Tim Roughgarden
@tr
Head of research at a16z crypto.
Professor, Columbia University.
Over the past three summers @a16zcrypto we've had 19 tremendous research interns. Want to be part of the summer '25 cohort? The application is open now, for full consideration please apply by Nov 8.
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Finally got around to uploading the corresponding video:
Here's the talk intro I'm currently playing with (meant to motivate blockchains/web3 without ever resorting to cryptocurrencies/finance/etc.), something like 7-8min before I get into all the technical stuff (h/t @skominers and @cdixon.eth you'll see I stole some stuff from you) https://warpcast.com/tr/0x9...
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Major update to the paper with @mbahrani @pgarimidi on transaction fee mechanism design in a post-MEV world (i.e., with active block producers), now with searchers (Sections 2.5+4) and tight welfare guarantees (Section 5). Full paper at
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Happy to report that the main open theory question from my original work on EIP-1559 has been resolved (with two brilliant collaborators, Hao Chung and Elaine Shi)---no transaction fee mechanism can be DSIC, MMIC, and OCA-proof! arxiv.org/pdf/2402.093...
(more context below) 1/7
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One unexpected thing about the MOOCs is that it's in some sense the "pursest" teaching that I've ever done --- no certification, no assessment (other than self-assessment), etc. Everyone there was/is hungry for knowledge and skills, in many cases with few other avenues to attain them
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I've gotten many hundreds of messages like this since my MOOCs on algorithms launched in 2011.
Hearing stories like this never, ever gets old.
@has so happy you found it useful!
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Oof, might be awhile. For one, a lot of the science hasn't stabilized enough to immortalize in a video lecture. For two, these are an utterly insane amount of work --- probably 20+ hours of work behind the scenes for each hour you see on YouTube
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Thanks! Most recently I leaned into my obsessive side and put out something like 8+ hours of videos on proof-of-stake protocols, e.g. more than you ever wanted to know about PoW vs. PoS pros and cons here:
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I like the metaphor of root access, thanks, definitely going to steal that!
I much prefer "blockchain=computer" to "blockchain=DB" though (DB metaphor emphasizes storage rather than computation; normies are familiar with computers in a way that they're not with DBs, etc.)
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Looking forward to the day when junior researchers in blockchains/web3 no longer risk winding up as collateral damage due to bad actors of the past
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Day 3 videos from December's Columbia CryptoEconomics Workshop (working sessions led by @mikeneuder.eth @justindrake @soispoke @barnabe @davidecrapis @ansgar.eth Casper Schwarz-Schilling on inclusion lists/execution tickets/timing games/etc.) at
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