Team

Neha Narula | Director

Neha Narula is the Director of the Digital Currency Initiative at the MIT Media Lab, where her research interests are in cryptocurrencies and distributed systems. She is also on the Board of Directors for Block and the Innovation Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Neha has given a TED talk on the future of money and was named to WIRED's list of 25 leade rs shaping the next 25 years of technology. She received her PhD in computer science from MIT in 2015, where she published work on fast, scalable databases and before that was a senior software engineer at Google. Personal page: http://nehanarula.org

Cory Fields | Bitcoin Core Developer

Cory is an open-source software evangelist who has been a Bitcoin Core developer at the DCI since its formation in 2015. During that time, he has contributed to nearly all aspects of the project including the peer-to-peer implementation, validation engine, build-system, release process, deterministic build process, dependency reduction, and efforts to modularize and harden against vulnerabilities. In the process he has also contributed several low-level compiler improvements and fixes to dozens of upstream libraries.

Ashley Jacobson | Program Manager

Ashley leads operational programs and student and community engagement, and spends much of her time building DCI Global, one of DCI’s collaborative research and education programs. Designing financial systems and tools that are fair and accessible is essential, but her greatest interest lies in advancing open education for learners of all ages.

Michael Maurer | Software Engineer

Michael has been with the DCI since joining as a student in 2023, and started a full time role in late 2025. He is interested in problems related to distributed system design and scalability, as well as topics related to privacy. He is also interested in the future of financial infrastructure. Michael holds a B.S. and M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Northeastern University. He is a big fan of the Boston Red Sox.

Molly Wexler-Romig | Administrative Assistant

Molly monitors financial activities for the group, maintains the office, and coordinates meetings and events. She is learning a lot about cryptocurrency and is especially interested in its application toward financial inclusion and equity. Outside the office, Molly is studying community development and planning at Clark University, and enjoys singing, nature, knitting, and cuddling with her two cats.

Anthony (AJ) Towns | Bitcoin Core Developer (Independent Contractor)

A free software enthusiast and Bitcoin Core developer, Anthony leads DCI research focused on Bitcoin's security and longevity. Follow @ajtowns on Twitter.

Sedited | Bitcoin Core Developer (Independent Contractor)

Sedited’s work currently focuses on the libbitcoinkernel project, and Bitcoin Core pull request review. He is also developing applications using the libbitcoinkernel library in python and rust. He likes working on Bitcoin Core’s long term architecture, improving the security and usability of its build system, validation engine, and interfaces. Github: @Sedited

Armin Sabouri | Research Collaborator

Armin focuses on Bitcoin privacy and contributes to Payjoin protocol upgrades through the Payjoin Dev Kit. His current work focuses on developing multi-party Payjoins to strengthen counterparty privacy and on designing privacy metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of these upgrades.

Ethan Heilman | Research Collaborator

Ethan is a researcher at Cloudflare and collaborates with the DCI on Bitcoin research. He was previously CTO and Co-Founder of BastionZero, where he built OpenPubkey. He has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Boston University and is the author of over ten technical papers on cryptocurrency, blockchain, cryptography, and network security. He is the inventor of the TumbleBit protocol and has contributed to Bitcoin Core. In his spare time, he enjoys breaking hash functions.

Anders Brownworth | Research Affiliate

Anders Brownworth managed engineering at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston for Project Hamilton, a joint research effort with the DCI. Prior to the Federal Reserve, Anders worked at Circle where he helped create and launch USDC, one of the largest stablecoins in the world. Anders also co-taught the first blockchain class at MIT and created blockchain explainer videos with millions of views on YouTube. Website: https://andersbrownworth.com/

F. Christopher Calabia | Research Affiliate

Chris Calabia works at the nexus of emerging technology, regulation, and the financial system. Formerly Head of Programs at MIT DCI, Chris has held senior roles at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Dubai Financial Services Authority, and the Gates Foundation’s financial inclusion team. He is now a senior advisor at the Bank of England.

Students

Ashwanth Samuel | Product Manager

Ashwanth is a stablecoin researcher at DCI, focused on how programmable dollars interact with existing financial infrastructure. His recent work includes the JPM Deposit Token Design Paper and The Hidden Plumbing of Stablecoins. He is completing his MBA at Harvard Business School (May 2026) and previously worked at Protocol Labs, as well as Bain & Co. Ashwanth is a Jefferson Scholar alumnus of the University of Virginia and plays violin with cover bands in his spare time.

Kaleb Asfaw | UROP

Kaleb is a senior from San Jose, California studying math and computer science. He is currently researching architecture and performance optimizations for AMMs & DEXs, with prior experience in the DCI doing stablecoin research. As a firm believer in cryptocurrency, he is excited and hopeful to contribute to shaping the future of decentralized finance.

LeAnn Tai | UROP

LeAnn is a current junior studying Computer Science with a minor in Finance at MIT. She is excited to work on analyzing the challenges of deploying traditional financial assets on decentralized ledgers. In her free time, she enjoys art, dancing, and exploring the newest food spots in town.

Max Kaufmann | Visiting Student

Max has joined the DCI as a visiting research student to work on stablecoin-related projects and to write his thesis in this area. He holds a BS degree in Finance and has gained experience in both traditional and emerging finance sectors, including investment banking, venture capital, and fintech startups. Outside of work and studies, Max enjoys competing in alpine ski races and playing soccer.

Revan Somshekhar Chonnad | Co-op Software Engineer

Revan is a Northeastern University graduate student interested in blockchain technology, smart contracts, and backend development. He previously served as a Tech Lead in the NEU Blockchain Organization, where he contributed to decentralized application development and student workshops. At the DCI, Revan will be working on engineering projects related to digital currency infrastructure and secure smart contracts.

Kristian Praizner | UROP

Kristian is an undergrad from Estonia who is majoring in Artificial Intelligence and Decision Making. He is on the Track Team and likes cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

Lillian Wang | UROP

Lillian is a third-year undergraduate student studying computer science and math with an interest in cryptography and theoretical computer science. She is currently analyzing bitcoin scalability with DCI. Previously, she worked with DCI to model bitcoin transaction fees, analyze proposed bitcoin opcodes for enabling covenants, and design for central bank payment tokens. Beyond academic interests, she can often be found drawing, drawing comics, reading, or folding origami.

Nicole Li | UROP

Nicole has worked on Lua smart contracts for PArSEC, post-quantum eCash, and is now working on Bitcoin scalability. Her interests lie in cryptography and system design. Outside of research at the DCI, Nicole also enjoys rowing, cooking, baking, and painting.

William Peracchio | Product Manager

William Peracchio is a Harvard Kennedy School policy student and former product manager at the fintech startup Knova. His research covers CBDCs, stablecoins, and tokenized deposits and their impacts on geopolitics. He also contributes to digital assets work for the Bretton Woods Committee and the Kennedy School's Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government. William holds degrees from Tsinghua University as a Schwarzman Scholar and from Lehigh University in computer science and business.

Faculty Advisors