IC3-Ethereum Crypto Boot Camp and Workshop 2016

July 20-29, 2016 — Gates Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

One of the most productive hackathons I have ever attended!

– Vitalik Buterin, Co-founder of Ethereum

IC3 and the Ethereum Foundation Conducted an Immersive 9-day Coding and Learning Experience in Blockchains and Smart Contracts with World-leading Professors, Open Source Developers and Students.

Boot Camp Project Grand Prize Winners: “Add Ethereum Support for Verifying Zero-Knowledge Proofs (SNARKs)”, Left to right: Josh Gancher, Sean Bowe, Elaine Shi (IC3 co-Director), Prof. Eran Tromer, Casey Detrio, Prof. Andrew Miller (IC3 Associate Director), Yuncong Hu, Vitalik Buterin, Ari Juels (IC3 co-Director)

Boot Camp Project Second Place Winners: “Machine Learning As-a-Service (MLAAS) using Smart Contracts (TensorFlow + Ethereum)”, Left to right: Junru Shao, Prof. Andrew Miller (IC3 Associate Director), Vitalik Buterin, Ari Juels (IC3 co-Director) Elaine Shi (IC3 Co-Director).

Boot Camp Projects

Build Ethereum Applications Using the Town Crier (TC) Data-feed System: Use Town Crier to construct an end-to-end, confidentiality-preserving flight insurance system and a microfinance platform.

Ethereum Vaults: Construct an operational vault ecosystem (including client software and online services) to protect clients against key theft, bringing to Ethereum users unparalleled security.

Add Ethereum Support for Verifying Zero-Knowledge Proofs (SNARKs): Zero-knowledge SNARK proofs are critical technology for many privacy-preserving smart contract applications. The goal of this project is to add support (e.g., new Ethereum opcodes) to make it feasible to verify SNARK proofs from within a smart contract.

Build a Fair Multi-player Lottery Game with Minimal Amount of Collateral: The Oakland ‘14 Best Paper involved a fair Bitcoin lottery for N players. However, this required O(N\^2) collateral. In Ethereum, this is possible with only O(N) collateral.

Machine Learning As-a-Service (MLAAS) using Smart Contracts (TensorFlow + Ethereum): Build a training / classification / prediction service with Ethereum and TensorFlow (other ML frameworks may be explored, time permitting) that accepts payments using a smart contract.

IC3-Ethereum Crypto Workshop

The week of intense development culminated in the IC3-Ethereum Crypto Workshop on July 28.

Session 1Boot Camp Demos – Chair: Prof. Elaine Shi
8:30amBreakfast
9:00am-9:15amProf. Elaine Shi – IC3/Cornell – Welcome and Overview
9:15am-11:15amDemos by the Project teams
11:15am-1:00amLunch, Networking, Project Viewing
Session 2Smart Contracts Challenges – Chair: Dr. Ittay Eyal
1:00pm-1:30pmVitalik Buterin – Ethereum Foundation – Smart Contracts Challenges
1:30pm-2:00pmProf. Ari Juels – IC3 and Cornell Tech – Nibbling Away at IC3’s Smart-Contract Grand Challenges
2:00pm-2:30pmAndrew Miller – IC3 and UMD – “Ethereum Isn’t Turing Complete, and it Doesn’t Matter Anyway
2:30pm-3:00pmBreak – Refreshments and Poster Viewing
Session 3Enabling Technologies for Smart Contracts – Chair: Prof. Ari Juels
3:00pm-3:30pmDr. Ittay Eyal – IC3 and Cornell – Performance and Consensus Tradeoffs
3:30pm-4:00pmProf. Rafael Pass – IC3 and Cornell – Blockchain Analysis and Hybrid Consensus
4:00pm-4:30pmProf. Elaine Shi – IC3 and Cornell University – Scalable and Incentive-Compatible Blockchain Design
4:30pm-5:00pmVlad Zamfir – Ethereum Foundation – Soft forks, hard forks, and the Ethereum Social Contract
5:00pm-5:15pmAndrew Miller – IC3 and UMD – Paths Forward, Concluding Remarks: A Die-Hard Hacker’s Perspective
6:00pm-9:00pmDinner and Project Awards