Description: The Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus from blockchain technology has recently gained significant attention due to its advantages in energy efficiency, decentralize on, and scalability. While PoS validators stake to validate transactions and resolve disputes, the same mechanism has been introduced to decentralized insurance for risk and claim assessment purposes. Although stakers have a financial incentive to act honestly because they have staked their own funds as collateral, the existing pricing mechanisms in decentralized insurance networks do not adequately account for the underlying riskiness, resulting in consistent losses for the business. In this paper, we explore a new on-chain pricing model that takes both the market demand and staking capacity into consideration. While it mitigates the underpricing problem, the new mechanism relies solely on staking pool managers’ experti􀆟se to uncover riskiness and may cause unintended managerial behaviors related to capacity management and competition.

Description: Explore a general introduction to uplift modeling, a relatively newer area in machine learning which has been successfully used in retail (Wayfair etc.). The concepts are parallel to the intervention programs in health care, where we are interested in measuring the treatment effects and ultimately directing the right members to the most effective programs, driving the highest value for the programs both from a financial and health outcomes perspective.

Description: The note begins with a short overview of key characteristics of a modern tontine. This is followed by a representation of a tontine flowchart that explicitly displays the components of a tontine and their relationships. The remainder of the note discusses the specifics of those components, including: the valuation and buy-in module, the active life test, settlement options, and periodic payments.