Causal and counterfactual views of missing data models

Abstract - Modern cryptocurrencies, which are based on a public permissionless blockchain (such as Bitcoin), face tremendous scalability issues: With their broader adoption, conducting (financial) transactions within these systems becomes slow, costly, and resource-intensive. The source of these issues lies in the proof-of-work consensus mechanism that - by design - limits the throughput of transactions in a blockchain-based cryptocurrency. In the last years, several different approaches emerged to improve blockchain scalability. Broadly, these approaches can be categorized into solutions that aim at changing the underlying consensus mechanism (so-called layer-one solutions), and such solutions that aim to minimize the usage of the expensive blockchain consensus by off-loading blockchain computation to cryptographic protocols operating on top of the blockchain (so-called layer-two solutions). In this talk, I will overview the different approaches to improving blockchain scalability and discuss in more detail the workings of layer-two solutions, such as payment channels and payment channel networks.

Short bio - Clara Schneidewind is a Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy in Bochum. In her research, she aims to develop solutions for the meaningful, secure, resource-saving, and privacy-preserving usage of blockchain technologies. She completed her Ph.D. at the Technical University of Vienna in 2021. In 2019, she was a visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. Since 2021 she leads the Heinz Nixdorf research group for Cryptocurrencies and Smart Contracts at the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy funded by the Heinz Nixdorf Foundation.

https://tu-dortmund.zoom.us/j/97548944722?pwd=SHFoa1czTm5TbTF0UGhQZnNTUWRIUT09