Research Perspectives and Challenges for Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies

Explore a comprehensive analysis of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in this 22-minute IEEE conference talk. Delve into the key components of Bitcoin's design, examining its properties and future stability. Discover the design space for proposed modifications, including alternative consensus mechanisms, currency allocation methods, computational puzzles, and key management tools. Investigate anonymity issues in Bitcoin and evaluate various privacy-enhancing proposals. Gain new insights on disintermediation protocols and their potential applications. Compare three general disintermediation strategies in detail. Understand the evolution of Bitcoin from its quiet launch in 2009 to its significant economic impact, and explore the growing literature identifying hidden properties, attacks, alternatives, and future challenges in the cryptocurrency landscape.