacity, literally page), we do not observe an increase in transaction volume that
the maximum number of paired connections that can be made. would explain the dramatic increase in price in 2013. In fact,
In that sense, it represents an upper limit of proportionality. If the transaction activity as a percentage of network capacity declined
price behavior in 2013 were the result of increased transaction over that time.
15
Quarter 2 • 2018 Metcalfe's Law as a Model for Bitcoin's Value
 would have been the result of “naturally occurring” variances
only once in every 13,700 years. Consequently, we could also
safely assume that prior studies of bitcoin’s price formation that
incorporated the 2013-2014 period are likely flawed, because
prices during that period were not indicative of normal supply
and demand under fair competition. We think there is a basis for
further research into the application of Metcalfe’s law to forensic
detection of price manipulation for cryptocurrencies.
Metcalfe’s law is largely unknown to economists, and
cryptocurrency is new. Few can probably appreciate the
effects of Metcalfe’s law on a limited supply of a currency. It
is a circumstance that has not developed until now, and it has
done so in full view of a global public. Bitcoin’s price provides a
Exhibit 9: Transactions as a % of Network Capacity (log scale) transparent look at Metcalfe’s law at work.
Endnotes
1. Bitcoin is a global decentralized digital currency implemented
On the assumption that Metcalfe value is an indicator of price, we
in January 2009.The system is peer-to-peer, and transactions take
examined the distribution of daily deviations using a Wilcoxin
place between users without an intermediary. The Bitcoin network
Signed-Rank test. The calculated z-score was -3.34, which implies
consolidates transaction records into a block, timestamps them,
less than a 0.05% chance that the daily values were the result of
and encrypts (“hashes”) them into a continuing chain of hash-
expected variances.
based proof-of-work. Additionally, a portion of the encrypted
Equation 5, taken in isolation, might be indicative of model record is used to hash the next record, linking the records. This is
misspecification. However, the Metcalfe model fits exceptionally called the blockchain. The blockchain is a public record, stored
well for all periods except 2013-2014. In light of Gandal’s [2018] and globally distributed on (presently) over 9,000 computers. This
findings and our own results using Metcalfe’s value, we believe distributed public record cannot be changed without re-doing
the best explanation of the large variance in 2013-2014 is price the proof-of-work for the prior transaction, and recursively,
manipulation. For that reason, we excluded data points 1Q2013 all other transactions in the chain, as well as all copies of the
through 1Q2015 from our regression in Equation 8. While this blockchain in the globally distributed network. This protective
treatment may undoubtedly rankle some, our defense is that mechanism, as well as blockchain hash itself, serves to practically
we are attempting to provide evidence of a strong relationship eliminate counterfeiting a bitcoin or its associated transaction
between Metcalfe’s law and bitcoin, and not necessarily define a log. “Bitcoin” with a capital “B” refers to the network protocol
value for bitcoin under all circumstances. while lowercase “bitcoin” refers to a unit of currency. Burniske
et. al [2017] provide a well-rounded description of bitcoin and
The following caveats must be noted. First, we cannot know for its uses; Hileman et al [2017] provide further insight into the
certain what−if anything− happened in 2013 and how it affected cryptocurrency industry at large; and the original Nakamoto
bitcoin’s price. Second, the effects of “zombie bitcoins” on wallets [2008] text serves as a good technical reference.
is not considered in our model. If the ratio of “zombie bitcoins”
to wallets is increasing, then we have overstated the effect of 2. Keynes [1965]. "Fiat Money is Representative (or token) Money
wallets on Metcalfe value, and Metcalfe value would be lower. (i.e. something the intrinsic value of the material substance of
Third, some wallets may have been opened which held other which is divorced from its monetary face value)–now generally
cryptocurrencies and no bitcoins, overstating n. Lastly, we cannot made of paper except in the case of small denominations–which is
observe Metcalfe’s network constant of proportionality A directly. created and issued by the State, but is not convertible by law into
Metcalfe himself said that A may increase with n over time, anything other than itself, and has no fixed value in terms of an
overwhelming n2, and this would increase Metcalfe’s value. objective standard."

Conclusions 3. Thornton [1965] “(Money) presents to the holder no hope of

future profit from the detention of it. Not only does it bear no
Our research offers two conclusions. First, bitcoin’s price, in the interest, but it offers no substitute for interest; the quantity held
medium- to long-term, appears to follow Metcalfe’s law, with R2 by each person is only that which the amount of payments to be
above 80% depending on periods used. We attribute the high effected by it renders, in his opinion, necessary.”
degree of fit in both cases to the fact that a principle assumption
of network laws–homogeneity of the transactions−is met. It 4. Economides [1996] “The act of exchanging goods or assets
helps that Bitcoin is perhaps the first widespread, transparent brings together a trader who is willing to sell with a trader
application of a network that is directly monetized with the who is willing to buy. The exchange brings together the two
inception of each wallet. complementary goods, 'willingness to sell at price p' (the 'offer')
and 'willingness to buy at price p' (the 'counteroffer') and creates
Also, we find evidence to support Gandal’s [2018] hypothesis a composite good, the 'exchange transaction.' The two original
of market price manipulation in 2013. This was an unintended goods were complementary and each had no value without the
finding of our study. If Metcalfe’s law helps explains bitcoin’s price, other one. Clearly, the availability of the counteroffer is critical for
then in layman’s terms, the high price on November 29, 2013 the exchange to occur.”
16
Metcalfe's Law as a Model for Bitcoin's Value
5. In the cryptocurrency lexicon, a node is a computer system that −−.“When a Law Isn’t a Law at All.” International Commerce
verifies and relays valid transactions to other nodes, propagates Review, Vol. 8, No. 2-4 (2009), pp. 146-149.
block solutions, and stores a copy of the Blockchain; nodes are
Brunner, K., and A. H. Meltzer. “The Uses of Money: Money in
operated by entities such as miners and certain users. Throughout
the Theory of an Exchange Economy.” The American Economic
this paper, we use the general term user to denote a point of
Review, Vol. 61, No. 5 (1971), pp. 784–805.
connectivity in the network.
Burniske, C. and A. White. “Bitcoin: Ringing the Bell for a New
6. Reed [2001]."(E)ven Metcalfe's law understates the value
Asset Class.” Research paper, Ark Invest + Coinbase, 2017.
created by a group-forming network (GFN) as it grows. Let's say
you have a GFN with n members. If you add up all the potential Caravelli, F., L. Sindoni, F. Caccioli, and C. Ududec, “Optimal
two-person groups, three-person groups, and so on that those leverage trajectories in presence of market impact.” Working
members could form, the number of possible groups equals 2n. So paper, 2015.
the value of a GFN increases exponentially, in proportion to 2n. I
Ciaian, P., M. Rajcaniova, and D. Kancs. “The Economics of
call that Reed's Law. And its implications are profound."
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Metcalfe's Law as a Model for Bitcoin's Value