Looking for Old Bitcoin Network Data from 2012

Hey all, I'm on the hunt for some archived Bitcoin network data from around 2012. Ideally, I want info on transaction propagation or node activity. I’ve checked out some of the early research like Dan Kaminsky's work, but I know it's a bit of a long shot. Anyone have leads?

Not sure if you’ll find much from that time. The only solid dataset I know of is from this site that started collecting in mid-2015. It’s anonymized though. There’s also bitnodes, which has been around since 2013, but I doubt they have anything from 2012.

Yeah, that's the key here. I'm looking for something beyond just open-source stuff... like private datasets or old backups that researchers might have. I know Blockchain.info had some records back then, but are they still around to share?

If you’re into SQL, have a look at Google Bigquery. They host some of the oldest data down to the pizza transaction. You can find blocks, transactions, and timestamps there. Be careful on the free tier though, the queries can rack up quick.

Sounds cool! But I feel like 2012 data is super scarce. I did find out that UCL's ‘A Fistful of Bitcoins’ project collected some data back then. Might be worth reaching out to them.

But that’s not really what OP needs, right? The on-chain data is easy to access, he wants the network-level stuff.

I saw the UCL project, too. But checking their data collection section, it looks like they focused more on address and transaction data, not really nodes. Could be wrong though.

Honestly, I doubt tracking transactions from 2009 will be any easier in 2125. The future’s unpredictable, but if we're still needing to download everything, that could signal bigger problems down the line.

Totally get your point about needing confirmations. Today it’s usually one confirmation, but back in the day, it was more like six. That changes how we see security in the chain.

It’s more about simplicity than security. Why mess with what’s already established? Just download and verify since 2009. Easy peasy.

Not sure anyone in 2125 will care about downloading a tiny bit of data to process those early blocks though.

Downloading is one thing, but processing all that data? Some smaller chains are just a few gigs, but they can take ages to verify compared to Bitcoin. Speed isn’t always increasing that much.

Thanks for the ideas everyone, but just to reiterate, I’m after observations or logs from 2012. Not just standard node data. I want what people saw in real-time back then.

Cool, so actual data from back then? Blockchain.info’s records might not help much since they didn’t connect to all nodes. The IPs might not represent where transactions were really coming from.

What are you trying to analyze specifically? Sounds interesting.

I’m digging into old mixing services and mapping IP patterns to deanonymize transactions. Trying to see which addresses were used by mixers for flow analysis.

That’s a tricky area. Nodes are constantly coming and going, so those same nodes might show different IPs across transactions. Good luck with that!

Mixers are smart enough to use privacy tools like Tor, right? They wouldn’t just use their real IPs. But who knows how it was back in 2012.

It’s true that today many nodes use Tor for privacy. Looks like about 64% do nowadays.

You might just be padding your post count for a sig deal... but OP really wants data from 2012. Back then, many Bitcoin businesses were still figuring out security.