I am a blockchain data scientist and researcher.
I’ve spent the better part of the last decade deciphering blockchains with on-chain data.
My Journey On-Chain
2023
Introduced the idea of Balance Sheets for DeFi protocols and applied it to multiple protocols as a means to better reason about their liquidity profile and risks.
Contributed to the most rigorous methodology (to date) to better estimate Bitcoin’s electricity consumption, efficiency and e-waste.
2022
Exposed fraud at FTX prior to the exchange’s bankruptcy filling using on-chain data. This research was featured on the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and many other publications.
Predicted the collapse of Serum and Celsius through on-chain forensics.
Published the first historical analysis of Admin Key Exploits in Ethereum Smart Contracts, research featured on Bloomberg.
2021
Identified an on-going 51% attack on BSV which led to a deep reorg and several double spend attacks. Also identified an on-going 51% attack on XVG which led to the minting of 56M USD worth of XVG and the deepest reorg in blockchain history.
Predicted one month in advance a significant drop in Bitcoin’s hashrate using on-chain data ahead of the outflow of miners from China.
Contributed to the release of the first open-source Bitcoin mempool exporter.
2020
Co-invented FARUM™, a blockchain risk management tool that produces data and alerts on various crypto exploits in real time.
Co-invented ATLAS™, a universal data model that converts data from idiosyncratic blockchains into double-entry-bookkeeping. Used by top crypto financial auditors across the globe.
Joined Coin Metrics to lead on-chain product development and R&D.
2019
Created the first digital asset classification system, the Digital Asset Industry Taxonomy, used by FTSE-Russell and the London Stock Exchange to classify and group digital assets by sector.
Published the first data science framework for the identification of manipulation in crypto markets.
First began indexing protocol development in Bitcoin.
2018
Built the RetroNode, a Bitcoin + Lightning full node implementation in a RaspberryPi retrofitted in a vintage TV
Occasionally disclosed insights to over-hyped communities, such as the fact that Tron copied most of their codebase from Ethereum, thereby violating the LGPL license in addition to open source and security best practices.
2017
Co-Founded Digital Asset Research (DAR) the first sell-side research firm exclusively focused on digital assets.
Founding Technical Advisor of Digital Asset Custody Company (DACC), a crypto custodian acquired by Bakkt in 2019.
Helped several organizations navigate through the intricacies of the Block Size Wars, especially as it relates to replay protection and attack mitigation.
2016
Built Proofs-of-Concept around federated blockchains, mostly in the context of authenticating financial reports. Developed strong opinions on the feasibility of private blockchains.
Covered TheDAO hack and shared on-chain data with the community ahead of the CarbonVote. Also contributed to node-level data around the Geth/Parity chainsplit later that year.
2015
Co-developed my first Ethereum Smart Contract (emphasis on “co”) on the Olympic Testnet as part of the 2015 Consensus Hackathon. First immersion into Ethereum’s nascent ecosystem.
Designed and implemented personal multisig (P2SH) workflows, mostly helping Bitcoin ATM operators protect their Bitcoin.
2014
Wrote my first research piece on Bitcoin examining the collapse of the Silk Road and discussing the ethical implications of P2P markets during my undergrad.
Began diving into Bitcoin custody tech as a total noob with a deep passion for what I thought (and still think) is a revolutionary technology.
2024
Launched PortexAI, an R&D organization with the goal of accelerating the adoption of onchain applications with real-world data.
Published “Breaking BFT: Quantifying the Cost to Attack Bitcoin and Ethereum”, the first attempt at quantifying the costs to attack the world’s largest crypto networks. Top #5 Paper in CompSci, and #1 in Cryptocurrency on SSRN.