Kaihua Qin

kaihua at qin.ac

My academic interests center around designing and building decentralized systems that are secure, stable, and incentive-compatible. The inherent complexity of real-world decentralized systems, with their interdependent and interacting layers, poses a fascinating challenge in achieving this objective. My primary focus is on permissionless blockchains and decentralized finance (DeFi). In my research, I aim to systematically measure and quantify various problems encountered in the rapidly evolving blockchain and DeFi ecosystems. I also strive to develop real-time offensive and defensive solutions by utilizing advanced program analysis techniques to enhance smart contract security. Furthermore, I intend to devise innovative financial primitives that minimize the systemic risks of DeFi. My research is informed by the fields of security, program analysis, measurement, and finance. I am also actively exploring the application of machine learning and game theory to my research pursuits.

News

Mar 29, 2025	Our paper titled “Enhancing Smart Contract Security Analysis with Execution Property Graphs” has been accepted at ISSTA 2025!
Apr 13, 2024	Excited to join the program committee for S&P 2025 and NDSS 2025!
Dec 20, 2023	Excited to join the program committee for CCS 2024 and AFT 2024!

Selected Publications

ISSTA 25

Enhancing Smart Contract Security Analysis with Execution Property Graphs

Kaihua Qin, Zhe Ye, Zhun Wang, Weilin Li, Liyi Zhou, Chao Zhang, Dawn Song, and Arthur Gervais

In Proceedings of the 32nd ACM SIGSOFT International Symposium on Software Testing and Analysis 2025

arXiv

Security 23

The blockchain imitation game

Kaihua Qin, Stefanos Chaliasos, Liyi Zhou, Benjamin Livshits, Dawn Song, and Arthur Gervais

In 32nd USENIX Security Symposium (USENIX Security 23) 2023

arXiv Bib Blog

🏛️ Also presented at the Science of Blockchain Conference 2023 (SBC’23)

🏆 Best DeFi Papers Award 2023

@inproceedings{qin2023blockchain,
  title = {The blockchain imitation game},
  author = {Qin, Kaihua and Chaliasos, Stefanos and Zhou, Liyi and Livshits, Benjamin and Song, Dawn and Gervais, Arthur},
  booktitle = {32nd USENIX Security Symposium (USENIX Security 23)},
  year = {2023},
  pages = {3961--3978},
}

FC 23

Mitigating decentralized finance liquidations with reversible call options

Kaihua Qin, Jens Ernstberger, Liyi Zhou, Philipp Jovanovic, and Arthur Gervais

In International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security 2023

arXiv Bib

@inproceedings{qin2023mitigating,
  title = {Mitigating decentralized finance liquidations with reversible call options},
  author = {Qin, Kaihua and Ernstberger, Jens and Zhou, Liyi and Jovanovic, Philipp and Gervais, Arthur},
  booktitle = {International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security},
  pages = {344--362},
  year = {2023},
  organization = {Springer},
}

SP 22

Quantifying blockchain extractable value: How dark is the forest?

Kaihua Qin, Liyi Zhou, and Arthur Gervais

In 2022 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (SP) 2022

arXiv Bib

🏛️ Also presented at the Science of Blockchain Conference 2022 (SBC’22) and the Crypto Economics Security Conference 2022 (CESC’22)

🏆 Cybersecurity Award 2023 – Best Practical Paper

@inproceedings{qin2022quantifying,
  title = {Quantifying blockchain extractable value: How dark is the forest?},
  author = {Qin, Kaihua and Zhou, Liyi and Gervais, Arthur},
  booktitle = {2022 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (SP)},
  pages = {198--214},
  year = {2022},
  organization = {IEEE}
}

IMC 21

An empirical study of defi liquidations: Incentives, risks, and instabilities

Kaihua Qin, Liyi Zhou, Pablo Gamito, Philipp Jovanovic, and Arthur Gervais

In Proceedings of the 21st ACM Internet Measurement Conference 2021

arXiv Bib

🏛️ Also presented at the Science of Blockchain Conference 2022 (SBC’22)

@inproceedings{qin2021empirical,
  title = {An empirical study of defi liquidations: Incentives, risks, and instabilities},
  author = {Qin, Kaihua and Zhou, Liyi and Gamito, Pablo and Jovanovic, Philipp and Gervais, Arthur},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the 21st ACM Internet Measurement Conference},
  pages = {336--350},
  year = {2021}
}

FC 21

Attacking the defi ecosystem with flash loans for fun and profit

Kaihua Qin, Liyi Zhou, Benjamin Livshits, and Arthur Gervais

In International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security 2021

arXiv Bib Blog

@inproceedings{qin2021attacking,
  title = {Attacking the defi ecosystem with flash loans for fun and profit},
  author = {Qin, Kaihua and Zhou, Liyi and Livshits, Benjamin and Gervais, Arthur},
  booktitle = {International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security},
  pages = {3--32},
  year = {2021},
  organization = {Springer}
}