Posts in Articles
MIT’s Project Hamilton for CBDC open sources smart contract research
MIT’s Project Hamilton for CBDC open sources smart contract research

This week MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative (MIT DCI) released the source code of research into smart contracts for central bank digital currency (CBDC) – PArSEC (Parallelized Architecture for Scalably Executing smart Contracts). Given the solution is designed for central banks, it is a centralized offering and sidesteps using blockchain, although it supports Ethereum smart contracts. 

The work is part of Project Hamilton, an initiative in conjunction with the Boston Federal Reserve and the source code is released under the umbrella of openCBDC.

It claims to have sufficient scale for most potential central bank applications, although it is very much a research project rather than pilot or production ready.

Read More
Featured, ArticlesCristy StilesPArSEC, CBDC, OpenCBDC
MIT Digital Currency Initiative introduces at-scale, programmable CBDC platform
MIT Digital Currency Initiative introduces at-scale, programmable CBDC platform

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Digital Currency Initiative (DCI) has introduced the experimental PArSEC platform. PArSEC — short for "parallelized architecture for scalably executing smart contracts" — is open source and developed with central bank digital currency (CBDC) in mind. 

The developers highlighted the platform’s speed. It performed 118,000 ERC-20 transactions per second on 128 hosts — exceeding public permissionless blockchains, they said. The platform was thus capable of handling cross-border contracting and could be used to innovate supply chains and compliance checks as well.

Read More
Featured, ArticlesCristy StilesPArSEC, CBDC, OpenCBDC
What's Next for Crypto in the MIT Technology Review
What's Next for Crypto in the MIT Technology Review

[The] sudden implosion of the popular cryptocurrency exchange FTX has intensified a political war for the soul of crypto that was already raging. 

In the coming year, we are likely to see that fight come to a head in US courtrooms and in Congress. The future of finance hangs in the balance. […]

Although crypto enthusiasts may now be inclined to distance themselves from FTX, the episode reflects “the crypto we created,” says Neha Narula, director of the Digital Currency Initiative at MIT.

To begin with, she says, the industry is over-reliant on centralized exchanges like FTX. But it’s not just the centralization. “It’s also this token casino economy,” says Narula. 

Read More
Featured, ArticlesCristy StilesNeha Narula
Engaging with regulators, insights from near and afar: an interview with Chris Calabia in The Axial Studio
Engaging with regulators, insights from near and afar: an interview with Chris Calabia in The Axial Studio

DCI senior advisor Chris Calabia was interviewed on his experience as a regulator, his advice for innovation, and more. Chris worked for over twenty years at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Through that role and others, including as a Senior Advisor on regulatory policy at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Chris has worked closely with regulators from all of the world, providing him a unique perspective not only into the mindset of US regulators, but regulators in many different socioeconomic contexts.

Read More
Featured, ArticlesCristy Stileschris calabia, cbdc, Regulation
The DCI at the 10th MIT Bitcoin Expo
The DCI at the 10th MIT Bitcoin Expo

On April 22-23, the MIT Bitcoin Club hosted the 10th MIT Bitcoin Expo. DCI director Neha Narula gave a keynote speech, Cryptoeconomic Systems managing editor Reuben Youngblom presented a talk titled "The 70 Megaton Gorilla: Addressing the PoW climate narrative," and DCI software engineer Sam Stuewe presented an asynchronous talk titled "Are We CBDC Yet? A Healthy Dose of Skepticism." Sam also mentored participants in the Expo's Hackathon.

Read More
Featured, Articles, VideosCristy StilesNeha Narula, cbdc, central bank digital currency, Sam Stuewe, Reuben Youngblom, currency efficiency, bitcoin expo
In the Face of Fragility: Central Bank Digital Currencies
In the Face of Fragility: Central Bank Digital Currencies

On Tuesday, January 17th at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Axios markets reporter Courtenay Brown and MIT Media Lab Digital Currency Initiative director Neha Narula considered the most pressing issues facing cryptocurrency today including how (and if) the industry should be regulated, how governments and financial institutions should interact with the sector, and how investments could be safeguarded. The View from the Top sponsored segment featured Ripple chief executive officer Brad Garlinghouse.

