The University of Wyoming launches the Bitcoin Research Institute to produce high-quality, peer-reviewed publications and improve academic understanding of Bitcoin.
Bollywood Fever: The University of Wyoming (UW) has launched the UW Bitcoin Research Institute (BRI) to produce high-quality peer-reviewed publications on Bitcoin from various academic disciplines.
Dr. Bradley Rettler, an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the university, serves as the director of this newly established 501c(3) nonprofit institute.
He announced the launch on social media platform X on July 28.
Dr. Rettler emphasized the importance of informed research, noting that much of the current academic work on Bitcoin lacks a fundamental understanding of the technology. “Much academic bitcoin research is quite poor, because it’s done by people who don’t understand bitcoin,” he explained.
The BRI aims to rectify this by ensuring that researchers have a deep understanding of Bitcoin, which will lead to more valuable and accurate studies.
He pointed out specific examples of flawed research, such as the study by Mora et al, which predicted Bitcoin could increase emissions by 2 degrees Celsius.
Rettler criticized this study for failing to account for Bitcoin’s difficulty adjustment and block size cap.
He also mentioned that many academics, including Nassim Nicholas Taleb who wrote “Bitcoin Black Paper,” overlook crucial aspects like Layer 2 solutions (e.g., Lightning Network) and Bitcoin’s supply cap, one of its most distinctive features.
Furthermore, Rettler highlighted that some researchers make incorrect assumptions about Bitcoin user demographics.
“These mistakes make their way into journalism, and policy,” Rettler stressed. “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 BRI’s mission is to ensure that academic work on Bitcoin is conducted by knowledgeable individuals, which will, in turn, provide more reliable information for journalists and policymakers.
This initiative is a step toward elevating the standard of Bitcoin research and fostering a better understanding of its complexities.
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