Background

Education

B.E in Software Engineering | GPA: 3.85/4.0 (Overall), 3.95/4.0 (Major) | 09/2018 – 07/2022

Honors: the Excellent Talent Training Program | 06/2022

Institution: College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University

Important Update

I am applying to multiple CS master programs in the United States, hopefully I will enroll in Fall 2025. I aim to explore and research in distributed systems and applied cryptography during my master’s. Before enrolling, I plan to review and learn critical courses including at least the following topics: Linear Algebra, Abstract Algebra and Compilers.

Hopefully I will produce some study notes and share them with the community in this blog. For copyright consideration, I will rely on 100% open-source materials.

Employment

Alibaba Group | Java Software Engineer Intern | Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China | 07/2021 – 10/2021

miHoYo(HoYoverse) | Game Server Programmer, C++ 20 | Shanghai, China | 07/2022 - Present

Research

Zecrey | Independent Researcher, Golang | 03/2022 - 06/2022

Academic Interest

I am currently interested in applied cryptography and distributed systems. Particularly, topics span zero-knowledge, secure multiparty computation, and Byzantine fault tolerance. Although I did not have much research experience except some relevant coursework in these areas during my undergraduate studies, I have obtained a practical understanding of what each topic addresses through my personal adaptation and learning of Bitcoin.

For example, the Proof-of-Work (PoW) of Bitcoin serves as a robust Byzantine fault-tolerant consensus algorithm due to the computational difficulty of finding a nonce to satisfy the block hashes that must have several leading zeroes. Additionally, by introducing irreversible one-way SHA-256 and public-private key encryption, without the private keys, attackers cannot manipulate transactions, such as by changing the amount of Bitcoins transferred or the target address, since they cannot forge a new and valid digital signature.

From another perspective, Bitcoin also proposes an evolutionary and bold challenge to the concept of currencies and the traditional banking system. For example, due to the existence of transaction intermediaries like banks, which heavily rely on loans for their revenue, there is always leverage in the traditional banking system. By creating credit, or in other words, fiat currency, they are issuing more currency while no products or services that encapsulate the value of human labor are created. If a financial crisis happens, the deleverage process always accompanies a sudden pullback of liquidity, causing numerous factories, shops, and so forth to go bankrupt. What is worse is that due to the effect of leverage, the latter crisis always needs multiple times more liquidity to solve compared to the former crisis. When it comes to Bitcoin, since it ensures self-custody, the intermediary of transactions gets eliminated, effectively eliminating the concept of credit in its network. Thus, a hard-coded halving mechanism also caps the total supply of Bitcoins, excluding any forms of re-issuing of the coin, at least on-chain.

Technical Skills

Programming languages

Proficient in (Modern) C++; Advanced in Golang, TypeScirpt and Shell; Intermediate in: Java and Python;

Miscellaneous

CMake; Clang toolchain; Boost.Asio; Google Protocol Buffers (protobuf); go-zero; React; Vue3; Git; Perforce;

English

Reading 28, Listening 28, Speaking 26, Writing 27 | 17/11/2024 TOEFL iBT

Hobby

  • ACG culture;

  • Bitcoin maximalist;

  • Cooking Sichuan cuisine;

  • Singing; My favorite singer, also my role model, is Vae Xu. Over the past fifteen years I’ve followed him, he has created numerous songs with immense artistic value. These songs, whether deep and subtle or light and melodic, have accompanied me through the different stages of my life since I was 10. I’m sincerely grateful.

Contact

Email: yangfan2000@zju.edu.cn