Christian Catalini is a co-creator of
Diem
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5] (formerly
Libra ), the
Chief Economist of the Diem Association,
[6] and the Theodore T. Miller
Professor at the
MIT Sloan School of Management .
[7]
Catalini is known for his research on the economics of
cryptocurrencies and
blockchain technology ,
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16] and for the economical design of
Diem .
[17]
[18]
[19] His past research focused on the economics of
crowdfunding ,
[20]
[21]
[22]
[23] early stage capital formation,
[24]
[25]
[26] the economics of science
[27]
[28]
[29] and technology.
[30]
[31]
Career
Catalini joined the faculty of
MIT in 2013, and was appointed in 2018 as Faculty Research Fellow at the
National Bureau of Economic Research in the Productivity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program.
[32]
In 2013, Catalini co-designed with
Catherine Tucker the MIT Digital Currency Experiment
[33] that distributed $500,000 in
Bitcoin to all
MIT undergraduates.
[34]
[35] Catalini and Tucker published the results of their research study in
Science .
[8]
In 2017, Catalini founded the MIT Cryptoeconomics Lab, which brings together the fields of
economics and
computer science to study
cryptocurrency protocols, their incentives and
market design . Catalini is also a faculty advisor to the MIT Digital Currency Initiative (on leave), and an economic advisor to
Algorand , a cryptocurrency startup founded by
Silvio Micali .
In 2018, Catalini joined
David Marcus ' team at
Facebook, Inc. to develop the economical design of
Libra (now Diem).
[36] Since 2020, he is seconded to the
Diem Association as its
Chief Economist .
[6] At
Diem , Catalini is focused on the economic, market design, growth incentives, and business model of the project.
[6]
[37]
In 2022, Catalini joined Coinbase Institute and sits on the
Advisory Board .
[38]
Education
Christian Catalini was born in
Ancona ,
Italy . He studied economics and business at
Bocconi University in
Milan (B.Sc. and M.Sc.). In 2013, Catalini earned a
Ph.D. degree from the
University of Toronto (
Rotman School of Management ) for research supervised by
Ajay Agrawal . During his
Ph.D. , Catalini worked with
Ajay Agrawal to establish the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) at the
University of Toronto , served as its Associate Director (2012-2013),
[39] and then as a member of the CDL Strategic Advisory Board (2013-2018).
[39] Since 2019, he is an Associate in the Creative Destruction Lab Blockchain Stream.
[40]
Research
Catalini is best known for some of his fundamental early work on the economics of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, crowdfunding, early stage capital formation, and the economics of science. His research on these topics has been featured in
Nature ,
[41]
[42]
Science ,
[8] the
New York Times ,
[43]
[44]
CNN ,
[45] the
Wall Street Journal ,
[46]
[47]
the Economist ,
[48]
[49]
CNBC ,
[50]
[51]
[52]
WIRED ,
[53]
[54]
[55]
[56]
[57]
NPR ,
[58]
Forbes ,
[59]
[60]
[61]
Bloomberg ,
[62]
[63]
TechCrunch ,
[64]
[65] the
Financial Times ,
[66] the
Chicago Tribune ,
[67]
[68] the
Boston Globe ,
[69]
[70]
VICE news ,
[71]
[72] the
Washington Post ,
[73]
[74]
[75]
[76]
[77] and Reuters
[78]
[79] among others.
In 2017, Catalini received the
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Junior Faculty Fellowship in Entrepreneurship Research.
[80] In 2014, Catalini's thesis was awarded the
Wiley Blackwell Outstanding Dissertation Award in Business Policy and Strategy
[81] for
“Three Essays on the Impact of Geographic and Social Proximity on Innovation” ,
[82] assigned by the Business Policy and
Strategy division of the
Academy of Management .
Catalini has presented his work at a variety of institutions including
Harvard University ,
[83]
MIT ,
[84]
Yale University ,
[85]
London Business School ,
[86]
New York University ,
[87]
UC Berkeley ,
[88]
Stanford University ,
[89] the
Council on Foreign Relations ,
[90] the
Federal Reserve Bank ,
[86] the
Federal Trade Commission ,
[91] the
US Treasury ,
[92] the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ,
[46] the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission ,
[93] the
World Bank ,
[92] the
International Monetary Fund , the
World Economic Forum ,
[94] the
White House OSTP , and a number of
central banks and US and global regulators.
