Homepage
Open in app
Sign inGet started

Prysm Group

An economic consulting firm specialized in designing incentives and governance models for blockchain and distributed ledger technology networks.

  • Framework for Economic Design
  • Framework for Governance Design
  • About Prysm Group
  • DeFi Needs Economics. Badly.

    DeFi Needs Economics. Badly.

    Decentralized Finance (“DeFi”) is heralded as the next crypto revolution. But the proliferation of recent hacks suggests that DeFi…
    Go to the profile of Johnny Antos
    Johnny Antos
    May 19, 2020
    Enterprise Blockchain: The Path to Monetization

    Enterprise Blockchain: The Path to Monetization

    Due to blockchain’s inherent distributed nature, a variety of stakeholders must be aligned in order for a blockchain network to launch and…
    Go to the profile of Guido Molinari
    Guido Molinari
    May 13, 2020
    Enterprise Blockchain Consortia: Challenges, Levers, and Questions from 2019.

    Enterprise Blockchain Consortia: Challenges, Levers, and Questions from 2019.

    From healthcare to finance, automotive to tax, Blockchain in 2019 saw announcements from many industries looking to capitalize on this…
    Go to the profile of Reed Cataldo
    Reed Cataldo
    Dec 19, 2019
    Here’s how blockchain could stop corrupt officials from stealing school lunches

    Here’s how blockchain could stop corrupt officials from stealing school lunches

    This article was originally published in World Economic Forum’s Agenda on May 17, 2019.
    Go to the profile of Prysm Group
    Prysm Group
    May 17, 2019
    A Framework for Blockchain Governance Design: The Prysm Group Wheel

    A Framework for Blockchain Governance Design: The Prysm Group Wheel

    Blockchain platforms are economies written in code. The goal of any blockchain-based platform is to bring together participants — such as…
    Go to the profile of Cathy Barrera, PhD
    Cathy Barrera, PhD
    Apr 23, 2019
    The Prysm Group House: A Framework for the New Economics of Blockchain

    The Prysm Group House: A Framework for the New Economics of Blockchain

    Blockchain platforms are mini-economies in code. We introduce a comprehensive framework for effective blockchain economic design.
    Go to the profile of Stephanie Hurder, PhD
    Stephanie Hurder, PhD
    Feb 20, 2019
    Economics of Tokenized Incentives 3: Token Value Won’t Align Stakeholders

    Economics of Tokenized Incentives 3: Token Value Won’t Align Stakeholders

    I often hear people in the blockchain space assert some form of the following argument: if a platform creates a native token, such as a…
    Go to the profile of Cathy Barrera, PhD
    Cathy Barrera, PhD
    Jan 17, 2019
    Economics of Tokenized Incentives 2: Selecting Effective Performance Metrics

    Economics of Tokenized Incentives 2: Selecting Effective Performance Metrics

    In our previous post, we explained that pay for performance is useful when key desired outcomes cannot be specified in advance. Under…
    Go to the profile of Cathy Barrera, PhD
    Cathy Barrera, PhD
    Jan 7, 2019
    Blockchain needs users and economics can help.

    Blockchain needs users and economics can help.

    In the blockchain industry there are disagreements about many things. For example, will prevailing blockchain projects be permissioned or…
    Go to the profile of Guido Molinari
    Guido Molinari
    Dec 20, 2018
    Economics of Tokenized Incentives 1: Intro to Pay for Performance

    Economics of Tokenized Incentives 1: Intro to Pay for Performance

    This post is part of a series in which we discuss the principles of incentive design for blockchain platforms.
    Go to the profile of Cathy Barrera, PhD
    Cathy Barrera, PhD
    Dec 18, 2018
    Why Economic Design is Essential for Security Tokens

    Why Economic Design is Essential for Security Tokens

    Go to the profile of Stephanie Hurder, PhD
    Stephanie Hurder, PhD
    Oct 5, 2018
    Asset-Backed Security Tokens: What you can learn from the Economics of Property Rights

