Crypto:

Bitcoin Hashrate (reserved)

You will contribute to an accounting model for an accurate calculation of Bitcoin´s energy consumption and CO2-equivalent emissions. The model will account for off-grid mining and Carbon-equivalent negative mining. Your work will focus on creating an accurate model of the worldwide hashrate distribution per country and an accurate energy mix for the on-grid part of the hashrate per country. Find more background information HERE. Please contact Andre Guettler if you are interested. 

 

Maximal Extractable Value

This thesis explores Maximal Extractable Value (MEV), the additional profit that can be extracted by strategically ordering, inserting, or censoring transactions in blockchain systems. You will analyze how MEV manifests on Ethereum and/or Solana, assess their technical architectures, validator incentives, and mitigation strategies. The work may include empirical data analysis of blockchain transactions, implementation of detection algorithms, or simulations to quantify MEV opportunities. Please contact  Alexander Wiedenmann  if you are interested.

 

Bitcoin Mining

This thesis focuses on a data-driven analysis of Bitcoin mining through block-level and network-level metrics. You will analyze Bitcoin Blockchain data to compute and study indicators such as network hashrate, mining difficulty, block time distribution, block weight, miner and pool market shares, miner revenue, etc. Please contact  Alexander Wiedenmann  if you are interested.

 

Perp Funding Rate

This thesis should investigate the key predictors of perpetual futures ("perps") funding rates. I suggest having a look at this paper for a general overview of perps. Please contact Andre Guettler if you are interested.

 

Central bank digital currency (CBDC)
Central banks already issue digital money, but only to a select group of financial institutions. Central bank digital currency would extend this to households and firms. This thesis should examine the proposal for such a currency and assess the opportunities and risks. Related literature can be found here. Please contact Andre Guettler if you are interested. 

 

Asset Management:

This thesis will analyze the trading behaviors of collateralized loan obligation (CLO) managers. Using a unique dataset from our industry partner Infinigon Capital, you will work on a cutting-edge research question with real-world appeal. Please contact Andre Guettler if you are interested.