Dr. Ben Livshits is a prominent figure in the academic and professional world, with expertise in the areas of security, privacy, programming languages, software engineering, and DLT/blockchain. He is a Reader at Imperial College London, an affiliate professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, and the former Chief Scientist at Brave Software and now VP of research at Mater Labs.

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Ben received his bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Math from Cornell University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University. He has published close to 200 academic papers (h-index 56) and received dozens of patents and multiple tech transfer awards for bringing research into practice.

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Ben first learned about DLT/blockchain in 2016 or 2017 and became involved in the space when he joined Brave Software as its Chief Scientist in 2017. He has since authored numerous papers related to blockchain and DeFi at top security conferences and has been involved in running teams in that space, including Brave Research and Zilliqa Research (as CEO).

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When explaining blockchain and his work in the field to his non-DLT family and friends, Ben often uses the analogy of a distributed ledger that allows multiple parties to have a shared view of the same data without the need for a central authority. One funny anecdote he shared about his DLT journey is that he once had to explain blockchain to his grandmother, who was 95 years old at the time.

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Looking towards the future, Ben sees a significant role for DLT/blockchain in the next 5-10 years, particularly in areas such as decentralised finance (DeFi), digital identity, and supply chain management. He believes that the DSF can help bring about this future by supporting research and innovation in the field and promoting collaboration among academics, industry leaders, and policymakers.

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If you would like to connect with Ben or follow his work, you can find him on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-livshits/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/convoluted_code).

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Don't forget to also follow the DSF on LinkedIn and Twitter for updates on its activities and initiatives in the DLT/blockchain space.