Korok Ray, a Bitcoin researcher and associate professor at Texas A&M University's Mays Business School, has announced plans to create The Bitcoin Research Institute. This institute aims to push academic research at the intersection of Bitcoin and artificial intelligence (AI).
At the MicroStrategy World: Bitcoin for Corporations 2024 event, Ray highlighted the potential of Bitcoin to enable secure multi-party computing (MPC), using the example of poker players agreeing the state of a game as a basic form of computation.
He expanded this example to include deep neural networks and agent-based reinforcement learning, where AI agents could collectively perform computations in the context of the Bitcoin blockchain. Ray mentioned new developments in the Bitcoin ecosystem such as BITVM*, which enables full off-chain Turing computation, as in the case of MPC**, verified on Bitcoin.
* BITVM, or Bitcoin Virtual Machine, is a technology designed to enable full Turing computation, which means it can run any algorithm off the Bitcoin main chain (off-chain). This makes it possible to carry out complex operations without burdening the main blockchain, while retaining the security guarantees offered by the Bitcoin network. The results of these calculations can then be verified and stored on the blockchain, providing a flexible and secure solution for more computationally demanding applications.
** MPC, or Multi-Party Computation, is a sub-field of cryptography that allows multiple parties, who do not necessarily trust each other, to collaborate to perform a computation on their respective inputs without revealing those inputs to each other. For example, in an online poker game using MPC, each player could calculate the state of the game without revealing their own cards to the other players. MPC therefore offers a method for performing joint calculations while preserving the confidentiality and security of each participant's data.
Ray then proposed his thesis, describing the combination of Bitcoin and AI as 'The Uncharted Country':
"The ultimate use case for Bitcoin, say in a hundred, two hundred or five hundred years, will not be for humans, but for machines.... As we live through this wave of massive technological advances, I believe the biggest opportunity will be the deep integration between machines and the entire Bitcoin network at different levels."
"The Bitcoin Research Institute is really about connecting these two areas of research and development and uniting Bitcoin with many of the major advances in AI," Ray explained. "There's an army of researchers and professors out there, and we need to bring together the best minds on Bitcoin to make this possible."
In addition, Ray touched on the potential rise of Chaumin mints as a way to scale Bitcoin payments, as well as the need for secure prediction markets enabled by Bitcoin, an innovation that could lead to more efficient insurance and financial products.
Ray's speech also acknowledged the legacy of academic achievement in computer science that led to the creation of Bitcoin and artificial intelligence, suggesting that both will continue to build on this research success to drive innovation across all sectors of the economy.