References
^
"Diem bridges banking and crypto worlds" . Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum. 15 February 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021 .
^
"Christian Catalini: Co-Creator of Libra Explains How the Facebook-led Project Aims to Enable Financial Inclusion" . Crowdfund Insider . 2019-11-13. Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
"Libra co-creator explains, defends Facebook's cryptocurrency" . MIT Sloan . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
"Facebook's Diem joins the regulatory fold" . www.thebanker.com . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^ Kominers, Christian Catalini, Scott (18 October 2019).
"The best thing about Libra is often overlooked—and its creators explain why" . Quartz . Retrieved 2021-04-16 . {{
cite web }}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link )
^
a
b
c
"Diem Association Executive Team" . Diem Association.
Archived from the original on 2020-12-02. Retrieved April 1, 2021 .
^
"Christian Catalini" . MIT Sloan School of Management. Retrieved January 31, 2021 .
^
a
b
c Catalini, Christian; Tucker, Catherine (2017-07-14).
"When early adopters don't adopt" . Science . 357 (6347): 135–136.
Bibcode :
2017Sci...357..135C .
doi :
10.1126/science.aal4476 .
ISSN
0036-8075 .
PMID
28706029 .
S2CID
1375522 .
^ Catalini, Christian; Gans, Joshua S. (2020-06-18).
"Some simple economics of the blockchain" . Communications of the ACM . 63 (7): 80–90.
doi :
10.1145/3359552 .
ISSN
0001-0782 .
S2CID
219844399 .
^ Catalini, Christian; Jagadeesan, Ravi; Kominers, Scott Duke (2020-12-01).
"Markets for Crypto Tokens, and Security under Proof of Stake" . Rochester, NY.
SSRN
3740654 .
^ Catalini, Christian; Gans, Joshua S. (2018-03-01).
"Initial Coin Offerings and the Value of Crypto Tokens" . Rochester, NY.
SSRN
3143343 .
^ Athey, Susan; Catalini, Christian; Tucker, Catherine (2017-06-12).
"The Digital Privacy Paradox: Small Money, Small Costs, Small Talk" .
doi :
10.3386/w23488 .
^ Catalini, Christian; Tucker, Catherine (2016-09-01).
"Seeding the S-Curve? The Role of Early Adopters in Diffusion" .
doi :
10.3386/w22596 .
^ Catalini, Christian; Jagadeesan, Ravi; Kominers, Scott Duke (2019-06-18).
"Market Design for a Blockchain-Based Financial System" . Rochester, NY.
SSRN
3396834 .
^ Catalini, Christian (2018).
"Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrencies: Implications for the Digital Economy, Cybersecurity, and Government" . Georgetown Journal of International Affairs . 19 : 36–42.
ISSN
1526-0054 .
JSTOR
26567525 .
^ Catalini, Christian; Tucker, Catherine E. (2018-06-19).
"Antitrust and Costless Verification: An Optimistic and a Pessimistic View of the Implications of Blockchain Technology" . Rochester, NY.
SSRN
3199453 .
^
Economics of Libra 2.0 // CESC 2020 - Dr. Christian Catalini , retrieved 2021-04-16
^
MIT Sloan Experts Series – Christian Catalini: Breaking Down the Libra Cryptocurrency , retrieved 2021-04-16
^
SFBW19 - Economics of Libra - Christian Catalini , retrieved 2021-04-16
^ Agrawal, Ajay; Catalini, Christian; Goldfarb, Avi (2015).
"Crowdfunding: Geography, Social Networks, and the Timing of Investment Decisions" . Journal of Economics & Management Strategy . 24 (2): 253–274.
doi :
10.1111/jems.12093 .
ISSN
1530-9134 .
S2CID
154926205 .
^ Agrawal, Ajay; Catalini, Christian; Goldfarb, Avi (2013-06-13).
"Some Simple Economics of Crowdfunding" . Innovation Policy and the Economy . 14 : 63–97.
doi :
10.1086/674021 .
hdl :
1721.1/108043 .
S2CID
16085029 .
^ Agrawal, Ajay; Catalini, Christian; Goldfarb, Avi; Luo, Hong (2018-10-18).
"Slack Time and Innovation" . Organization Science . 29 (6): 1056–1073.
doi :
10.1287/orsc.2018.1215 .
ISSN
1047-7039 .
S2CID
6586560 .
^ Agrawal, Ajay K.; Catalini, Christian; Goldfarb, Avi (2011-02-25).
