Jiasun Li is an Assistant Professor of Finance at the School of Business. His current research interest is in blockchain technologies and FinTech applications, as well as their broader implications for a sustainable world. His research papers blend both game theoretical modeling and empirical data analysis, and have analyzed the incentives of participants in distributed consensus protocols, the role of crypto tokens in jumpstarting platforms, the industrial organization of cryptocurrency mining pools with implications for blockchain (de-)centralization and energy consumption, factor structures in cryptocurrency returns, manipulations on cryptocurrency exchanges, crypto derivatives, and the security design of investment crowdfunding for both investors and entrepreneurs to harness “wisdom of the crowd”. His other research interests also include information economics, corporate governance, market microstructure, and transportation designs. Dr. Li received his Ph.D. in finance from UCLA Anderson School of Management and B.S. in mathematics from Fudan University (Shanghai, China) prior to joining George Mason.
His research has been accepted in leading journals including the Journal of Finance and Review of Financial Studies, among others. His is a winner of the Yihong Xia Best paper award at CICF and Chicago Quantitative Alliance (CQA) academic paper competition, along with many other paper prizes. He teaches blockchain technologies to both MBA and undergraduate students, serves on the committees of major blockchain conferences such as Financial Crypto, ACM Advances in Financial Technologies, ACM DeFi, and IEEE Crypto Valley, and partners with the U.S. government on blockchain economics research. His students in the Master of Management program have voted him “Faculty of the Year” (one recipient per year from the entire faculty).
