Title:

Mechanism Design in a Permissionless, Computationally Bounded World (Video recording)

Abstract:

Decentralized finance (DeFi) provides an ability for a network of market participants to coordinate commerce and transfer without explicit central third-parties. This form of 24/7 commerce, enabled by blockchains and smart contracts, allows for covenants and contractual payments to be executed algorithmically without the need of a reconciliation process such as a legal system. Such systems work by providing various principals and agents with incentives in native tokens and arbitrage. While we have seen trillions of dollars in transfers enabled via this system, a natural theoretical question lies unanswered: what are the limits to systems designed under these constraints? In this talk, we will discuss mechanistic and algorithmic phenomena for mechanisms with money that are executed in the permissionless, computationally bounded world of blockchains. We will discuss positive results and negative results proved on the limits of these systems, providing a lens on what new products can be built within the decentralized world.

Bio:

Tarun Chitra is the Co-Founder and CEO of Gauntlet, a simulation platform for crypto networks helping developers understand how decisions about security, governance, and consensus mechanisms are likely to affect network activity and asset value. His research includes over 24 papers on crypto, including the highest cited paper within DeFi. Previously, he worked in high-frequency trading for Vatic Labs and was a scientific programmer at D. E. Shaw Research. He holds a B.A and B.S from Cornell University.