#69 - How can we secure DeFi?

In the ninth episode of our new season of Web3 Innovators, our host Conor Svensson is joined by Arthur Gervais, Associate Professor of Information Security at University College LondonEpisode highlights:How doing his PhD on blockchain increased Arthur’s interest in the spaceThe growth of Bitcoin technology within the academic worldThe research he and his PhD students are doing, looking at how challenges are evolving over timeThe disconnect between the academic and the practitioner communitiesThe differences between the technology which may be valuable in practise and what academics are focusing onApplying existing understandings and lessons learned from the regular Finance domain to their researchThe lending and borrowing side of DeFiThe topics they are working on for their next paperHow we can mitigate the risk of security exploitsWhere Arthur sees DeFi in 10 yearsKey Takeaways:In many cases we are more fascinated by interesting problems that bring new security properties about. And blockchains and particular proof of work, at that time was such a technology, right? It solved the double spending problem in a new way that we haven't thought about before. And this in itself was already groundbreaking. - ArthurWith DeFi and the advent of Ethereum and more aggressive smart contracts in general. We found this great new playground. Now we have an expressive language and we can play on that. - ArthurI feel this is where, for me, most of the exciting opportunities lie on the research side, what is unsolved and how can we solve it? ArthurThe decision trade table they created is designed to help classify protocols into different models,  it's a tool that brings a lot of power. It's an enabler for anyone to try out these protocols, and it's an enabler for attackers too. - ArthurSecurity is all about having multiple walls and having multiple layers of protection, right? Your iPhone, for example, doesn't have only one feature to protect you from somebody hacking your phone, right? - ArthurResources:BitcoinEthereumBellman-Ford Algorithm Connect with Us Join the Web3 Innovators community and engage with like-minded individuals passionate about the potential of blockchain technology.Contact Chainlens: Twitter | Discord | Telegram Explore Chainlens Email ChainlensContact Web3 Labs: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Discord | Tiktok Explore Web3 Labs Email Web3 Labs