Building Blockchain’s Future: A Crypto Research Deep-dive

What’s next for crypto? How do experts track signals and develop new solutions? How do we drive innovation on-chain? The hosts are joined by Ari Juels, a Professor at Cornell Tech, Co-founder and Co-director of the Initiative for CryptoCurrencies and Contracts (IC3), and Chief Scientist at Chainlink Labs — as well as FCAT researcher and Principal Blockchain Engineer Developer Kosala Yapa Mudiyanselage — to discuss how academia and industry are teaming up to solve some of blockchain’s greatest challenges and unlock new opportunities across the ecosystem. Learn about the origins of maximal extractable value (MEV), how collaboration between FCAT and our academic partners has developed a potential solution to improve fairness on-chain (PROF), and how research sparks innovation for users across networks. For a closer look at the PROF project, check out https://prof-project.github.io/.   Episode Topics: [0:00] Intro [3:28] Biweekly News Roundup [7:20] An Intro to IC3 & Exploration of MEV [11:55] Exploring Protected Order Flow (PROF) [14:52] On Fairness [19:06] Economic & Regulatory Factors [23:43] How Research Sparks Innovation On-chain [31:21] Outro       Stay connected with us beyond the podcast by following FCAT on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X where we share additional insights and updates on all things emerging tech. Whether you're crypto-curious or have a crypto foundation, Fidelity may have your next career opportunity. EXPLORE NOW. Please remember: this podcast is solely for informational and educational purposes and is not investment, tax, legal or insurance advice. Digital assets are speculative and highly volatile and you should conduct thorough research before you invest. To learn more, visit: fcatalyst.com FMR LLC. © 2025 FMR LLC. All rights reserved. Chapters (00:00:00) - Intro(00:03:28) - Biweekly News Roundup(00:07:20) - An Intro to IC3 & Exploration of MEV(00:11:55) - Exploring Protected Order Flow (PROF)(00:14:52) - On Fairness(00:19:06) - Economic & Regulatory Factors(00:23:43) - How Research Sparks Innovation On-chain(00:31:21) - Outro