Network evolution of centrality maximizing agents: An empirical evidence of nestedness emergence.

ABSTRACT: In this study, we investigate the relationship between agents' efforts to maximize their centrality and the emergence of nested structures in networks. Using the Bitcoin Lightning Network (BLN) as a unique dataset, we analyze its dynamic evolution through the nested overlap and decreasing fill method, modularity analysis, an in-block nestedness model, and randomized null models. Our findings reveal a substantial increase in nested and in-block nested structures as the BLN expands, driven by nodes' strategic behavior to enhance their importance. To validate these results, we develop a two-stage game-theoretic model incorporating novel parameters such as the social distance factor and social reduction factor. This model generates stochastically stable networks that replicate the observed str

SUBMITTER: Wang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12661409 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature