Zero Knowledge

Nico Mohnblatt, a notable expert in zero-knowledge cryptography, joins to reflect on 2024's ZK events. He shares behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the ZK Jargon Decoder and highlights key discussions from the zkSummit events. The duo explores the collaborative spirit of past gatherings and innovations in cryptographic proofs. They also delve into the educational impact of ZK Whiteboard Sessions and the importance of diverse speaker proposals in the crypto community. Insights into future developments in privacy technologies round out their conversation.

Mikerah Quintyne-Collins, a technical founder known for her work on privacy-preserving technologies, shares her journey in the crypto space. She discusses her early experiences at ChainSafe and the founding of HashCloak. The conversation dives into the challenges and advancements in Multi-Party Computation (MPC) and critiques the narratives surrounding privacy technologies. Mikerah also highlights the importance of memes in her tweet game and advocates for a collaborative approach among various cryptographic solutions in the evolving world of decentralized finance.

Just sharing 2 updates: 1) the ZK Whiteboard sessions are BACK with a second season! These videos will be released every 2 weeks for the next 3 months on ZK Hack channels - See Season 1 videos here: https://zkhack.dev/whiteboard/ See Season 2 Module 1 here: https://zkhack.dev/whiteboard/s2m1/2) The Zero Knowledge Podcast (aka this show!) will take a pause on the weekly cadence of the show starting Oct 16th until the end of 2024. Expect last 2 episodes on Oct 9 and Oct 16 There may be some additional episodes released this year (but no plans yet) Keep an eye on our website and twitter for updates about the show (and soon an updated website!)

SummaryThis week Anna catches up with Zac Williamson & Ariel Gabizon from Aztec. They cover what each has been working on over the last year, Zac shared updates about the development of Aztec and the finalization of their underlying ZK system: MegaPlonk. Ariel discussed his latest research on IVC with his publications of the ProtoGalaxy and Stackproofs works and how properties of this systems brought him and Zac to start working together again. Here’s some additional links for this episode:Episode 273: History of Plonk, Noir, and the building of Aztec 3 Episode 274: SNARKs: A Trilogy with Ariel GabizonzkSummit: plookup: Speeding up the PLONK prover - Zac Williamson & Ariel Gabizon ProtoGalaxy: Efficient ProtoStar-style folding of multiple instances by Liam Eagen and Ariel GabizonHyperNova: Recursive arguments for customizable constraint systems by Kothapalli and SettyProtoStar: Generic Efficient Accumulation/Folding for Special Sound Protocols by Bünz and Chencq: Cached quotients for fast lookups by Eagen, Fiore and GabizonDelegating Computation: Interactive Proofs for Muggles by Goldwasser, Kalai and RothblumUnlocking the lookup singularity with Lasso by Setty, Thaler and Wahby Stackproofs: Private proofs of stack and contract execution using Protogalaxy by Eagen, Gabizon, Sefranek, Towa and Williamson Accumulation without Homomorphism by Bünz, Mishra, Nguyen and WangAztec.networkCheck out the ZK Jobs Board for the latest jobs in ZK at jobsboard.zeroknowledge.fm zkSummit12 is happening in Lisbon next week on Oct 8th! Buy your ticket at zksummit.com, spots are limited!Episode SponsorsAttention, all projects in need of server-side proving, kick start your rollup with Gevulot's ZkCloud, the first zk-optimized decentralized cloud! Get started with a free trial plus extended grant opportunities for premier customers until Q1 2025. Register at Gevulot.com.Aleo is a new Layer-1 blockchain that achieves the programmability of Ethereum, the privacy of Zcash, and the scalability of a rollup.As Aleo is gearing up for their mainnet launch in Q1, this is an invitation to be part of a transformational ZK journey. Dive deeper and discover more about Aleo at http://aleo.org/.If you like what we do:Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | LinktreeSubscribe to our podcast newsletterFollow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch us on YouTube Read transcript

Lukas Helminger, a pioneer in cryptography and privacy tech, joins Ais Connolly, a foundational force at TACEO, to discuss their innovative work on coSNARKs. They break down how these Collaborative SNARKs merge multi-party computation with zero-knowledge proofs. The duo explores practical applications, the coCircom language, and the evolution of their projects. They also touch on the implications of decentralized uniqueness verification and the challenges of biometric data privacy in the blockchain space.

