S16 E62: Abdel's Updates on Starkware & ZK STARKs Adoption

Dec 17, 2025

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Abdel is one of the most prolific developers in the Zero Knowledge space. Since our conversation in September, he was able to accomplish so much that he requested another interview to talk about it. So what happened with ZK STARKs that is so important? Time stamps: 00:01:04 Podcast Introduction & Sponsor Acknowledgments 00:02:15 Vlad's Rant on Bitcoin Media & Podcast Landscape 00:03:24 Bitcoin Takeover Podcast Mission & Seven-Year Anniversary 00:04:39 Transition to Abdel’s Updates & ZK-STARKS 00:05:44 Abdel’s Zcash & Bitcoin Proposals 00:07:00 Comparing Bitcoin and Zcash Community Reactions 00:08:36 Altcoins as Experimentation Grounds 00:11:23 Scaling, Rollups, and Drivechains 00:13:10 Abdel’s Proposal for Native STARK Verification 00:17:19 Zcash’s TDE and Layer 2 Possibilities 00:19:22 ZK-Rollups, Privacy, and Regulatory Pressures 00:21:02 Government Surveillance & KYC Concerns 00:24:26 Cultural Stigma Around Bitcoin Privacy 00:25:34 Zcash’s SEC Presentation & Institutional Acceptance 00:28:58 Debate on Privacy, Transparency, and Backdoors 00:30:00 Bitcoin’s Social Layer & Governance 00:32:47 Critique of Bitcoin Perfectionism & Altcoin Dismissal 00:35:49 Bitcoin’s Mission: P2P Cash vs. Store of Value 00:36:49 Learning from Ethereum & Second-Layer Innovations 00:37:24 Sponsor Plugs & BTCfi Introduction 00:40:14 BTCfi: Bitcoin Staking & Yield Mechanisms 00:46:15 Bridging BTC to StarkNet & Atomic Swaps 00:48:36 BTCfi: KYC, Permissionless DeFi, and Institutional Offerings 00:50:59 DeFi Risks & Bitcoin Staking Security 00:51:40 ZK-STARK Verifiers on Bitcoin Cash 00:53:10 Bitcoin Cash, Zcash, and Social Layer Value 00:58:54 Bitcoin Cash’s Technical Innovations & Community Dynamics 01:00:04 Quantum Resistance: Investor Fears & Satoshi’s Coins 01:02:29 Quantum Threat Timeline & Migration Planning 01:10:25 Quantum-Resistant Signatures & Scalability Trade-offs 01:11:20 Hard Fork vs. Soft Fork for Quantum Resistance 01:13:08 Consensus, Confiscation Proposals, and Social Risks 01:17:56 Stagnation in Bitcoin Development & Altcoin Innovation 01:23:12 Ethereum’s Role in Crypto Ecosystem 01:25:24 Zcash’s Dual Incentives & Institutional Recognition 01:28:08 Zcash’s Future: Innovation vs. Ossification 01:30:39 Sponsor Plugs: Noones & SideShift 01:33:42 Quantum Resistance Migration: Hard Fork Efficiency 01:37:11 Bitcoin’s Future: Security, Consensus, and Upgrades 01:43:09 Bull Markets, Technological Breakthroughs, and Lightning 01:45:18 Lightning’s Shift to B2B & Retail Challenges 01:47:02 Bitcoin Treasury Companies & Business Models 01:49:18 Seinfeld Analogy & Bitcoin’s Societal Impact 01:52:11 Magic Wand: Abdel’s One Change for Bitcoin 01:54:03 Legitimate Altcoins & Project Criteria 01:57:16 Monero, Kaspa, Litecoin, and Altcoin Usefulness 02:02:06 ZK-STARKs: Complementary or Standard? 02:06:21 ZK-STARKs for Fast Bitcoin Syncing 02:10:27 Call for Wallet Integration & User Experience 02:14:08 Bull Bitcoin Wallet & Open Source Security 02:22:02 Freedom Tech, Nostr, and ZK for Sovereignty 02:26:02 ZK-STARKs: Career Opportunities & Verification 02:28:41 Outro & Listener Easter Egg