RMA Speaker on Jan 12 to Present Cryptocurrency 101

On Wednesday, Jan 12, at 11:00am sharp, the Retried Men’s Association’s featured speaker will be David Yermack, Albert Fingerhut Professor of Finance and Business Transformation at New York University Stern School of Business, Chairman of the Finance Department.

His topic will be “Overview of Cryptocurrencies: The Basics.”

The talk will be via Zoom. To access click: https://bit.ly/30IBj21

In 2008, a white paper appeared by a still-unknown author, presumed to have used a pseudonymous name, outlining the concept of a decentralized digital currency which we now call cryptocurrency.

The author invented Bitcoin, the very first decentralized form of digital cash that had no central governing or controlling body, that operates through a distribution technology known as the “blockchain.”

Today there are many different such currencies (“coins”) and the subject has only entered the public consciousness over the past two years. However, it remains a mystery to most of us.

What is the Blockchain? What is a token? What does it mean to “mine” the system? Why are there so many apparently different currencies in addition to Bitcoin? How does purchasing something with such a currency work compared to buying something with cash or a credit card? How do transactions using cryptocurrencies work and how do they compare to our current system of cash and credit cards? What is its future? Is it regulated in any country?

Professor Yermack will present the key concepts, terminology now widely in use, and operations (cryptocurrency 101).

Yermack is the Albert Fingerhut Professor of Finance and Business Transformation and Chairman of the Finance Department at New York University’s Stern School of Business, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1994.

In 2014 Professor Yermack began teaching a full semester course at NYU on Digital Currency and Blockchains with his Law School colleague Professor Geoffrey Miller.

The course was the first in the world on this topic taught at a major university, and it now draws more than 300 students annually.

Professor Yermack was awarded AB (1995), MBA (1991), JD (1991), AM (1993) and PhD (1994) degrees, all from Harvard University.

In addition to his research on blockchains and digital currencies, Yermack has published some of the most cited papers in the fields of executive compensation and corporate governance. He has also written papers on such diverse topics as options in baseball player contracts, incentive compensation for clergymen, tobacco litigation, fraudulent charitable contributions, CEOs’ mansions, and the fashion industry.

He is a frequent speaker on digital currency and blockchains to academic, industry, and government audiences.