"Town Crier: An Authenticated Data Feed for Smart Contracts" - Prof. Ari Juels

Abstract: Most interesting smart contracts require real-world data. Today, though, a lack of trustworthy, flexible data feeds (a.k.a. oracles) is hobbling smart-contract ecosystems such as Ethereum.

In this talk, I’ll present Town Crier (TC), an authenticated data feed system built using Intel’s new SGX trusted hardware features. TC acts as a trustworthy proxy between existing (HTTPS-enabled) servers and smart contracts without any need for users to trust the system’s operators. Unlike basic oracles, TC also supports private queries, which offer the critical property of confidentiality for data requests, and custom queries, which make secure use of users’ credentials. Applications include insurance contracts that protect consumer privacy, systems to trade online resources such as games for cryptocurrency, and much more.

IC3 is planning to launch a basic version of TC as a free service in the coming months.

About the Speaker: Ari Juels is co-Director of IC3, and a professor at the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech in NYC. He was previously Chief Scientist of RSA, the Security Division of EMC.

Schedule: Doors open at 6:30pm EDT. Enjoy networking with other smart contract enthusiasts from 6:30-7pm while pizza and bottled water is served. The talk will start at 7pm. We will clear the room by 8:30pm. All are welcome to gather for an informal after-party (cash bar) at a local establishment.

Important info regarding access on Sept 29: You will need (1) to be preregistered with your first and last name on this Meetup site, and (2) to show photo ID in the ground floor lobby of 111 8th Avenue, to access the elevators to the 3rd floor. Doors open at 6:30pm.