Daniel Aronoff
@danaronoff
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Research Scientist MIT. PhD Economics MIT. BSc Philosophy & Econ 1st Class Honors LSE. Areas: Market Design, Cryptography and Digital Currencies.
Joined April 2009
The second blogpost providing an overview of our MIT Digital Currency Initiative (MITRE sponsored) study of the financial and technological risks of Stablecoins (full report to be released in December 2025).
dci.mit.edu
Stablecoins are an extension of today’s monetary system and share many attributes with legacy finance. However, a nuanced analysis reveals crucial differences in financial and technical vulnerabili...
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Blogpost on par-value redemptions of Stablecoins by me, Neha Narula and Ashwanth Samuel. Part of MIT Digital Currency Initiative research project exploring the financial and technical risks of stablecoins.
dci.mit.edu
The Crucial Promise Stablecoin issuers offer a simple proposition: send one dollar to the stablecoin issuer in exchange for a digital token that represents that dollar on a blockchain. That stablec...
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This lecture (slide-deck included) is an overview of a research program to add cryptographic methods to the economist's toolkit. It has placed me at the intersection of econ and comp sci; a very interesting place to be.
dci.mit.edu
On May 16, 2024, DCI collaborator Dan Aronoff presented a lecture at the MIT Industrial Liaison Program’s NextGen Security Conference entitled “Incorporating Cryptographic Methods in Economics.” DCI...
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ADESS, my proposal (co-authored with Isaac Ardis) to modify proof-of-work blockchain consensus protocols to improve network security by increasing the cost of launching a double-spend attack. Short video explains the essential idea.
dci.mit.edu
Tags: Decentralized, Security, Archived
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New paper from my research collaboration with MIT Prof. Robert Townsend on financial market structure.
arxiv.org
We present a model of a market that is intermediated by broker-dealers where there is multiple equilibrium. We then design a smart-contract that receives messages and algorithmically sends trading...
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Targeted Nakamoto - the full stack. Check out the simulation playground and let your (counterfactual) imagination run wild on the playground. Kudos to my awesome MIT undergraduate UROP Kristian Praizner.
dci.mit.edu
Tags: Decentralized, Security, Archived
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Preprint of MIT-Visa research collaboration on fully homomorphic encryption in smart contracts.
eprint.iacr.org
Blockchain technology and smart contracts have revolutionized digital transactions by enabling trustless and decentralized exchanges of value. However, the inherent transparency and immutability of...
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Listen to "Targeted Nakamoto:A Bitcoin Protocol to Balance Network Security and Energy Consumption" by Daniel Aronoff's Scientific Papers and Talks: Economics and Computer Science.
creators.spotify.com
In a Proof-of-Work blockchain such as Bitcoin mining hashrate is increasing in the block reward. An increase in hashrate reduces network vulnerability to attack (a reduction in security cost) while...
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Listen to "Conservation priorities and environmental offsets: Markets for Florida wetlands_ With Will Rafey" by Daniel Aronoff's Scientific Papers and Talks: Economics and Computer Science.
creators.spotify.com
We introduce an empirical framework for valuing markets in environmental offsets. Using newly-collected data on wetland conservation and offsets, we apply this framework to evaluate a set of decent...
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I just published Targeted Nakamoto: It reveals 2 existential risks to Bitcoin & a protocol to avert them.
link.medium.com
Two Existential Threats to Bitcoin and a Protocol to Avert Them
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MIT has again been named the world’s top university by the QS World University Rankings, which were announced today. This is the 13th year in a row MIT has received this distinction.
news.mit.edu
MIT was named the top university in the world in the QS World University Rankings for the 13th straight year. The Institute was also ranked the world’s top university in 11 subject areas.
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My officemate, personal cryptography tutor, collaborator and constant kibitzer earns a well-deserved recognition. Madars is the kindest person I know (besides my wife).
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My proposal to modify the Bitcoin protocol addresses two - diametrically opposite - existential threats. Today Bitcoin mining consumes too much electricity. In the future as the block reward declines, electricity consumption may drop so low as to undermine network security.
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My proposal to modify the protocol for proof-of-work cryptocurrencies to improve network security just published in Springer volume on Advances in Information and Communication
link.springer.com
A principal vulnerability of a proof-of-work (“PoW”) blockchain is that an attacker can re-write the history of transactions by forking a previously published block and building a new chain segment...
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my paper on enviro offset markets ,co-authored with Will Rafey, being presented at NBER Indust Org Conf at Stanford next month.
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I recently participated in a panel discussion on Fintech at the MIT Research and Development Conference with Ed Golding, Director of the Golub Center for Finance at MIT and a former Director of the Federal Housing Authority.
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I am presenting at the 2023 MIT Research and Development Conference on 'Fintech Innovation: The Nexus of Technology and Policy' (scroll down to the labeled bar). It is the annual conference where MIT scholars present an overview of the Institute's research.
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