Blockchains are a new settlement and ownership layer, one that’s programmable, open, and global by default, unlocking new forms of entrepreneurship, creativity, and infrastructure. Growth in monthly active crypto addresses is generally tracking the
Prediction markets are a hot topic again — even cartoon characters are talking about them (cf South Park). But beyond the buzz, what is a prediction market, exactly? How do they work, how are they designed, and what makes them work?
We answer all
There’s been a recent flurry of activity in the space of verifiable secret sharing and distributed key generation, which allows for the generation and distribution of secret key fragments among several parties (who do not or need not trust one another). Sarah Meiklejohn (UCL and Google) covers both the applications that have motivated this work and the improvements that have been made in terms of functionality and performance.
About the speaker
Sarah is a Professor in Cryptography and Security at University College London and a Research Scientist at Google, working on the Certificate Transparency team. She has broad research interests in computer security and cryptography and works on topics such as anonymity in cryptocurrencies, privacy-enhancing technologies, and bringing transparency to shared systems. More: https://smeiklej.com/
About a16z crypto research
a16z crypto research is a multidisciplinary lab that works closely with our portfolio companies and others toward solving the important problems in the space, and toward advancing the science and technology of the next generation of the internet. More about us: a16z.com/2022/04/21/announcing-a16z-crypto-research