Andrew Miller is a computer science PhD student at the University of Maryland who focuses on cryptocurrency. Having gotten involved in Bitcoin in 2011 and focused on cryptocurrencies early in his research work, he is one of the most prolific researchers in the field. Our discussion mainly focused on security aspects of Ethereum including their gas model, Proof-of-Work algorithm and plans to switch to Proof-of-Stake. Topics covered in this episode: How he got involved in doing research on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies The blossoming of academic interest in the topic His work on analyzing Ethereum’s gas model Potential vulnerabilities of the Gas model Ethereum’s PoW algorithm How Ethereum handles the block size limit Episode links: Andrew's University Website Ethereum Analysis: Gas Economics and Proof of Work Overview Ethereum Analysis: Gas Economics Ledger Journal Hawk: Privacy-Preserving Smart Contracts This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/111

Identity is probably one of the most important constructs in our society. In our modern world, protecting one’s identity has become complex, as we no longer rely solely on governments to prove who we are. In addition, most identity sources can be easily compromised. Credit cards and social security numbers weren’t developed with the Internet in mind, and other identifiers such as logins and passwords aren’t well suited truly secure authentication and authorisation. We’re joined by Tim Pastoor, Founder of 2way.io, to discuss how we can improve control of our identities using concepts borrowed from Bitcoin. Tim walks us through how people could better manage different identities and build reputation networks using Identifi, a global address book protocol invented by Martti Malmi, one of the very first Bitcoin users. We also talk what role this system could play in the future as autonomous agents and artificial intelligence become more prevalent. Topics covered in this episode: The history of identity systems and how traditional identity systems are broken How the invention of Blockchain technologies changed the way we think of identity The Identifi protocol and how it works How we can build reputation through Webs of Trust (WoT) The future of identity and how Identifi could provide ID for IoT, robots, autonomous agents and artificial intelligence 2Way.io and what the company is trying to achieve Episode links: 2Way Identifi protocol Identifi service This episode is hosted by Meher Roy and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/109