Bitcoin's Fatal Flaw: The Limited Adoption Problem

嘉宾介绍

Fahad Saleh is an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University. He holds a PhD in Finance from the NYU Stern School of Business, an MSc in Operations Research Engineering from Columbia University and a BSc in Operations Research Engineering from Cornell University.

报告主题

Bitcoin remains sparsely adopted even a decade after its birth. We demonstrate theoretically that this limited adoption arises as an inescapable equilibrium outcome rather than as a transient feature. We establish such a result for a wide class of blockchains that employ Proof-of-Work. Our results arise due to three features: (1) an artificial supply constraint, (2) free entry to the validator network, and (3) a need for consensus. Network delay precludes relaxing the supply constraint as a solution. Nonetheless, we demonstrate that permissioned blockchains may obtain widespread adoption, thereby highlighting the need for research on alternatives to Bitcoin.

【讲座地点】：明斋315；Light lunch is prepared

【主办单位】：清华大学社科学院经济学所

【讲座时间】：2019年10月14日中午12:00

【主 持 人】：谢丹夏