The Rollup How ZK-SNARKs Will Transform Ethereum with Justin Drake
Sep 16, 2025
Justin Drake, a researcher from the Ethereum Foundation, dives into the transformative potential of ZK-SNARKs for Ethereum's future. He envisions a 'Giga Gas Frontier' with insane transaction capacity and discusses how privacy wormholes can enhance anonymity. The conversation also covers the importance of collaborative proving networks for improving throughput and security. Justin highlights Ethereum's appeal to institutions, emphasizing post-quantum advancements and the need for diversity in Zero-Knowledge Virtual Machines to tackle security challenges.
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Early ZK Roots And ZEthereum Idea
- Justin first encountered ZK in the Zcash era and wrote an early article proposing 'ZEthereum' in 2017.
- That curiosity led to meetings with early ZK figures and later joining the Ethereum Foundation as the tech matured.
Snarkified L1 Enables Giga Gas And Cheap Validators
- Snarkifying the L1 EVM enables vastly higher gas limits and stronger decentralization.
- Justin envisions validators running on tiny devices like a $7 Raspberry Pi Pico to widen participation.
Privacy Wormholes For Native L1 Privacy
- Privacy wormholes on L1 could let users opt into privacy by burning funds to unspendable addresses.
- Funds are recreated by submitting a proof of burn, enabling privacy while appearing as normal transactions on-chain.