Tag Archives: cryptocurrency

The computer scientist who hunts for costly bugs in crypto code

The computer scientist who hunts for costly bugs in crypto code

Johnson might wish he’d hired Ronghui Gu. Gu is the cofounder of CertiK, the largest smart-contract auditor in the fizzy and unpredictable world of cryptocurrencies and Web3. An affable and talkative computer science professor at Columbia University, Gu leads a team of more than 250 that pores over crypto code to try to make sure […]

How Bitcoin mining devastated this New York town

How Bitcoin mining devastated this New York town

Economist Matteo Benetton, a coauthor of the paper and a professor at the Hass School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, says that crypto mining can depress local economies. In places with fixed electricity supplies, operations suck up grid capacity, potentially leading to supply shortages, rationing, and blackouts. Even in places with ample […]

Ethereum’s big switch to proof of stake, explained

Ethereum’s big switch to proof of stake, explained

In Bitcoin’s proof of work, that investment is hardware. Roughly every 10 minutes, Bitcoin miners compete to solve a puzzle. The winner appends the next block to the chain and claims new bitcoins in the form of the block reward. But finding the solution is like trying to win a lottery. You have to guess […]