Blockchain Scalpel

(formerly: Blockchain parser / Russian scalpel)

Русский скальпель

Author: Denis Leonov (ragestack) Contact: 466611@gmail.com

Blockchain Scalpel is a lightweight script for parsing raw blkXXXXX.dat files of the Bitcoin blockchain database.

The tool provides direct access to blockchain data stored on disk and allows exploring the main database as close as possible to its original binary representation.

The parser is also compatible with many altcoins with minimal adjustments.

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Overview

Blockchain Scalpel is a low-level blockchain data parser designed for research, analysis, and infrastructure-level processing.

The project focuses on:

• transparent and deterministic parsing
• minimal dependencies
• direct work with raw blockchain data
• long-term maintainability

No third-party modules or libraries are required. A standard Python installation is sufficient.

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Installation

Install from PyPI

pip install blockchain-scalpel

This will install the blockchain-scalpel command-line tool.

Manual usage

python blockchain-parser.py <blocksdir> <resultdir>

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Usage

After installation from PyPI:

blockchain-scalpel <blocksdir> <resultdir>

This is equivalent to:

python blockchain-parser.py <blocksdir> <resultdir>

Where:

• is the directory containing blkXXXXX.dat files

• is the directory for parsed output

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Typical Usage

• academic and scientific research
• grant-funded university projects
• blockchain data analysis and forensics
• internal analytics and data processing pipelines

The script converts the raw blockchain database stored in blkXXXXX.dat files into a simple, human-readable format.

Make sure to configure the paths for:

• input blkXXXXX.dat files
• output directory for parsing results

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Source Code

Repository: https://github.com/ragestack/blockchain-parser

PyPI package: https://pypi.org/project/blockchain-scalpel/

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License

Important: License by version

• Versions up to and including v1.0.0-gpl are licensed under GPL-3.0
• Versions starting from v2.0.0 are distributed under the

Blockchain Scalpel License (source-available)

License summary (v2.0.0 and later)

• Free for non-commercial use with mandatory attribution
• Academic and grant-funded research is permitted
• Commercial use requires a paid license
• SaaS / cloud / hosted use is not permitted without a commercial license

See the full license text in the LICENSE file.

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Commercial Licensing

Commercial licenses, including licenses permitting use in commercial organizations or SaaS / cloud / hosted environments, are available under negotiated terms.

For commercial licensing inquiries, contact:

Denis Leonov 466611@gmail.com

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Warranty

A limited compatibility warranty is provided for changes introduced by the author related to new or updated blockchain block formats.

This warranty is limited in scope and does not constitute an SLA.

See WARRANTY.md for details.

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Notes

If this project is useful for your research or work, attribution to the author is required.

Questions and licensing inquiries are welcome via email.

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© Denis Leonov. All rights reserved.