The Stanford Center for
Blockchain Research

Mission

The Center for Blockchain Research (CBR) is a focused research effort on crypto-currencies and blockchain technologies. The center brings together engineering, law, and economics faculty, as well as post-docs, students, and visitors, to work on technical challenges in the field. The center's primary mission is to support the thriving ecosystem by developing new technologies needed to advance the field. Beyond its research mission, the center runs an extensive education and outreach program, including on-campus courses, MOOCs, workshops, and conferences for the general blockchain community.

News

Conference

The 4th Stanford Blockchain Conference (SBC) took place on Feb. 19th - Feb. 21st, 2020. The program and recorded talks are available.

Learn more ...

New Research

Blockchain Seminar

The seminar is on hiatus due to the pandemic, but the schedule is available online.

Learn more ...

Faculty

  • Dan Boneh   (co-director)
    Cryptography Professor of Computer science. Cryptography for blockchains and cryptocurrencies.
  • Clark Barrett
    Professor of Computer Science. Tools for verifying smart contracts
  • Joe Grundfest
    Professor of Law and Business, former SEC Commissioner. Regulation of crypto and ICOs.
  • Laurie Hodrick
    A. Barton Hepburn Professor Emerita of Business. Blockchains and next generation financial services.
  • David Mazières   (co-director)
    Professor of Computer Science. Consensus, core blockchain abstractions, and applications to computer security.
  • John Mitchell
    Mary and Gordon Crary Family Professor of Computer Science. Programming languages for blockchains and smart contracts.
  • Aviad Rubinstein
    Professor of Computer Science. Game theory and mechanism design for open consensus protocols.
  • David Tse
    Thomas Kailath and Guanghan Xu Professor of Electrical Engineering. Scalable consensus protocols.

Education and Outreach

Education

  • CS251: Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. Fall 2020. The course covers decentralized applications, consensus protocols, cryptography, and security used in blockchain systems. The course is intended for advanced undergraduate Computer Science students as well as graduate students.
  • CS255: Cryptography. Winter 2021. The course is an undergraduate introduction to cryptography and its correct use in real world systems. The course is intended for advanced undergraduates and graduate students.
  • EE374: Scaling blockchains. Spring 2021. The course explains how to design blockchains that are decentralized and secure, and at the same time have scalable performance.
  • MOOC: Free online cryptography course open to the public. The course provides an overview of cryptography and its correct use in real world systems. The course is self contained.
  • Textbook: Free online graduate textbook on applied cryptography. The textbook covers all things cryptographic.

Outreach Activities

  • The Stanford Blockchain Conference

    Following the success of the previous Stanford blockchain conferences in 2017, 2018, and 2019, the fourth conference took place on Feb. 19th - Feb. 21st, 2020 at Stanford University.

    More info ...
  • Blockchain Seminar

    A monthly seminar on the latest projects and blockchain research. The seminar is open to the public.

    More info ...
  • The Stanford Journal of Blockchain Law and Policy

    A journal for articles on policy and legal issues about blockchains.

    Read the journal ...

Student Blockchain Organizations on Campus

Research

The center's research mission is focused on technical aspects of cryptocurrencies and blockchains. We work on research topics that support the thriving ecosystem of projects.

Check out the center's research page.

Sponsors

The center is supported by the leading projects and funds in the space.

Ethereum Foundation
Protocol Labs
Interchain Foundation
OmiseGO
Dfinity
Polychain