A New York native, Kieren graduated from Princeton University in 2011 with an A.B. in mathematics, where he also played varsity football. He stayed at Princeton for another year, working as a scientific programmer in the Shaevitz Lab. He enrolled in the math department at UC-Berkeley in 2012 to study mathematical physics. He is one of the founding directors of the Cryptocurrency Research Group, a 501(c)3 research body dedicated to the advancement of the understanding of Cryptocurrencies and related technologies.