Share this article
Imperial College London Opens Cryptocurrency Research Center
Imperial College London has established a research center dedicated to blockchain initiatives.
By Stan Higgins
Updated Mar 6, 2023, 2:48 p.m. Published Sep 28, 2015, 8:16 p.m.
UPDATE (28th September 22:25 BST): This piece has been updated with comment from Imperial College Professor William Knottenbelt.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Imperial College London has established a research center dedicated to blockchain initiatives.
in the university's summer newsletter, the Centre for Cryptocurrency Research and Engineering grew out of previous Imperial College efforts aimed at exploring bitcoin and the blockchain.
The university, founded in 1907, is considered one of the world's top technical institutes.
The notice explained:
"With an overwhelming response from staff and students, the Centre will now coordinate research grants directed at designing and engineering improvements to the protocols that underpin blockchain technology. It will also coordinate application-based funding directed at prototyping chain-based solutions across multiple domains."
The launch of the research center at Imperial College represents a growing interest amongst academic institutions in the technology.
Professor William Knottenbelt, of the university's Department of Comptuing, will act as the Centre's first director. When reached, he told CoinDesk in an email that the initiative represents "a due recognition of the exciting cryptocurrency-related work being carried out by staff and students across many departments" at Imperial College.
"We intend to focus on two areas: first, conducting research directed at designing and engineering improvements to the protocols underpinning blockchain technology," he continued. "Second, exploring novel blockchain-based applications across mulitple domains. We look forward to considerably broadening our industrial and academic collaborations through the activities of this new centre."
Image Credit: e X p o s e / Shutterstock.com
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Lighter trading platform sees $250 million withdrawn 24 hours after airdrop
Bubblemaps CEO says outflows seen on Lighter on Dec. 31 are not uncommon as users rebalance hedging positions and move on to the next farming opportunity.
What to know:
- Approximately $250 million was withdrawn from Lighter after its $675 million LIT token airdrop.
- The withdrawals represent about 20% of Lighter's total value locked, according to Bubblemaps CEO Nicolas Vaiman.
- Large withdrawals post-token generation events are common as early participants exit, says CertiK's Natalie Newson.
Top Stories