Read More
Featured, Articles, VideosCristy StilesNeha Narula, financial system, cbdc, central bank digital currency
OMFIF: "CBDCs present new opportunities for handling disputes and fraud" by DCI Team Members
OMFIF: "CBDCs present new opportunities for handling disputes and fraud" by DCI Team Members

Potential designs may involve intermediaries in new and different ways

Central bank digital currencies potentially offer, in a digital form, the advantages of central bank money: settlement finality, liquidity and integrity. However, both offline and online commerce are susceptible to fraud and other kinds of disagreements. The existing techniques for managing fraud and disputes focus on giving users easy access to chargebacks, which relies on intermediaries to resolve disputes. Potential designs for CBDC may involve intermediaries in new and different ways, or may not use intermediaries at all, calling into question how to address fraud if CBDCs become widely used.

Read More
Articles, FeaturedAshley JacobsonNeha Narula, Tadge Dryja, cbdc, Hypothetical cbdc, OpenCBDC, opencbdc
Axios Reception at Davos: Crypto’s Crossroads
Axios Reception at Davos: Crypto’s Crossroads

On Tuesday, January 17th at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Axios markets reporter Courtenay Brown and MIT Media Lab Digital Currency Initiative director Neha Narula considered the most pressing issues facing cryptocurrency today including how (and if) the industry should be regulated, how governments and financial institutions should interact with the sector, and how investments could be safeguarded. The View from the Top sponsored segment featured Ripple chief executive officer Brad Garlinghouse.

Read More
Podcast, Featured, ArticlesCristy StilesNeha Narula, financial system
WBUR's Tales from the Crypto | Part I: Ukraine's NFTs and the 'Fyre Fest' of cryptocurrency
WBUR's Tales from the Crypto | Part I: Ukraine's NFTs and the 'Fyre Fest' of cryptocurrency

The Endless Thread team is excited to introduce a new mini-series: Tales from the Crypto, or three windows into the wild world of cryptocurrency. It's a landscape ripe for investors, gamblers, opportunists, and academic investigators — both online and offline. At every turn, our hosts and producers have turned to experts to make sense of this volatile, ever expanding terrain.

In the series' first installment, co-hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson dive into a viral tweet about NFTs aiding Ukrainians with the war effort against Russia, as well as plans for a crypto island paradise that was never meant to be.

Read More
Podcast, Featured, ArticlesCristy StilesNeha Narula
The MIT Digital Currency Initiative bids farewell to Tadge Dryja
The MIT Digital Currency Initiative bids farewell to Tadge Dryja

Five years ago, I was in the Boston area for a week and I hung out at the DCI.

It wasn't much of a space back then—really more like a closet. But there were ethernet ports in the walls, assorted cables, and computer accessories, and a couch with occasional undergrads hanging out, coding, or discussing the finer points of cryptocurrencies. It was welcoming, and a lot of fun. I brought a computer and started working, and talking to people about Bitcoin, and helping some students with their projects…

Read More
Articles, Featured, ResearchAshley JacobsonTadge Dryja, Lightning Network
MIT Technology Review “The MIT researcher who helps senators understand digital currencies“
MIT Technology Review “The MIT researcher who helps senators understand digital currencies“

Last summer, a special subcommittee of the US Senate met remotely to weigh the benefits of launching a central-bank digital currency, or CBDC—something that could, if optimally designed, transform the US financial system, making it more accessible to more citizens. For senators staring intently at their laptops, this was basically the first day of digital-currency school. And to introduce them to this highly technical world, the first witness that Senator Elizabeth Warren called was MIT Digital Currency Initiative director Neha Narula.

Read More
Articles, FeaturedAshley JacobsonNeha Narula, cbdc, OpenCBDC, opencbdc, Policy
MIT Digital Currency Initiative (DCI) announces research collaboration with the Bank of England on central bank digital currency
MIT Digital Currency Initiative (DCI) announces research collaboration with the Bank of England on central bank digital currency

The Bank of England announced an agreement to collaborate on a twelve-month Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) research project with MIT Digital Currency Initiative. The agreement supports and builds on DCI’s ongoing research into CBDC, while also contributing to the Bank of England’s wider research and exploration of central bank digital currencies. While no decision has been made on whether or not to introduce a CBDC in the UK, the work will investigate and experiment with potential CBDC technology designs and approaches, and evaluate key tradeoffs, opportunities, and risks. This type of research can help inform wider policy development by contributing important technical ideas and questions.

