ANNOUNCEMENT: The University of Wyoming has established the UW Bitcoin Research Institute. uwyo.edu/bitcoin
The BRI aims to produce high-quality peer-reviewed publications about bitcoin from all academic disciplines.
First act: hiring nostr:npub1yezu4atsdgchvlyjz5efwks8n7ze2rssq674qe04m5pp8e5y32tqfdawc7!
Much academic bitcoin research is quite poor, because it's done by people who don't understand bitcoin.
Mora et al predicted "bitcoin alone could push emissions 2 degrees".
They failed to account for the difficulty adjustment *and* didn't know there was a block size cap!
Others like Taleb’s infamous "Bitcoin Black Paper" are unaware of Layer 2s like Lightning, and others are unaware of the supply cap -- perhaps bitcoin's most distinctive feature. Others make faulty assumptions about bitcoin user demographics.
These mistakes make their way into journalism, and policy. Bitcoin is multi-faceted in theory, and even more so in practice. Journalists can't be experts, so they rely on academics. Too many of those academics have let them down.
The good news is that there is good academic research on bitcoin. Work by Will Luther, nostr:npub18wgtxzhx75qd2aq3gn35mcv5m8zx7z6xdsf6a95asltys70deekqqjr2wn , nostr:npub12lzwey2hjc2ce0stwa3ldhg04h93wj263lvdhrf87qfzz9jsggeqwuntw2 , nostr:npub10afr060h0g3vf2ykynr6cvw2u7ta3tzpgjczfyufp420aeeen0xszf0xj0 , Matthew Ferranti, nostr:npub1ws69pst0kcaqa9cgm85l3xzkqrfuphldu5dv6r5cp8tjjzfyv82s5vxzeg and others understands and explains bitcoin very well.
But for academics interested in bitcoin, the incentives often don't line up. Few advisors will let their advisees focus on bitcoin, so bitcoin projects must be side projects. And without advisor or community support, these projects are rarely taken on.
The Bitcoin Research Institute fixes the incentives. We provide a community who can support scholars and give critical feedback on their projects, and we provide funds for travel and lodging.
We're removing barriers for scholars who want to work on bitcoin.
More academic work on bitcoin should be done by people who understand bitcoin. The BRI aims to produce that work, which will filter up to journalists and policymakers.
The University of Wyoming is the perfect place for this, with Sen Lummis, nostr:npub1uyz4w2w4rcphk0q5arzkutrecgscxwzajj4dkvh9mjyqjtxslm6qea8632 , State Sen Rothfuss, Law School Dean Julie Hill, Steve Lupien, bitcoin miners using all kinds of energy like nostr:npub1k7tcreyu0w970fxsht8ccw54az2yh27agf4x2s92crwam9mw9cws558edl , a School of Energy Resources, School of Environment and Natural Resources...
The UW Bitcoin Research Institute is a 501c(3) nonprofit. Because of nostr:npub1uyz4w2w4rcphk0q5arzkutrecgscxwzajj4dkvh9mjyqjtxslm6qea8632 , the University -- and by extension the BRI -- can accept bitcoin directly. And UW allocates 4% of our investments to bitcoin, so if you donate bitcoin to the BRI, we will NOT sell it.
If you're a scholar and you want to be involved, my DMs are open!
If you're a journalist and you want to learn more, my DMs are open!
If you want to support our work, you can do so here: https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/49172/donations/new