"The Geography of Crowdfunding" .
doi :
10.3386/w16820 .
^ Catalini, Christian; Guzman, Jorge; Stern, Scott (2019-07-22).
"Passive Versus Active Growth: Evidence from Founder Choices and Venture Capital Investment" .
doi :
10.3386/w26073 .
S2CID
199894176 .
^ Catalini, Christian; Hui, Xiang (2018-07-09).
"Online Syndicates and Startup Investment" .
doi :
10.3386/w24777 .
^ Catalini, Christian; Guzman, Jorge; Stern, Scott (2019-12-09).
"Hidden in Plain Sight: Venture Growth with or without Venture Capital" .
doi :
10.3386/w26521 .
S2CID
214476802 .
^ Catalini, Christian (2017-07-19).
"Microgeography and the Direction of Inventive Activity" . Management Science . 64 (9): 4348–4364.
doi :
10.1287/mnsc.2017.2798 .
ISSN
0025-1909 .
^ Catalini, Christian; Fons-Rosen, Christian; Gaulé, Patrick (2020-02-10).
"How Do Travel Costs Shape Collaboration?" . Management Science . 66 (8): 3340–3360.
doi :
10.1287/mnsc.2019.3381 .
ISSN
0025-1909 .
S2CID
125947376 .
^ Catalini, Christian; Lacetera, Nicola; Oettl, Alexander (2015-11-10).
"The incidence and role of negative citations in science" . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 112 (45): 13823–13826.
Bibcode :
2015PNAS..11213823C .
doi :
10.1073/pnas.1502280112 .
ISSN
0027-8424 .
PMC
4653214 .
PMID
26504239 .
^ Bekkers, Rudi; Catalini, Christian; Martinelli, Arianna; Righi, Cesare; Simcoe, Timothy (2017-07-31).
"Disclosure Rules and Declared Essential Patents" .
doi :
10.3386/w23627 .
^ Breschi, Stefano; Catalini, Christian (2010-02-01).
"Tracing the links between science and technology: An exploratory analysis of scientists' and inventors' networks" . Research Policy . 39 (1): 14–26.
doi :
10.1016/j.respol.2009.11.004 .
ISSN
0048-7333 .
^
"Christian Catalini" . National Bureau of Economic Research .
Archived from the original on 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2021-01-01 .
^ Baxter, Stone Wright.
"Two Years Later: MIT's Bitcoin Experiment" . MIT Spectrum . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^ Catalini, Christian (2014-12-05).
"Innovating with Bitcoin at MIT" . Xconomy . Retrieved 2021-01-01 .
^ Matheson, Rob (2017-07-13).
"Bitcoin study: Period of exclusivity encourages early adopters" . MIT News . Retrieved 2021-01-01 .
^
"The People With Power at Facebook's Calibra" . The Information . Retrieved 2021-05-06 .
^
"Diem Pre-launch Discussion" . Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum . 2021-02-11. Retrieved 2021-02-11 .
^
"About Coinbase Institute" . www.coinbase.com . Retrieved 2022-05-31 .
^
a
b
"Christian Catalini" . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
"Christian Catalini" . Creative Destruction Lab . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^ Sohn, Emily (2016-05-01).
"Collaboration: The geography of discovery" . Nature . 533 (7601): S40–S42.
Bibcode :
2016Natur.533S..40S .
doi :
10.1038/533S40a .
ISSN
1476-4687 .
PMID
27144608 .
S2CID
205089114 .
^ Ball, Philip (2015).
"Science papers rarely cited in negative ways" . Nature News .
doi :
10.1038/nature.2015.18643 .
S2CID
187172608 .
^ Korkki, Phyllis (2015-08-15).
"Looking for a Breakthrough? Study Says to Make Time for Tedium" . The New York Times .
ISSN
0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^ Popper, Nathaniel; Isaac, Mike (2020-04-16).
"Facebook-Backed Libra Cryptocurrency Project Is Scaled Back" . The New York Times .
ISSN
0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
"CNN Profiles - Julia Chatterley - Anchor and Correspondent" . CNN . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
a
b Eaglesham, Jean; Vigna, Paul (2018-02-28).
"Cryptocurrency Firms Targeted in SEC Probe" . Wall Street Journal .
ISSN
0099-9660 . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^ Feintzeig, Rachel (2013-10-08).
"The New Science of Who Sits Where at Work" . Wall Street Journal .
