In this talk we discussed the main mechanisms behind the Babylon Protocol, functionalities and implications for the Bitcoin Ecossystem.

In this meeting, Ben Skaar presented his study on the role of Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAOs) in the NFT space and how the organization of DAOs specialized in NFTs

In this meeting we discussed the main objectives and implementations of restaking in Blockchains, with focus on the EigenLayer protocol

In this session, we discussed Liquid Staking Protocols and how these various designs aim to address the scaling problem of L1. We particularly focused on factors contributing to efficiency gains (such as reduced decentralization, transaction bundling, decreased congestion, and off-chain computation) and how these measures will impact transaction fees and the long-term stability of the platforms.

In this meeting, Prof. Abdoulaye Ndiaye presented his paper “Relative Pricing and Efficient Allocation in Blockchains”.

In this meeting, Prof. Jacob Leshno presented his recent paper with Prof.Rafael Pass and Prof. Elaine Shi, “On the Viability of Open-Source Financial Rails, Economic Security of Permissionless Consensus”.

In this meeting we dicussed the implications of Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) over a sequence of blocks, how new strategies of MEV can arise under this scenario and how frequent this scenario can be.

In this talk Alistair Milne (Loughborough University, UK) and Ka Kei Chan (Brunel University, UK) presented their draft paper, “Payment Initiation and Transaction Costs”, exploring the choice in financial transactions between push initiation (a transfer instructed by the owner of a monetary or financial asset) and pull initiation (where the owner allows someone else, either a recipient or a third party, to initiate transfer). The distinction between pull and push is well known to practitioners but has received relatively little attention in peer reviewed literature. They will then invite discussion of a further issue, only touched on in their paper, the role of pull initiation in the execution of smart contracts (arguably central, as illustrated by the DeFi ERC-20 token standard which supports smart contracts through pull initiation by code that has been validated on the Ethereum blockchain). Their paper suggests that a key requirement for pull initiation is the provision of supporting credit and liquidity protections to protect both sender and recipient from default risks. A point they hope this discussion can address is how to identify circumstances in which these protections can be provided through code alone (as when smart contracts operate on a permissionless blockchain); and distinguish these from other circumstances where these protections require the involvement of intermediaries (hence ruling out fully decentralised smart contract implementation).

This session we discussed recent advances in open-source protocols for decentralized identity and social networks, and their potential roles in response to cases where governments have banned social platforms.

In this session, Aviv Yaish presented his recent work on how airdrops can incentive user growth for blockchain platforms and how different type of users can play a role in the effects of airdrop distributions.

In this session we looked over recent analysis on Maximal Extractable Value over Layer 2 protocols

In this session, we explored how each the DeFi enviroment for each blockchain would differentiate from each other in terms of transactions characteristics and how this differences were evolving.

The paper introduces a novel surveillance metric to measure manipulative behavior in multi-agent systems, specifically focusing on decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain systems, and demonstrates its effectiveness through a natural experiment conducted on the Uniswap DeFi ecosystem. This paper is presented by Matheus

The research proposes a method for designing fee markets in public blockchains that efficiently price multiple non-fungible resources. It utilizes a dynamic pricing mechanism based on a network designer-specified loss function, aligning incentives between the network, users, and miners to enhance overall performance.

The discussion covers Ethereum’s recent scalability upgrade facilitating L2 solutions integration and examines empirical methods to identify reasons for failures in stablecoins.

In this session, we discussed how and to what extent L2 blockchains inherit security guarantees from L1 blockchains and what new security risks arise with L2 technology.

On most L2 platforms, the transaction fees users pay consist of a fee for the verification of their transaction on the L2 network and a fee to publish its proof on the L1 network. Since the L1 fees depend on congestion at the time the proof of an L2 transaction bundle is published on the L1, L2 platforms can generate profits if the fees they charge surpass their operational costs and the L1 fees they pay. In this session, we discussed under what circumstances an L2 platform can establish a viable business model.

In this session, we discussed different L2 architectures and how these various designs aim to address the scaling problem of L1. We particularly focused on factors contributing to efficiency gains (such as reduced decentralization, transaction bundling, decreased congestion, and off-chain computation) and how these measures will impact transaction fees and the long-term stability of the platforms.

This paper proposes a new transaction fee mechanism for blockchain platforms like Ethereum. This paper is presented by Prof. Abdoulaye Ndiaye (NYU)

This paper investiagtes the impact of regulatory compliance on the liquidity of cryptocurrencies. This paper is presented by Prof. Mariia Petryk (GMU)

This paper delves into the underexplored realm of decentralized platforms, such as blockchains, contrasting them with centralized counterparts in terms of their impact on innovation dynamics. It uncovers how transaction validators and platform design intricacies shape generativity and network effects, enriching our comprehension of developer engagement and network dynamics in decentralized environments. This paper is presented by Prof. Aija Leiponen (Cornell)