Bitcoin is about to get a serious academic overhaul. The University of Wyoming is launching a dedicated UW Bitcoin Research Institute in August to produce high-quality peer-reviewed studies on Bitcoin.
Calling the current state of Bitcoin research “inadequate,” Bradley Rettler, a Bitcoin activist and Associate Professor at the University of Wyoming, announced the new institute on X on July 28 and will serve as its director.
Rettler emphasized the need for more rigorous peer-reviewed publications to inform the public accurately about Bitcoin and its workings.
He referenced a 2018 study by University of Hawaii Professor Camilo Mora, which claimed Bitcoin emissions could increase global warming by 3.6° Fahrenheit (2 Degrees Celsius) by 2048 but noted the study’s failure to consider the difficulty adjustment and block size cap.
Andrew M. Bailey, lead author of “Resistance Money: A Philosophical Case for Bitcoin,” and Rettler, who is also named as an author of the book, announced on X that they will also be joining the institute’s faculty.
The Bitcoin Research Institute will officially open in August with the start of the Fall semester for 2024-2025. It will offer annual summer workshops, academic prizes, and weekly seminars.
As a nonprofit, the institute is accepting Bitcoin donations to support its research. “We allocate 4% of our investments to Bitcoin, so if you donate Bitcoin, we will not sell it,” Rettler explained.
Wyoming is becoming a leading Bitcoin state in the US, driven by pro-Bitcoin Senator Cynthia Lummis and Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Custodia Bank, which offers Bitcoin custody solutions.
At the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville on July 27, Lummis announced a strategic Bitcoin Reserve bill that would see the US purchase 5% of the 21 million Bitcoin that will ever be in circulation, aiming to use it to reduce national debt.
In February 2023, Wyoming lawmakers passed a bill prohibiting state courts from forcing individuals to disclose their digital asset private keys and provided a legal framework for decentralized autonomous organizations.
