Computer scientists at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) are working on a way to make Bitcoin transactions safer by making them more transparent.

The project aims to provide regulators with information about the flow of the digital currency.

This would be similar to the information tracked by traditional central banks. The students hope that this will reduce the risk of fraud.

The researchers believe that a 'credit-check' database could solve some of the currency's safety problems. They hope to make transactions more transparent - without sacrificing the anonymous nature of the currency.

If the risk of fraud is going to be reduced, they believe that a 'Bitcoin regulator' would need to know three things:

• How much currency is in circulation
• How it was distributed and whether anyone is stockpiling it
• Whether there are any patterns in the transactions that people should be concerned about

All Bitcoin transactions are recorded in a giant central ledger called the ‘Bitcoin Blockchain’ - the students have used programmes to trawl through this ledger, looking for patterns.

One member of the team, Cian Burns, has already built a database of Bitcoin accounts, which he linked together to establish how they are connected.

He says: "Our trawl gave us a unique insight into some very high-profile Bitcoin fraud cases that were being conducted across the world. Regulation is further down the line, but a database of accounts could certainly protect people and raise the appeal of Bitcoin for legitimate businesses."

They also believe that it could be possible to establish a system that would allow people to carryout ‘Bitcoin credit-checks’ before engaging in transactions with other users.

Professor of Computer Science in the School of Computer Science and Statistics at TCD, Donal O’Mahony is overseeing this research. He worked with two other TCD researchers on an influential book called, E-Payment Systems for E-Commerce - it was first published in 2001.

The trio behind the book have been dubbed the 'Crypto Mano Group' - and have been accused of being Bitcoin's anonymous architect - Satoshi Nakamoto.

Mr O'Mahony's bio on the TCD website ends by pointing out that he is ranked as the 7th most likely person to have created the currency.