Bitcoin Magazine interviews Neha Narula
“MIT DCI Director Neha Narula: How Academia Interacts With The Bitcoin Ecosystem
A talk with the director of DCI at MIT, Neha Narula, on the role academia plays in the Bitcoin ecosystem and how that might evolve over time.”
DCI Newsletter Issue #22 - October-December 2024
In this issue:
Two new Bitcoin Core developers: Wladimir returns and Sebastian joins us
New paper on privacy and the digital pound with the Bank of England released
Neha Narula selected for Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center Residency
Student researcher Ishaana Misra wins Chaincode’s inaugural Bitcoin Scholarship
And more...
Neha Narula selected for Rockefeller Foundation's 2025 Bellagio Center Residency
Neha Narula, Director of the MIT Digital Currency Initiative (DCI), has been selected for the Rockefeller Foundation's 2025 Bellagio Center Residency.
DCI Newsletter Issue #21 - July-September 2024
In this issue:
Neha Narula's keynote speech at AFT '24 in Vienna
BIS General Manager Agustín Carstens visits MIT
DCI Advisor Simon Johnson receives Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2024
And more...
Ledger Insights: “Digital Pound paper explores privacy enhancing technologies for CBDC”
“In the West there has been significant resistance to the concept of retail central bank digital currencies (CBDC) based on ‘Big Brother’ concerns. In other words, privacy fears that the government can monitor personal payment transactions. Or sometimes, even concerns that they might attempt to control behaviors. Hence, the Bank of England and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Digital Currency Initiative (MIT DCI) published a paper exploring privacy enhancing technologies (PETs) for a possible digital pound.”
MIT DCI Hosts a Fireside Chat with Dr. Agustín Carstens, General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements
Why does innovation in financial services matter to everyone, and how can the public sector support its advancement? On Thursday, September 26, MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative was privileged to host a visit and fireside chat at the Media Lab on these questions and on the future of money with Dr. Agustín Carstens, General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland.
DCI Newsletter Issue #20 - April-June 2024
In this issue:
New student thesis on mitigating undercutting attacks in Bitcoin
2024 MIT Bitcoin Expo roundup
Final issue of the Cryptoeconomic Systems journal and the journal’s new publisher
New papers and collaborations shared
And more...
DCI Newsletter Special Issue - Madars Virza wins IEEE Test of Time Award
DCI’s Madars Virza wins a test-of-time award at IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy
Madars Virza SM '14, PhD '17, a Research Scientist at the MIT Media Lab's Digital Currency Initiative (DCI), is the recipient of an IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy Test of Time Award for “Zerocash: Decentralized Anonymous Payments from Bitcoin,” a paper he co-authored in 2014.
Special Announcement: Madars Virza awarded at IEEE Symposium
Madars Virza SM '14, PhD '17, a Research Scientist at the MIT Media Lab's Digital Currency Initiative (DCI), is the recipient of an IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy Test of Time Award for “Zerocash: Decentralized Anonymous Payments from Bitcoin,” a paper he co-authored in 2014.
DCI Newsletter Issue #19 - January-March 2024
In this issue:
Bitcoin Fridays
New collaboration announced
Engineering for privacy in central banks
New faces at the DCI
And more!
DCI Newsletter Issue #18 - October-December 2023
In this issue:
Our work on Bitcoin security
New extension to PArSEC
The DCI at Media Lab Members' Week
And more!
Ledger Insights: “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. “
Cointelegraph: “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. “
DCI Newsletter Issue #17 - July-September 2023
In this issue:
New research on programmability and smart contracts
Bitcoin Core updates
Welcome students to the DCI
And more!
DCI Newsletter Issue #16 - April-June 2023
In this issue:
How to support the DCI
Updates to the Bitcoin Security Initiative
The DCI on the Ethereum network
A preview of the latest research on Project Hamilton
And more!
MIT Technology Review: “What's Next for Crypto”
“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.”
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.
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.
DCI Newsletter Issue #15 - January-March 2023
In this issue:
The DCI at the MIT Bitcoin Expo, Consensus, Davos, and more.
Project Hamilton at NSDI '23.
Special thanks to DCI strategic advisor Shira Frank.
ICYMI: Two virtual events on CBDC, now available on demand.
And more!
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.