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Se e o Ochoa Resea ch Semina - BSC
2018-2019
July 20 h, 2019
ALGORAND
The Dis ibu ed Ledge o he Bo de less Economy
Sil io Micali
MIT, USA
Abs ac
A dis ibu ed ledge is a ampe p oo sequence o da a ha can be ead and
augmen ed by e e yone. Dis ibu ed ledge s s and o e olu ionize he way
democ a ic socie ies and adi ional economies ope a e. They secu e all kinds
o adi ional ansac ions –such as paymen s, asse ans e s, i ling– in he
exac o de in which hey occu ; and enable o ally new ansac ions –such as
c yp ocu encies and sma con ac s. They can emo e in e media ies and
ushe in a new pa adigm o us . As cu en ly implemen ed, howe e ,
dis ibu ed ledge s canno achie e hei eno mous po en ial. The global
pa icipa ion and us necessa y o ealize an inclusi e and bo de less
economy equi e subs an ially be e echnology.
Algo and is an al e na i e, democ a ic, and e icien dis ibu ed ledge .
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Unlike p io ledge s based on ‘p oo o wo k’, i dispenses wi h ‘mine s’.
Indeed, Algo and equi es only a negligible amoun o compu a ion. Mo eo e ,
i s ansac ion his o y does no ‘ o k’ wi h o e whelming p obabili y: i.e.,
Algo and gua an ees he inali y o all ansac ions.
In addi ion, Algo and gua an ees lexible sel -go e nance. A success ul socie y
and economy mus be able o e ol e. A c yp ocu ency canno be an ocean
line on au opilo . By using i s hallma k p opose-and-ag ee p ocess, Algo and
can consensually co ec i s cou se, as necessa y o desi able, wi hou any
‘ha d o ks’, o mee he cu en and u u e needs o he communi y
Sho bio
Sil io Micali has been on he acul y a MIT,
Elec ical Enginee ing and Compu e Science
Depa men , since 1983. Sil io’s esea ch in e es s
a e c yp og aphy, ze o knowledge, pseudo andom
gene a ion, secu e p o ocols, and mechanism
design.
In 2017, Sil io ounded Algo and, a ully
decen alized, secu e, and scalable blockchain which p o ides a common
pla o m o building p oduc s and se ices o a decen alized economy. A
Algo and, Sil io o e sees all esea ch, including heo y, secu i y and c yp o
inance.
Sil io is he ecipien o he Tu ing Awa d (in compu e science), o he Goedel
P ize (in heo e ical compu e science) and he RSA p ize (in c yp og aphy).
He is a membe o he Na ional Academy o Sciences, he Na ional Academy
o Enginee ing, and he Ame ican Academy o A s and Sciences and o he
Academia dei Lincei.
Sil io has ecei ed his Lau ea in Ma hema ics om he Uni e si y o Rome, and his PhD in
Compu e Science om he Uni e si y o Cali o nia a Be keley.