Welcome to Cornell Bitcoin Club! | Fall 2024
Hi All,
Hope you all had a great summer! To our new members, it was great to meet you at ClubFest yesterday and Welcome! To our existing members, Welcome Back!
As a reminder, no previous knowledge is required, and there is no recruitment (coffee chats, application, interview, NME, etc.). All that is required is interest :)
However, we, of course, would love to have coffee chats if you'd like! Please just send an email to contact@cornellbitcoinclub.org and include your availability.
This semester, we will meet every Wednesday from 5:30 - 6:30 pm in Gates G114, beginning September 18th. Note that the room might change! (I booked our room at the beginning of August, but Bowers CIS registrar's office will only begin processing requests tomorrow, and I fear it might not be approved in time for this Wednesday.)
In the meantime, here's our Club's Linktree, which contains the following:
Slack Workspace
Google Calendar
Website
Folder w/ all resources (meeting docs and recordings)
Socials (Nostr, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube)
Also, be on the lookout for a formal "learning resource guide." It can be quite a lot to navigate finding good information to learn from in the Bitcoin space, and we want to make it easier!
Updates
Our project with the Cornell Brooks School Tech Policy Institute (BTPI) studying Bitcoin Adoption and Financial Freedom, led by our club advisor, Professor Sarah Kreps, is underway! If you are interested in participating please fill out this form. (The study received a grant, so we are able to offer you payment for your participation.)
Also, here was the study's formal announcement and a recent article written by Professor Kreps about her time in El Salvador.
Bitcoin Adoption x Financial Freedom Research Study
This study is the 1st acadmic study of its kind on this topic, and we had an info session last semester to share more details. Here is the recording and here are the two links Professor Kreps shared during it (link 1, link 2).
As a summary: This project will focus on 25 countries that are fully or partly authoritarian countries and conduct both quantitative and qualitative evidence about Bitcoin adoption. On the quantitative evidence, we will work with a polling firm to conduct 1,000-person surveys that probe where people are using Bitcoin and stablecoins, who within these countries are using each, and how they are using those currencies. This firm would provide responses to these questions as well as the individual’s demographic information to be able to learn about the relationship between responses to these questions and an individual’s socio-economic status, age, gender, etc. To complement the quantitative data (where you come in!), we would then carry out field research that probes these questions qualitatively, with a goal of accounting for how populations in these authoritarian or semi-authoritarian states are using Bitcoin and stablecoins to pursue financial freedom. Finally, all the information will be compiled into a report to understand adoption trends, inform regulatory and policy decisions, and contribute to enhancing freedom (amongst other reasons as well).
As an aside, there was recently a report published that was titled "Understanding Bitcoin Adoption in the United States: Politics, Demographics, & Sentiment."
Recap of Spring 2024
For those that just joined us, here's what we covered last semester!
02/08: Welcome | Intro to CBTC | Base Layer Knowledge (slides & recording)
02/15: The Blockchain Trilemma, Timechain, State of Our World & Bitcoin as Money (slides & recording)
02/22: PoW & Overview of Bitcoin x Energy | Part 1 (slides & recording)
02/29: No Meeting: Ella at conference.
03/07: GUEST SPEAKER: Zach Young, Analyst at Trammell Venture Partners (slides & recording)
03/14: GUEST SPEAKER: Manuela Rios, VP of Product at Strike (slides & recording)
03/21: GUEST SPEAKER: Jason Brett, Former U.S. Regulator at the FDIC || Author || Speaker || Regulatory Analyst at Forbes Digital Assets || Government and Regulatory Affairs Consultant, Key Bridge Advisors LLC || Policy Advisor, Bitcoin Policy Institute (slides & recording)
03/25: Finance, Regulation, & The Role of the Market SEC: Commissioner Hester Peirce in conversation with Cornell SC Johnson College Dean Andrew Karolyi. Watch here
03/28: GUEST SPEAKER: Dr. Bradley Rettler, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wyoming, Author of Resistance Money: A Philosophical Case for Bitcoin, and Fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute (slides & recording)
04/04: No Meeting; Spring Break
04/11: GUEST SPEAKER: Elizabeth Stark, Lightning Labs (slides & recording)
04/18: Halving Party & Plans for Fall '24 (slides)
05/02: Bitcoin x Human Rights & Elections (slides & recording)
Be in touch if there's anything we can do for you. Thank you!
Look forward to seeing you on September 18th!
Warmly,
Cornell Bitcoin Club E-Board