Zaki Manian, a key player in the Cosmos ecosystem, delves into whether Cosmos is nearing its end. He discusses its turbulent history, including the aftermath of the Luna crash and the challenges facing leadership and community engagement. Zaki highlights the ongoing efforts to revive Cosmos through innovation, confronting issues like disillusionment among contributors. They explore the need for better collaboration and the potential of new initiatives to unify the fragmented ecosystem, prompting a critical look at its future.

In this engaging discussion, Andrew Miller, an expert in consensus and TEEs who has contributed to pioneering blockchain research, joins Tarun. They delve into the evolution of Trusted Execution Environments, exploring their potential to address key blockchain challenges. Andrew shares insights from his journey from virtual reality to Bitcoin and critiques the current state of consensus research. The conversation highlights emerging privacy solutions in blockchain, emphasizing zero-knowledge proofs and innovative projects like Sura, shaping the future of secure applications.

Arnaud Schenk, co-founder of Aztec and creator of the Polaris Fellowship, dives into the nuanced world of trust infrastructure and programmable cryptography. He highlights the pitfalls of trustless systems and the need for established norms in online communities. Their conversation traces the roots of digital culture back to 60s counterculture and discusses how community dynamics drive innovation. Schenk emphasizes the interplay between collaboration and trust, and the importance of creating supportive digital environments for the crypto ecosystem.

Naveen Durvasula, a matching markets and mechanism design expert, joins Tarun to dive deep into restaking in cryptocurrency. They explore the foundations of restaking mechanisms and how they can be optimized. The conversation also touches on the complexities of validator decision-making and the risks tied to Alternative Validator Services. Furthermore, they discuss the intersection of theoretical concepts and practical applications in blockchain, emphasizing the need for clarity in understanding operational dynamics.

SummaryIn this week’s episode, Anna chats with Connor O’Hara from Celestia. After discussing the latest ZK Hack Montréal event where Connor was a judge, they dive into his professional background, the ecosystems he has been a part of and what led him to work on Celestia. They then discuss various ZK-focused initiatives within the Celestia ecosystem.Here’s some additional links for this episode:Episode 311: The Launch of Celestia and Beyond 03:22 ZK Hack Montréal 08:08 ZK Hack Devfolio24:33 Episode 151: John Adler on Optimistic vs ZK Rollup and the data availability problem30:24 Episode 208: Digging into Data Availability with Ismail Khoffi from Celestia41:26 Episode 220: The Road to Plonky2 with Brendan and Daniel from Polygon Zero46:49 Vitalik Buterin Endgame Blog Post 49:41 Light Nodes Everywhere: Why & How - Connor O'Hara at Modulard Summit 56:29 ZK11: 1 Circuit, 5 Rollups: Building a Re-Usable DA Integration for ZK Rollups - Connor O'HaraCheck out the ZK Jobs Board for the latest jobs in ZK at jobsboard.zeroknowledge.fm Episode SponsorsGet ready to build with intention. Anoma is the universal intent machine, introducing a new era of applications where you define the outcomes you want. Follow Anoma on X to learn more at x.com/anomaAleo is a new Layer-1 blockchain that achieves the programmability of Ethereum, the privacy of Zcash, and the scalability of a rollup.As Aleo is gearing up for their mainnet launch in Q1, this is an invitation to be part of a transformational ZK journey. Dive deeper and discover more about Aleo at http://aleo.org/.If you like what we do:Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | LinktreeSubscribe to our podcast newsletterFollow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch us on YouTube Read transcript