    Asset-Backed Security Tokens: What you can learn from the Economics of Property Rights

    Go to the profile of Cathy Barrera, PhD
    Cathy Barrera, PhD
    Sep 25, 2018
    Blockchain and legal (but repugnant) markets

    Blockchain and legal (but repugnant) markets

    This is a reprint of a guest post that I wrote for Professor Al Roth’s market design blog. Professor Roth is a Nobel Prize-winning…
    Go to the profile of Stephanie Hurder, PhD
    Stephanie Hurder, PhD
    Sep 7, 2018
    Blockchain Incentive Structures: What they are and why they matter

    Blockchain Incentive Structures: What they are and why they matter

    Founders of blockchain platforms must understand the nuances of incentives — what they are, what they aren’t, how they work and how they…
    Go to the profile of Cathy Barrera, PhD
    Cathy Barrera, PhD
    Aug 22, 2018
    Blockchain Governance must move beyond voting

    Blockchain Governance must move beyond voting

    There is conversation that new voting mechanisms will revolutionize blockchain governance.
    Go to the profile of Stephanie Hurder, PhD
    Stephanie Hurder, PhD
    Aug 8, 2018
    Hard Forks: You can't always get what you want

    Hard Forks: You can't always get what you want

    Go to the profile of Stephanie Hurder, PhD
    Stephanie Hurder, PhD
    Jul 16, 2018
    Blockchain and Coordination Games: Failures and Focal Points

    Blockchain and Coordination Games: Failures and Focal Points

    Key Concepts from Economics
    Go to the profile of Cathy Barrera, PhD
    Cathy Barrera, PhD
    Jun 27, 2018
    The Economics of Tokenization Part I: Not Everything Can (or Should) be Tokenized

    The Economics of Tokenization Part I: Not Everything Can (or Should) be Tokenized

    Some blockchain enthusiasts predict that one day in the not too distant future, everything will be tokenized. Ownership rights for all…
    Go to the profile of Stephanie Hurder, PhD
    Stephanie Hurder, PhD
    May 30, 2018
    Nash Equilibria on Blockchain Platforms

    Nash Equilibria on Blockchain Platforms

    Key Concepts from Economics
    Go to the profile of Stephanie Hurder, PhD
    Stephanie Hurder, PhD
    May 4, 2018
    Trust in a Trust-less System

    Trust in a Trust-less System

    In a recent post on the MIT Cryptoeconomics Lab blog, one of our economist wrote about The Blockchain Effect: Network Effects without…
    Go to the profile of Guido Molinari
    Guido Molinari
    May 1, 2018
    What is Governance For?

    What is Governance For?

    There has been a lot of talk in the blockchain community about what governance systems should look like, but little has been said about…
    Go to the profile of Cathy Barrera, PhD
    Cathy Barrera, PhD
    Apr 11, 2018
    What is Voting For?

    What is Voting For?

    Using Economics to Inform Design
    Go to the profile of Cathy Barrera, PhD
    Cathy Barrera, PhD
    Apr 9, 2018
    Why do we Need Economists in Blockchain?

    Why do we Need Economists in Blockchain?

    In my recent post, “Who is an economist?”, I proposed a straightforward definition to establish who is an economist.
    Go to the profile of Guido Molinari
    Guido Molinari
    Apr 8, 2018
    Incomplete Contracts and Blockchain

    Incomplete Contracts and Blockchain

    Key Concepts from Economics
    Go to the profile of Cathy Barrera, PhD
    Cathy Barrera, PhD
    Apr 4, 2018
    Who is an Economist?

    Who is an Economist?

    Over the past several months I have noticed a fascinating phenomenon within the blockchain community; several long time industry insiders…
    Go to the profile of Guido Molinari
    Guido Molinari
    Mar 23, 2018
    About Prysm GroupLatest StoriesArchiveAbout MediumTermsPrivacy