DCI Newsletter Issue #20 - April-June 2024
In this issue:
New student thesis on mitigating undercutting attacks in Bitcoin
2024 MIT Bitcoin Expo roundup
Final issue of the Cryptoeconomic Systems journal and the journal’s new publisher
New papers and collaborations shared
And more...
DCI Newsletter Special Issue - Madars Virza wins IEEE Test of Time Award
DCI’s Madars Virza wins a test-of-time award at IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy
Madars Virza SM '14, PhD '17, a Research Scientist at the MIT Media Lab's Digital Currency Initiative (DCI), is the recipient of an IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy Test of Time Award for “Zerocash: Decentralized Anonymous Payments from Bitcoin,” a paper he co-authored in 2014.
Special Announcement: Madars Virza awarded at IEEE Symposium
Madars Virza SM '14, PhD '17, a Research Scientist at the MIT Media Lab's Digital Currency Initiative (DCI), is the recipient of an IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy Test of Time Award for “Zerocash: Decentralized Anonymous Payments from Bitcoin,” a paper he co-authored in 2014.
DCI Newsletter Issue #19 - January-March 2024
In this issue:
Bitcoin Fridays
New collaboration announced
Engineering for privacy in central banks
New faces at the DCI
And more!
MIT DCI launches collaboration with researchers at Deutsche Bundesbank
On April 16, Dr. Joachim Nagel, President of the Deutsche Bundesbank, the central bank of Germany, visited the MIT Media Lab. There, he announced this new collaboration between the Bundesbank and the DCI for central bank digital currency design research.
MIT Digital Currency Initiative presents CBDC research to Ireland's IIEA
In October, former central banker Chris Calabia of MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative (MIT DCI) gave a talk at The Institute of International & European Affairs titled “Towards a Central Bank Digital Currency? One View from the United States.”
In this, the second of the IIEA’s mini-series of webinars on the subject of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), Chris Calabia, Head of CBDC Programs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Digital Currency Initiative, shares recent research on the opportunities and challenges presented by the potential introduction of a CBDC like a ‘digital dollar’. Mr. Calabia addresses practical and policy questions that this digital asset could raise for our economies and societies, including whether CBDCs could promote greater financial inclusion and how to safeguard privacy while mitigating other risks like fraud and money laundering.
MIT DCI presents research on treasury repo markets
MIT DCI research scientist Daniel Aronoff shared his work on US Treasury repo markets on two occasions this fall. He spoke on the “Repo on chain and collateral mobilization” panel at the 2023 Rates & Repo North America, and participated in the NBER Market Design Working Group Meeting. You can find information about his ongoing research on this topic here, and watch a video of the panel below.
MIT DCI research scientist Daniel Aronoff discusses fintech innovation at MIT Research and Development Conference
In November, MIT Digital Currency Initiative research scientist Daniel Aronoff participated in a panel discussion along with Ed Golding, Executive Director of the MIT Golub Center for Finance, on fintech and the digitization of finance at the MIT Research and Development Conference. The lively conversation touched on many topics relevant to DCI’s work, including safeguarding privacy in central bank digital currencies, decentralizing repo markets through smart contracts, and the future of cash.
DCI Newsletter Issue #18 - October-December 2023
In this issue:
Our work on Bitcoin security
New extension to PArSEC
The DCI at Media Lab Members' Week
And more!
Ledger Insights: “MIT’s Project Hamilton for CBDC open sources smart contract research”
“This week MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative (MIT DCI) released the source code of research into smart contracts for central bank digital currency (CBDC) – PArSEC (Parallelized Architecture for Scalably Executing smart Contracts). Given the solution is designed for central banks, it is a centralized offering and sidesteps using blockchain, although it supports Ethereum smart contracts. “
Cointelegraph: “MIT Digital Currency Initiative introduces at-scale, programmable CBDC platform”
“The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Digital Currency Initiative (DCI) has introduced the experimental PArSEC platform. PArSEC — short for "parallelized architecture for scalably executing smart contracts" — is open source and developed with central bank digital currency (CBDC) in mind. “
DCI Newsletter Issue #17 - July-September 2023
In this issue:
New research on programmability and smart contracts
Bitcoin Core updates
Welcome students to the DCI
And more!
DCI Newsletter Issue #16 - April-June 2023
In this issue:
How to support the DCI
Updates to the Bitcoin Security Initiative
The DCI on the Ethereum network
A preview of the latest research on Project Hamilton
And more!
MIT Technology Review: “What's Next for Crypto”
“Although crypto enthusiasts may now be inclined to distance themselves from FTX, the episode reflects ‘the crypto we created,’ says Neha Narula, director of the Digital Currency Initiative at MIT.”
Engaging with regulators, insights from near and afar: an interview with Chris Calabia in The Axial Studio
DCI senior advisor Chris Calabia was interviewed on his experience as a regulator, his advice for innovation, and more. Chris worked for over twenty years at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Through that role and others, including as a Senior Advisor on regulatory policy at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Chris has worked closely with regulators from all of the world, providing him a unique perspective not only into the mindset of US regulators, but regulators in many different socioeconomic contexts.
The DCI at the 10th MIT Bitcoin Expo
On April 22-23, the MIT Bitcoin Club hosted the 10th MIT Bitcoin Expo. DCI director Neha Narula gave a keynote speech, Cryptoeconomic Systems managing editor Reuben Youngblom presented a talk titled "The 70 Megaton Gorilla: Addressing the PoW climate narrative," and DCI software engineer Sam Stuewe presented an asynchronous talk titled "Are We CBDC Yet? A Healthy Dose of Skepticism." Sam also mentored participants in the Expo's Hackathon.
The Future of Money at Consensus 2023
On April 27, DCI director Neha Narula spoke at Consensus 2023 on private and public money and the role of blockchain technology in future digital payment systems.
Project Hamilton at NSDI '23
James Lovejoy, of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, presented "Hamilton: A High-Performance Transaction Processor for Central Bank Digital Currencies" at NSDI '23. This paper was co-authored by Madars Virza, Cory Fields, and Neha Narula of the DCI and James Lovejoy, Kevin Karwaski, and Anders Brownworth of the FRBB, and it proposes the Hamilton transaction processor, one of the primary results of this collaboration.
The featured image on this post is by Thomas Hawk, and used under a Creative Commons license.
Blockchain Ethics: Ethereum, Web3, and Decentralized Morality with Reuben Youngblom
DCI researcher Reuben Youngblom gave a talk on blockchain ethics at ETHDenver. As blockchain becomes more impactful in the world, our obligation to make sure that we are proceeding in a responsible manner increases. But what does a responsible future look like?
The featured image on this post is by Timothy Actwell and used via a Creative Commons license.
DCI Newsletter Issue #15 - January-March 2023
In this issue:
The DCI at the MIT Bitcoin Expo, Consensus, Davos, and more.
Project Hamilton at NSDI '23.
Special thanks to DCI strategic advisor Shira Frank.
ICYMI: Two virtual events on CBDC, now available on demand.
And more!