The reward sharing scheme used in the current deployment of Cardano has some favourable properties that were analysed theoretically in an academic paper and through simulation experiments in our previous blog post. Specifically, we examined the reward scheme in terms of the level of decentralisation it induces and concluded that …
Since the introduction of blockchain systems more than a decade ago, groups and individuals from both academia and industry have strived to refine the underlying protocols, improving their scalability, stability or decentralisation properties, to name a few. In this blog post, we will focus on the aspect of decentralisation and …
Chinese crypto firms are relocating to other nations amidst a crackdown by Chinese authorities, who are addressing concerns regarding energy usage and financial risks associated with the crypto industry. The Scotsman recently featured an article on the environmental impact of migrating crypto miners, with insights from Prof. Aggelos Kiayias. For …
Prof. Aggelos Kiayias gave a webinar at the Crypto and Blockchain Economics Research Forum (CBER) last Thursday, 2nd December, on the topic, “Rethinking Information Technology from a Decentralisation Perspective.” His talk (abstract below) was based upon research compiled in the following paper: Decentralizing Information Technology: The Advent of Resource Based …
NewScientist recently featured an article shedding light on the Chia cryptocurrency and its profound impact on the global supply chain of hard disk drives. Chia utilises an innovative proof-of-space (also known as proof-of-capacity) technology, aiming to surpass the energy-intensive proof-of-work system employed by Bitcoin in terms of environmental friendliness. However, …
The advent of the Bitcoin system in 2009 brought forth the promise of blockchain technology in Information Technology (IT) services. Sir Mark Walport’s report “Distributed ledger technology: beyond block chain” in early 2016 was among the first extensive governmental reports world-wide documenting the disruptive nature of this technology. Nevertheless, the …
The Blockchain Technology Lab has achieved remarkable success this year, with an outstanding accomplishment of having 7 papers accepted at the prestigious Financial Cryptography and Data Security 2021 conference. This major international event encompasses a comprehensive exploration of securing transactions and systems. To access the full FC21 program, click here …
The Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford have published in the Oxford Business Law Blog a comprehensive summary of a recent interdisciplinary research paper by Prof. Emilios Avgouleas and Prof. Aggelos Kiayias constituting a new paradigm of decentralised finance in the post COVID-19 era. To read a comprehensive summary of …
The Blockchain Technology Lab (BTL) hosted the “Advances in Blockchain Technology Scotland” webinar on September 30, 2020, in collaboration with the Bayes Centre. This half-day event aimed to showcase the cutting-edge blockchain research being conducted at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, UK. Led by Prof Aggelos Kiayias, Chair of …
The ability to notify effectively and expediently people that were in close contact with someone diagnosed with Covid-19 is an indispensable tool now that we gradually move towards easing the lockdown caused by the pandemic. As we have described in a previous post, technology can help and there are already …
