Seminar: Blockchain risk — a distributed-systems perspective (Boston)

This seminar analyzes blockchain as a distributed-systems architecture and examines the risks that arise when these systems are deployed at scale. It focuses on how consensus design, smart-contract execution, cryptographic dependencies, and network topology introduce distinct classes of failure modes, including contract vulnerabilities, oracle weaknesses, and cross-chain bridge exploits. The session also considers the operational and security challenges that emerge when blockchain components interface with cloud infrastructure and enterprise systems.

About the speaker

Ally Hoffman is a part-time lecturer in Khoury College and teaches in the MSCY program. She also serves as assistant vice president of risk and policy at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, where she leads governance, technology risk, and supervisory strategy for emerging fintech and digital asset activities. Previously, she led the Federal Reserve System’s crypto-asset task force, coordinating supervisory responses during periods of market stress. Hoffman is a recipient of the William Taylor Award, the Federal Reserve’s highest supervisory honor. She holds a BS in business administration from Boston University, an MS in cybersecurity from Northeastern University, and a PhD in business administration from Oklahoma State University.