US government funds cryptocurrency research project

Cornell, the University of Maryland and the University of California Berkeley will focus on developing new cryptocurrency systems. The USD 3 million funding will be used to support the researchers involved with the project.

Funding for the initiative comes from the Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace program, an initiative devoted to funding research into cyber security and digital privacy. The initiative will devote resources to developing new systems that enable expanded transaction scalability, privacy and user functionality. Smart contracts will be a major focus of the initiative, building on prior work by University of Maryland researchers.

One such project is Hawk, a blockchain system that enables private smart contracts to be written but not disclosed to the public. Developed jointly by Cornell and the University of Maryland, Hawk was unveiled in June 2015 and will see further refinement and development as the IC3 project commences.