Advancing on-chain mechanisms
Mechanism Institute is a research initiative that shapes building blocks for digital-age institutions. We bring together thinkers and practitioners to study, develop, simulate, and deploy new on-chain mechanisms.
Blockchain-based mechanisms are a powerful tool for addressing the complex challenges of the 21st century. These mechanisms enable agreements that are:
1. Self-executing: Automatically enforce their own conditions
2. Censorship-resistant: Cannot be interfered with by central authorities
3. Socially scalable: Coordinate an unbounded number of actors and interactions
With these properties, on-chain mechanisms offer a paradigm shift from legacy institutions. Yet, these mechanisms remain misunderstood and underexplored.
Our mission is to deepen understanding of the on-chain design space to pave the way for more resilient and robust institutions that prioritize positive-sum outcomes.
We achieve this through:
Design Space Mapping
We curate a public library of on-chain mechanisms that allows anyone to explore the full design space.
Research
We lead cross-disciplinary research to explore how on-chain mechanisms can be applied to a range of coordination problems.
Interventions
We design solutions that apply on-chain mechanisms to specific use-cases across industry and civil society.