DCI Newsletter Issue #5 - Q4 2019

Hello,

I hope you’re having an excellent 2020! First of all, please join us at the MIT Bitcoin Expo and inaugural Cryptoeconomic Systems conference in Cambridge, MA March 7-8. Tickets are here, and get you access to both events. Here is the speaker list for the Expo (more to be added) and see the papers that will be presented at the Cryptoeconomic Systems conference here.

A large part of the work we do at DCI focuses on cryptocurrency and Bitcoin in particular. However, we’ve always believed that digital money has promise in many different forms, and it doesn’t stop at cryptocurrency. It’s exciting to see the uptick in conversation around digital currency this past year. A Bank of International Settlements survey of 66 central banks showed that 80% are researching the topic, with 30% saying they had plans to issue some kind of digital currency. DCI is continuing the work we started with central banks in 2016, taking lessons learned from implementation and research on Bitcoin and applying them more broadly. We hope to influence how central bankers and developers are thinking about the future of digital currency, especially around security and privacy. Rob and I authored this article laying out our position: Redesigning digital money: What can we learn from a decade of cryptocurrencies?. The simulation we did in November with the Belfer Center at HKS really highlighted the fact that the impact of digital currency might have far-reaching geopolitical effects.

We’re getting the newsletter out a little late this quarter, but in the next one we’ll have updates from the World Economic Forum, the Sveriges Riksbank, and several papers we hope to put up on ePrint and arXiv next week.

As always, don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any comments, questions, or feedback. And thanks again to our members and funders for helping us to do this work.

Thanks,

Neha