Please note that this is an online talk - Join the talk here: 

aarhusuniversity.zoom.us/j/489411054

Title: Generalized State Channel Networks

Abstract: One of the fundamental challenges that hinders further adaptation of decentralized cryptocurrencies is scalability. Since current cryptocurrencies require that all transactions are processed and stored on a blockchain, transaction throughput is inherently limited. Important proposals to significantly improve scalability are off-chain protocols, where the massive amount of transactions is executed without requiring the costly interaction with the blockchain. Examples of off-chain protocols include payment channels and networks, which are currently deployed by popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

State channel networks, an envisioned extension of payment networks, support not only off-chain payments between users, but also allow execution of arbitrary complex smart contracts. While payments typically take place between two parties only, smart contracts can be executed by multiple parties. Therefore, there is an additional requirement on state channel networks compared to payment networks; namely, to support multi-party channels.

About the speaker: Kristina Hostakova is a PhD student at TU Darmstadt.

About the seminar: The seminar is hosted by Concordium Blockchain Research Center Aarhus (COBRA). The COBRA Seminars are weekly seminars open to everyone with an interest in blockchain. Further details about COBRA and the weekly seminars can be found on the center website: https://cs.au.dk/research/centers/concordium/