Monash University, one of Australia’s leading universities, opened its joint blockchain cryptocurrency research and development lab at Monash’s Clayton campus with a node at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. This multimillion-dollar venture was funded by Collinstar Capital, an Australian asset management company and a market leader in Fintech, specializing in blockchain infrastructure, digital currency investments, and relevant consulting services. The lab will focus on developing cryptographic technologies that will enhance and strengthen the Hcash blockchain.


The Hcash project is one of the most advanced blockchains that took advantage of many technological breakthroughs that were not available to early blockchain developers. The main mechanism behind Hcash is a distributed ledger that connects block-based and blockless-based Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) systems, allowing ledger assets and information to be transferred between multiple cryptocurrencies. It has also adopted a hybrid Proof-of-Work (PoW) + Proof-of-Stake (PoS) for securing, governing and upgrading the network. As a result, Hcash is able to apply a more open governance model, where stakeholders have more input in the future direction of the protocol. In addition, Hcash transactions and smart contracts can be conducted with an extra layer of cryptographic protection, affording its users enhanced privacy. This is made possible by implementing a technology called zk-SNARKs, a novel form of zero-knowledge cryptography that allows fully encrypted transactions to verified as valid under the network’s consensus rules using zk-SNARK proofs.

“The blockchain technology used to develop Hcash is superior to that of the Bitcoin technology,” said Dr. Joseph Liu from Monash University’s Faculty of Information Technology, “We aim to make Hcash a connecting point for all existing blockchain systems, potentially allowing Hcash to function as a virtual cryptocurrency exchange. Up until now, existing cryptocurrencies could only be exchanged within their own systems.”

“I am delighted that Dr. Joseph Liu’s work has been recognized. It is a testament to the wonderful young researchers we have in the Faculty of IT at Monash University who are leading the way in disrupting almost every industrial sector through new digital technologies,” said John Whittle, Dean Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University.

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