Terrill Dickey October 13, 2024 08:43
The Science of Blockchain Conference 2024 in New York showcased cutting-edge research and development in blockchain technology and brought together prominent researchers and industry experts.
The Science of Blockchain Conference 2024 in New York City brought together researchers and industry leaders to take a deep dive into the latest advances in blockchain technology. The event, hosted by a16z crypto, was held from August 7th to 9th, 2024 and featured a series of technical talks, workshops, and discussions centered around the evolving landscape of blockchain.
Evolution of conferences
Since its founding in 2017, the conference has evolved significantly, moving from the Stanford Bitcoin Conference to the Stanford Blockchain Conference and now the Blockchain Science Conference. This year marked a significant milestone as the event was held outside of Stanford for the first time at Columbia University’s Lerner Hall. The conference attracted approximately 1,500 attendees and featured more than 50 related side events and workshops, making it a sold-out event.
Industry insights and practical applications
The conference featured various talks by industry experts and focused on practical research and development in the blockchain field. A notable presentation by Stefanos Chaliasos explored security vulnerabilities in the SNARK system and revealed the complex challenges of SNARK deployment. Mahimna Kelkar’s talk on cryptographic secrecy examined protocols for ensuring unimpeded knowledge of cryptographic keys, an important aspect of a trusted hardware environment.
How transaction fees work
Innovations in transaction fee mechanisms were also a focus. Max Resnick presented research on dynamic transaction fee mechanisms and demonstrated the benefits of critical block times in mitigating congestion. Theo Diamandis investigated the optimality of multidimensional blockchain fees and provided insight into the efficiency of current fee update rules such as EIP-1559.
Consensus and network security
The conference also addressed advances in consensus protocols. Tim Roughgarden published research on the robustness of restaking networks, investigating the security implications of validators reusing stake across multiple services. Sandro Coretti-Drayton introduced a new network model for gossip networks to improve our understanding of blockchain consensus under realistic network conditions.
For more detailed insights and recordings of conference talks, please visit the official a16z crypto site.
Image source: Shutterstock
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