Better in Practice than in Theory: Lessons from the Rise of Bitcoin

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Tuesday, August 19, 2014 - 11:00am-11:45am

Discussion Leaders: Joseph Bonneau and Arvind Narayanan, Princeton University

Abstract: 

Bitcoin has had far more real-world impact as a crypto-currency than any academic proposal in this space. Depending on one's perspective, this is either despite or because its design violates many assumptions cryptographers and security researchers hold dear. While it builds off of crypto concepts researched in the 90s, Bitcoin was developed and rose to prominence almost completely independently of the mainstream academic research community. How did we miss the ideas behind Bitcoin? What questions remain about Bitcoin that academics are well-positioned to answer? What lessons can we learn to avoid missing such a promising idea in the future? How can academics productively collaborate with the broader Bitcoin research and development community?

BibTeX
@conference {209085,
title = {Better in Practice than in Theory: Lessons from the Rise of Bitcoin},
year = {2014},
address = {San Diego, CA},
publisher = {{USENIX} Association},
month = aug,
}
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