Digital currencies like Bitcoin are poised to make a dramatic impact on most people’s lives over the next decade. They offer tremendous possibilities for growing our global economy, and, similar to the cell phone, enabling developing nations to leapfrog the tech of developed nations. But, we are at a pivotal point for this nascent technology. Getting digital currencies right and realizing the projected impact, present daunting challenges that will require significant research and development to overcome.
Blockchain–the underlying technology behind Bitcoin–is a decentralized public ledger of debits and credits that no one person or company owns or controls: users control it directly. This new system lets people transfer money without a bank. Write simple, enforceable contracts without a lawyer. Or, turn physical items like real estate or tickets to the ball game or concert into digital assets that can be sold with low to no transaction fees. Many are projecting that the impact will be similar to that of the Internet–disrupting traditional industries, challenging existing regulations, and significantly increasing the volume of commerce by dramatically lowering the cost to transact and establishing trust between two previously unknown parties.
MIT Media Lab announced the launch of the Digital Currency Initiative, the goal of this initiative is to bring together global experts in areas ranging from cryptography, to economics, to privacy, to distributed systems, to take on this important new area of research.
This initiative has three goals:
- Conduct research and engage more students on digital currency topics that address questions about security, stability, scalability, privacy, and economics.
- Convene governments, nonprofits, and the private sector to research and test concepts that have high social impact.
- Provide evidence-based research to support existing and future policy and standards
In launching this initiative, the Media Lab will work closely with MIT CSAIL’s Nickolai Zeldovich (systems and security) and Ron Rivest (cryptography); the Sloan School of Management’s Simon Johnson (former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund), Christian Catalini and Catherine Tucker; and MIT’s Catherine Fazio, Thomas Hardjono, and Jeffrey Schiller. Within the Media Lab researchers involved with the initiative include Alex “Sandy” Pentland, Andy Lippman, Ethan Zuckerman, and Visiting Scholar Cameron Kerry. Students at the Media Lab and across campus will join in, with Jeremy Rubin, the undergraduate who helped run the MIT Bitcoin Project having an active role. Interested companies, developers, and forward-thinking policy makers will also be engaged in the effort.
For more details please visit : https://bitcoin.org/en/
http://web.mit.edu/
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