Keynote Speaker
Arthur Gervais
Title: Off Blockchain Protocols
Abstract: A plethora of recent research works have demonstrated different mechanisms on how to perform blockchain transactions without writing every single interaction to the underlying ledger. Instead, these protocols utilize the expensive and low-rate blockchain only as a recourse for disputes. Off-chain protocols promise to complete transactions in sub-seconds rather than minutes or hours while retaining asset security, reducing fees and allowing blockchains to scale. This talk will explore the various lines of research covering off-chain transactions. We will discuss their security and privacy provisions and identify unsolved challenges, indicating promising avenues of future work.
Short Biography
Dr. Gervais is lecturer at Imperial College London (UK). He is Co-Founder, CEO, of Liquidity Network. His research focuses on the security, privacy and performance of blockchain technology. Because this technology is still in its infancy, he largely focus on understanding and quantifying the tension points and tradeoffs in terms of security, privacy and performance, with the goal to build a mainstream, scalable, open, and decentralized blockchain protocol. Part of his research is e.g., the design of usable software that securely interacts with networks and hardware, connecting the real world with blockchain, and the design of practical and scalable blockchain platform. His research is inherently multidisciplinary and he frequently collaborate with colleagues worldwide in various fields (e.g., machine learning).