The use of high-frequency data in cryptocurrency research: a meta-review of literature with bibliometric analysis

Abstract

As the crypto-asset ecosystem matures, the use of high-frequency data has become increasingly common in decentralized finance literature. Using bibliometric analysis, we characterize the existing cryptocurrency literature that employs high-frequency data. We highlighted the most influential authors, articles, and journals based on 189 articles from the Scopus database from 2015 to 2022. This approach enables us to identify emerging trends and research hotspots with the aid of co-citation and cartographic analyses. It shows knowledge expansion through authors’ collaboration in cryptocurrency research with co-authorship analysis. We identify four major streams of research: (i) return prediction and measurement of cryptocurrency volatility, (ii) (in)efficiency of cryptocurrencies, (iii) price dynamics and bubbles in cryptocurrencies, and (iv) the diversification, safe haven, and hedging properties of Bitcoin. We conclude that highly traded cryptocurrencies’ investment features and economic outcomes are analyzed predominantly on a tick-by-tick basis. This study also provides recommendations for future studies.