# How decentralized are blockchains, really? Shashank Motepalli · 2019–2026 ## Publications 11 papers and preprints from the PhD chapter. Google Scholar contains the wider publication record. ### GPoS: Geospatially-aware Proof of Stake 2026 · ACM Transactions on the Web **Shashank Motepalli**, Naman Garg, Gengrui Zhang, Hans-Arno Jacobsen [Read paper](https://doi.org/10.1145/3774629) ### Decentralization in PoS Blockchain Consensus: Quantification and Advancement 2025 · IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management **Shashank Motepalli**, Hans-Arno Jacobsen [Read paper](https://doi.org/10.1109/TNSM.2025.3561098) ### Where to Place Your TEE? In Search of a Censorship-Resilient Design for Rollup Sequencers 2025 · OPODIS 2025 · LIPIcs Luciano Freitas, **Shashank Motepalli**, Benjamin Livshits [Read paper](https://doi.org/10.4230/LIPIcs.OPODIS.2025.27) ### How Does Stake Distribution Influence Consensus? Analyzing Blockchain Decentralization 2024 · IEEE ICBC · Best Paper Award candidate **Shashank Motepalli**, Hans-Arno Jacobsen [Read paper](https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.13938) ### Delay Towers to Bootstrap Blockchains 2024 · IEEE ICBC **Shashank Motepalli**, Hans-Arno Jacobsen [Read paper](https://doi.org/10.1109/ICBC59979.2024.10634426) ### Reaching Consensus in the Byzantine Empire: A Comprehensive Review of BFT Consensus Algorithms 2024 · ACM Computing Surveys · 56(5) Gengrui Zhang, Fei Pan, Yunhao Mao, Sofia Tijanic, Michael Dang’ana, **Shashank Motepalli**, Shiquan Zhang, Hans-Arno Jacobsen [Read paper](https://doi.org/10.1145/3636553) ### SoK: Decentralized Sequencers for Rollups 2023 · arXiv · preprint **Shashank Motepalli**, Luciano Freitas, Benjamin Livshits [Read preprint](https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.03616) ### Analyzing Geospatial Distribution in Blockchains 2023 · IEEE DAPPS · 18.5% acceptance rate **Shashank Motepalli**, Hans-Arno Jacobsen [Read paper](https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.17771) ### V-Guard: An Efficient Permissioned Blockchain for Achieving Consensus under Dynamic Memberships in V2X 2023 · arXiv · preprint Gengrui Zhang, Yunhao Mao, Shiquan Zhang, **Shashank Motepalli**, Fei Pan, Hans-Arno Jacobsen [Read preprint](https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.06210) ### Blockchain for V2X: Applications and Architectures 2022 · IEEE Open Journal of Vehicular Technology · 3, 193–209 James Meijers, Panagiotis Michalopoulos, **Shashank Motepalli**, Gengrui Zhang, Shiquan Zhang, Andreas Veneris, Hans-Arno Jacobsen [Read paper](https://www.eecg.toronto.edu/~veneris/22OJVT.pdf) ### Reward Mechanism for Blockchains Using Evolutionary Game Theory 2021 · BRAINS **Shashank Motepalli**, Hans-Arno Jacobsen [Read paper](https://arxiv.org/abs/2104.05849) ## Talks - 2023 · **Analyzing Geospatial Distribution in Blockchains** · IEEE DAPPS · Athens, Greece. [Conference website](https://ieeedapps.com/) - 2023 · **Unveiling Geospatial Centralization: A Hidden Threat to Blockchain Decentralization** · Blockchain Technology Symposium · Virtual. [Event program](https://bts23.encs.concordia.ca/program.php) - 2021 · **Reward Mechanism for Blockchains Using Evolutionary Game Theory** · BRAINS. [Event program](https://brains.dnac.org/2021/program-2/) ## Teaching and mentoring ### ECE419 · Distributed Computing Teaching Assistant; Lab Head TA · Winter 2020–2023 Teaching Assistant in Winter 2020; Lab Head TA in Winter 2021, 2022, and 2023. ### CSC301 · Introduction to Software Engineering Teaching Assistant; Head TA · 2021–2023 Teaching Assistant in Winter and Fall 2021; Head TA in Winter 2022 and 2023. ### CSC454 · Business of Software Teaching Assistant · 2022–2023 Winter 2022, Fall 2022, and Winter 2023. ### CSC207 · Software Design Teaching Assistant · 2020 & 2022 Fall 2020 and Summer 2022. ### ECE1785 · Empirical Software Engineering Teaching Assistant · 2022–2023 Winter 2022 and Winter 2023. ### ECE444 · Software Engineering Teaching Assistant · Fall 2023 ### ECE496 · Senior-year Design Projects Co-supervisor · 2019–2023 Co-supervised undergraduate design projects in 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, and 2022–23. ## Service ### ECEGSS President September 2020–September 2021 Led the transition to a virtual community for a society serving 700+ graduate students. - President of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Graduate Students’ Society at the University of Toronto. - Served on the UTGSU Board of Directors (2019–2021) and the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering Faculty Council (2020–2021). Facilitated Grad Step Up sessions for incoming international graduate students, covering healthcare, university resources, and communication (2020–2021). ## Research in practice ### Movement Labs Researcher · January–August 2024 Wrote the white paper and designed the Movement network architecture. Contributed to early technical-team planning, hiring, partner management, and educational content. [Website](https://movementlabs.xyz/) ### Matter Labs · zkSync Research Intern · August–October 2023 Researched decentralized sequencers for Layer 2 systems, with an emphasis on zk-rollups. Built consensus benchmarking tools with extensions for trusted execution environments. [Website](https://matter-labs.io/) ### 0L Network Open-source contributor · April 2020–July 2022 Designed and analyzed standard-library modules in Move, participated in network genesis, and ran validator operations for a year. [Website](https://0l.network/) ## Fellowships - 2019–2023 · **Edward S. Rogers Sr. Graduate Student Fellowship** · University of Toronto - 2021–2022 · **Graduate Fellowship** · Schwartz Reisman Institute of Technology and Society ## Dragon boating - 2023 · **Gold** · Canadian National Dragon Boating Competitions · Welland, Canada - 2022 · **Bronze** · Canadian National Dragon Boating Competitions · Montreal, Canada ## Connect - [Email](mailto:shashank.motepalli@gmail.com) - [Google Scholar](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sGuHIQgAAAAJ) - [GitHub](https://github.com/sm86) - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/smotepalli) - [X](https://x.com/sh1sh1nk)