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Event Recap

A Conversation with Don Wilson, Founder and CEO, DRW Investments LLC

A Discussion with Lars Peter Hansen, Richard Sandor, and Neil Wallace

CO-SPONSORED BY:

 

The conference exhibited recent research on cryptocurrencies and blockchains, all the way from the technological challenges and game theoretic aspects to macro-monetary-financial as well as regulatory perspectives.  The conference featured academic researchers from economics and computer science, investigating the role of cryptocurrencies as a medium of exchange, examining the market structure of decentralized Bitcoin mining, emphasizing the economic limits of the blockchain, and surveying the algorithmic game theory research questions for cryptocurrencies and blockchains.  Finally, the conference engaged investors, academics and practitioners in fireside chats and conversations for a complementary perspective. Specifically, University of Chicago’s Lars Peter Hansen conducted a discussion about the challenges of cryptocurrency to become a viable and important means of payment and the potential for blockchain to support socially productive activities. He was joined by the distinguished monetary economist, Neil Wallace, and an experienced designer of new financial markets, Richard Sandor who recently published a book on electronic trading and blockchain.

Read Professor Lars Peter Hansen’s reflection of the conference.

Click here to view photos of the conference.

Agenda

Friday, November 9, 2018
8:30 am
Registration and Breakfast
9:00 am - 9:10 am
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Roy Kapani, Chairman and CEO, KapCo Holdings
Lars Peter Hansen, The David Rockefeller Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and Statistics, the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics and the Booth School of Business; Director of BFI's Macro Finance Research Program
9:10 am - 10:00 am
Some Simple Bitcoin Economics
Harald Uhlig, Bruce Allen and Barbara Ritzenthaler Professor in Economics and the College, the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics
Linda Schilling, Washington University
10:00 am - 10:50 am
Is Bitcoin Really Un-Tethered
John Griffin, University of Texas Austin
Amin Shams, University of Texas Austin
10:50 am - 11:15 am
Break
11:15 am - 12:05 pm
Can Currency Competition Work?
Jesus Fernandez Villaverde, University of Pennsylvania
Daniel Sanches, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
12:05 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch Presentation
Hyun Shin, Bank for International Settlements
1:30 pm - 2:15 pm
Moderated Discussion with Don Wilson, Founder and CEO, DRW Investments LLC
Michael Greenstone, The Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and the College, the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics and Harris Public Policy; Director of the Becker Friedman Institute; Director of the Energy Policy Institute at Chicago (EPIC)
2:20 pm - 3:10 pm
Equilibrium Bitcoin Pricing
Bruno Biais, Toulouse School of Economics
Christophe Bisiere, University of Toulouse
Matthieu Bouvard, McGill University
Catherine Cassamatta, University of Toulouse
Albert J. Menkved, VU University Amsterdam
3:10 pm - 3:40 pm
Break
3:40 pm - 4:30 pm
Decentralized Mining in Centralized Pools
Zhiguo He, Fuji Bank and Heller Professor of Finance, Booth School of Business
Lin William Cong, University of Chicago
Jiasun Li, George Mason University
4:30 pm - 5:20 pm
Initial Coin Offerings and the Value of Crypto Tokens
Joshua S. Gans, University of Toronto
Christian Catalini, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; NBER
Saturday, November 10, 2018
8:30 am
Registration and Breakfast
9:00 am - 9:50 am
Blockchain Economics
Markus Brunnermeier, Princeton University
Joseph Abadi, Princeton University
9:50 am - 10:40 am
The Economic Limits of Bitcoin and the Blockchain
Eric Budish, Inaugural Paul G. McDermott Professor of Economics and Entrepreneurship, Booth School of Business, Booth School of Business
10:40 am - 11:10 am
Break
11:10 am - 12:00 pm
An Equilibrium Model of the Market for Bitcoin Mining
Julien Prat, Ecole Polytechnique
Benjamin Walter, University of Paris-Saclay
12:00 pm - 12:15 pm
Break
12:15 pm - 1:05 pm
Lunch Discussion with Richard Sandor, American Financial Exchange, University of Chicago Law School
Lars Peter Hansen, The David Rockefeller Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and Statistics, the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics and the Booth School of Business; Director of BFI's Macro Finance Research Program
1:05 pm - 1:30 pm
Break
1:30 pm - 2:20 pm
Monopoly Without a Monopolist: An Economic Analysis of the Bitcoin Payment System
Jacob Leshno, University of Chicago
Gur Huberman, Columbia Business School
Ciamac C. Moallemi, Columbia Business School
2:20 pm - 3:10 pm
Fruitchains: An Incentive-Compatible Blockchain
Elaine Shi, Cornell University
Rafael Pass, Cornell University
3:10 pm - 4:00 pm
Survey of Algorithmic Game Theory Research Questions for Crypto/Blockchain
Arvind Narayanan, Princeton University
Matt Weinberg, Princeton University
4:00 pm - 4:15 pm
Break
4:15 pm - 5:30 pm
Brainstorming Session

Saieh Hall, Room 112

Eric Budish, Inaugural Paul G. McDermott Professor of Economics and Entrepreneurship, Booth School of Business, Booth School of Business
5:30 pm
Conference adjourns