EC 2018 Tutorial:
Emerging Research Directions Regarding Incentives and Cryptocurrencies

 

Organizers: Jacob Leshno, Arvind Narayanan, Georgios Piliouras, Alex Psomas and Matt Weinberg





Description:

Cryptocurrencies have shown to be reliable payment platforms and gathered immense interest. At their core, though, cryptocurrencies are simply decentralized ledgers: a network of participants who agree upon protocol rules that describe how the ledger can be update and maintain consensus among all participants. Even if no individual participant in the network can be trusted, a combination of cryptography and game-theoretic incentives ensures that the network as a whole is reliable and can be trusted.

The aim of the tutorial is to provide an introduction to cryptocurrencies, outlining their structure and design with a focus on the game theoretic elements. Several topics will be then covered more in depth, presenting emerging research direction that are ripe for future work.





Location: Statler #265

Schedule:

8:30-9:15 Introduction to Cryptocurrencies.

Speaker: Alex Psomas.

9:15-10:00 Incentive Challenges in Designing Cryptocurrencies.

Speaker: Matt Weinberg.

10:00 - 10:30 From Practice to Theory.

Speaker: Arvind Narayanan.

10:30-11:00 Coffee Break.
11:00-11:45 Cryptocurrencies as Marketplaces.

Speaker: Jacob Leshno.

11:45-12:30 Panel Discussion. Panelists: Elaine Shi, Vitalik Buterin, Vlad Zamfir.

Moderator: Georgios Piliouras