Who is Emin Gün Sirer and why is he on the CFTC's tech advisory group?
Emin Gün Sirer is a Turkish-American computer scientist who is known for his contributions to peer-to-peer systems, operating systems, and cryptocurrency research. He is the founder and CEO of Ava Labs, a company that develops the Avalanche blockchain platform, which uses a novel consensus protocol that aims to achieve high scalability, security, and decentralization. He is also a former associate professor of computer science at Cornell University and a co-founder of bloXroute, a company that offers a solution to the scalability bottleneck of the Layer-0 network layer.
Sirer was recently appointed as one of the members of the Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal agency that regulates the derivatives and commodities markets in the United States. The TAC was formed in 1999 and its purpose is to assist the CFTC in identifying and understanding the impacts and implications of technological innovation in financial services and markets. The TAC also provides advice on tech investments that could support the CFTC in meeting its surveillance and enforcement responsibilities.
What are Sirer's achievements and goals in the crypto space?
Sirer has been involved in several groundbreaking projects and publications in the crypto space. He co-developed the SPIN operating system, where the implementation and interface of an operating system could be modified at run-time by type-safe extension code. He also led the Nexus OS effort, where he developed new techniques for attesting to and reasoning about the semantic properties of remote programs. He introduced Karma, a virtual currency for peer-to-peer systems that uses proof-of-work to prevent free-riding. He co-authored the paper “Majority is not Enough, Bitcoin Mining is Vulnerable”, which describes the selfish mining attack, an attack on Bitcoin that is profitable even for an attacker with less than 50% of total hash power. He also developed Bitcoin-NG, a bitcoin scaling solution, and Bitcoin Covenants, a security solution.
Sirer's current focus is on Avalanche, a blockchain platform that uses a new consensus protocol that combines the best features of classical and Nakamoto consensus. Avalanche claims to achieve high throughput, low latency, robustness against attacks, and flexibility to support various applications and use cases. Avalanche also supports interoperability with other blockchains, such as Ethereum and Bitcoin. Sirer's goal is to bring the benefits of blockchains to the financial system and beyond.
Why is Sirer's appointment to the CFTC's tech advisory group important?
Sirer's appointment to the CFTC's tech advisory group is important because it signals the receptiveness of the federal regulator to the crypto and blockchain sector. Sirer is one of several executives from the space who have been included in the new committee, along with Corey Then from Circle, Michael Shaulov from FireBlocks, Ari Redboard from TRM Labs, Adam Zarazinski from Inca Digital, and Dan Guid from Trail of Bits. These experts can provide the CFTC with foundational knowledge about the technology, as well as the complex and nuanced impacts and implications of technology on financial markets.
The Bottom Line
Emin Gün Sirer is a prominent figure in the crypto and blockchain space, who has contributed to various research and development projects. He is the leader of Avalanche, a blockchain platform that offers high performance, security, and interoperability. He is also a member of the CFTC's tech advisory group, where he can provide valuable insights and advice on the regulation and innovation of digital assets and technologies. Sirer's vision is to bring the benefits of blockchains to the financial system and beyond.
Sources:
- Emin Gün Sirer – Wikipedia
- CFTC adds execs from Circle, Ava Labs and Fireblocks to tech advisory group
- CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero Announces the Membership of the Newly Constituted Technology Advisory Committee, its Chair, and Vice Chair