Read More
Articles, FeaturedAshley Jacobsoncbdc, OpenCBDC, Hypothetical cbdc, opencbdc, digital fiat currency
MIT Digital Currency Initiative (DCI) announces research collaboration with the Bank of Canada on central bank digital currency
MIT Digital Currency Initiative (DCI) announces research collaboration with the Bank of Canada on central bank digital currency

Today, the Bank of Canada announced an agreement to collaborate on a twelve-month CBDC research project with the MIT Digital Currency Initiative. The agreement supports and builds on the DCI’s ongoing research into CBDC, while also contributing to the Bank of Canada’s wider research agenda into digital currencies and fintech. The work will investigate and experiment with potential CBDC technology designs and approaches, and evaluate key tradeoffs, opportunities, and risks. While no decision has been made on whether or not to introduce a CBDC in Canada, this type of research can help inform wider policy development by contributing important technical ideas and questions.

Read More
Featured, ArticlesAshley JacobsonOpenCBDC, cbdc, digital fiat currency
MIT News "MIT experts test technical research for a hypothetical central bank digital currency"
MIT News "MIT experts test technical research for a hypothetical central bank digital currency"

Collaboration with Federal Reserve Bank of Boston yields progress in understanding how a digital currency might be developed in the future.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- In collaboration with a team at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, MIT experts have begun designing and testing technical research through which further examination of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) can be performed in the U.S.

The effort, known as Project Hamilton, is in an exploratory phase, and the research is not intended as a pilot or for public deployment. Instead, the researchers have explored two different approaches that could be used to process transactions, and thus could indicate the technical feasibility of a potential CBDC model. In a process involving significant design flexibility, the MIT group tested factors such as the volume and speed of transactions, and the resilience of the systems in general, among other requirements for a viable digital currency.

Read More
Articles, FeaturedAshley JacobsonOpenCBDC, central bank digital currency, digital fiat currency, opencbdc
"Why Central Bank Digital Currencies?" in Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Liberty Street Economics
"Why Central Bank Digital Currencies?" in Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Liberty Street Economics

DCI Director Neha Narula co-authored the piece, "Why Central Bank Digital Currencies?" published in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Liberty Street Economics

“In the past year, a number of central banks have stepped up work on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs – see map). For central banks, are CBDCs just a defensive reaction to private-sector innovations in money, or are they an opportunity for the monetary system? In this post, we consider several long-standing goals of central banks in their support and provision of retail payments, why and how central banks tackle these issues, and where CBDCs fit into the array of potential solutions.”

Read More
Articles, FeaturedAshley Jacobsoncbdc, Hypothetical cbdc, Neha Narula, digital fiat currency
Joining MIT DCI to lead our Bitcoin Software and Security Effort

We’re excited to share that AJ Towns is joining the Digital Currency Initiative to lead our Bitcoin Software and Security Effort (please find his announcement below). This four-year research and development program is designed to continue to harden the Bitcoin network and steward the industry’s commitment to funding open source software. The effort will include contributing to Bitcoin Core development as well as longer-term research, such as investigations into the stability of rewards and software to provide strong robustness and correctness guarantees. It will also include attracting talent in network and operating system security, compilers, programming languages, testing, and more to join the effort.

Read More
Articles, FeaturedAshley JacobsonBitcoin, Security, AJ Towns, Anthony Towns, Bitcoin Security, Bitcoin Core, Bitcoin Network
CNBC's Dain Evans interviews Neha Narula for "China’s digital yuan could pose challenges to the U.S. dollar"
CNBC's Dain Evans interviews Neha Narula for "China’s digital yuan could pose challenges to the U.S. dollar"

China is beating the U.S. when it comes to innovation in online money, posing challenges to the U.S. dollar’s status as the de facto monetary reserve. Nearly 80 countries — including China and the U.S. — are in the process of developing a CBDC, or Central Bank Digital Currency. It’s a form of money that’s regulated but exists entirely online. China has already launched its digital yuan to more than a million Chinese citizens, while the U.S. is still largely focused on research.

The two groups tasked with this research in the U.S., MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, are parsing out what a digital currency might look like for Americans. Privacy is a major concern, so researchers and analysts are observing China’s digital yuan rollout.

Read More
Articles, Podcast, FeaturedAshley JacobsonNeha Narula, cbdc