ISSN
0099-9660 . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
"Which MBA? | The Economist" . whichmba.economist.com . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
"Bandwagon behaviour" . The Economist . 2013-07-20.
ISSN
0013-0613 . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^ Zhao, Helen (2018-02-23).
"Bitcoin and blockchain consume an exorbitant amount of energy. These engineers are trying to change that" . CNBC . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^ Nova, Annie (2017-09-24).
"Bitcoin is too risky to treat as a 'serious' investment, financial advisers say" . CNBC . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^ Ungarino, Rebecca (2015-05-01).
"Race to $2 billion: The fastest-growing start-up" . CNBC . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
"The Ambitious Plan Behind Facebook's Cryptocurrency, Libra" . Wired .
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^ Shauna (2018-06-06).
"Forget Bitcoin: Blockchain May Hold the Key to True Brand Loyalty" . Wired .
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^
"Startups' Cryptocurrency Fundraising Loophole Gets a Regulatory Reality Check" . Wired .
ISSN
1059-1028 . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
"So You Want to Fund a Startup? Here's What You Need to Know" . Wired .
ISSN
1059-1028 . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
"You Too Can Now Invest in Startups! What Could Go Wrong?" . Wired .
ISSN
1059-1028 . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
"Can An Airline Affect The Direction Of Science?" . NPR.org . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^ Anderson, Kare.
"Four Ways To Spur Shared Learning And Performance At Work" . Forbes . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^ Alexander, Dan.
"The Midwest's Venture Capital Problem, And How Crowdfunding Could Help Solve It" . Forbes . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^ Compton, Jason.
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^ MarksJarvis, Gail.
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^ Fern, Deirdre (September 17, 2016).
"Bitcoin doesn't gain much currency at MIT" . BostonGlobe.com . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
"Inside crowdfunding with MIT's Christian Catalini | Boston.com" . www.boston.com . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
"Everything's Coming Up Bitcoin as Value Spikes" . www.vice.com . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
"Bitcoin Community in Disarray After New Software Introduced" . www.vice.com . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^ Heath, Thomas.
"Bitcoin has been a staggering investment. Is a crash coming?" . Washington Post .
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^ Shaban, Hamza.
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^ Heath, Thomas.
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^ Mooney, Chris; Mufson, Steven.
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^ Wilson, Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi, Tom (2020-04-16).
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cite news }}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link )
^ Storbeck, Olaf (2016-05-06).
"Brexit advocates: heed the tale of Herb Kelleher" . Reuters . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
"Kauffman Junior Faculty Fellows" . www.kauffman.org . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
"Wiley Blackwell Outstanding Dissertation Award - Strategic Management" . str.aom.org . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^ Catalini, Christian (2013-11-01).
Three Essays on the Impact of Geographic and Social Proximity on Innovation . University of Toronto Doctoral Theses (Thesis).
^
Libra crypotocurrency and blockchain | Christian Catalini , retrieved 2021-04-16
^
Some Simple Economics of the Blockchain , retrieved 2021-04-16
^
"The Firm as a Nexus of Smart Contracts? How Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies Can Transform the Digital Economy, by Christian Catalini" . Yale Journal on Regulation . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
a
b
"Prof. Christian Catalini | ILP" . ilp.mit.edu . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
Seeding the S Curve: The Role of Early Adopters in Diffusion , retrieved 2021-04-16
^ Agrawal, Ajay; Catalini, Christian; Goldfarb, Avi (2016-02-01).
"Are Syndicates the Killer App of Equity Crowdfunding?" . California Management Review . 58 (2): 111–124.
doi :
10.1525/cmr.2016.58.2.111 .
hdl :
1721.1/103355 .
ISSN
0008-1256 .
S2CID
197816536 .
^
"Technological Opportunity, Bubbles and Innovation: The Dynamics of Initial Coin Offerings(**Note: Day and Time Change**) | Department of Economics" . economics.stanford.edu . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
"Roundtable on Technology, Innovation, and American Primacy" . Council on Foreign Relations . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
"PrivacyCon 2018" . Federal Trade Commission . 2017-06-06. Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
a
b
"Christian Catalini | VOX, CEPR Policy Portal" . voxeu.org . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
"Written Testimony of Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo before the Senate Banking Committee | CFTC" . www.cftc.gov . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
^
"Christian Catalini - Agenda Contributor" . World Economic Forum . Retrieved 2021-04-16 .
International National Academics