BIS study says Bitcoin on-chain transfer metrics vary up to sixfold by methodology choices

A BIS study reported that widely used Bitcoin on-chain transfer metrics can produce substantially different estimates, with results varying by a factor of six depending on the methodology used ^{[1] [2]}.

The reporting on the BIS findings said the study identified measurement challenges that can obscure economic activity across networks, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins ^[2].

One summary of the BIS analysis added that calculation choices such as how change outputs are handled can inflate measured transfer value, and that “token tickers” do not by themselves establish an issuer ^[3].

The same summary cited an example from Ethereum data, stating that 6,867 Ethereum contracts used the USDT symbol in the material analyzed ^[3].

Crypto Breaking News also characterized the BIS paper as flagging a large mismatch in Bitcoin on-chain transfer data, though it did not provide additional methodological details in the supplied excerpt ^[4].