Zero Knowledge

This week, Anna Rose interviews Avery Ching, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Aptos Labs. They cover Avery’s working history, including his time working on Meta’s Blockchain project, what this experience meant to him and how this led to the creation of Aptos. They discuss Aptos as it stands today, Avery’s experience of building in the current market and the unique qualities of the Aptos project.Here are some additional links for this episode:HotStuff: BFT Consensus with Linearity and Responsiveness by Maofan Yin, Dahlia Malkhi, Michael K. Reiter, Guy Golan Gueta and Ittai AbrahamNarwhal and Tusk: A DAG-based Mempool and Efficient BFT Consensus by George Danezis, Eleftherios Kokoris Kogias, Alberto Sonnino, Alexander SpiegelmanCheck out the ZK Jobs Board here: ZK Jobs. Anoma’s first fractal instance Namada is launching soon! Namada is a proof-of-stake L1 for interchain asset-agnostic privacy. Namada natively interoperates with fast-finality chains via IBC and with Ethereum via a trustless two-way bri

This week, Anna Rose chats with ZK Podcast regular Guillermo Angeris, Head of Research at BCC and Nicolas Mohnblatt, Researcher and Cryptographer at Geometry. This was recorded on April 3rd 2023, the day between the ZK Hack Lisbon hackathon and the zkSummit9 event. They discuss Nico's move from music to cryptography, his earlier privacy research as a Master's student, and his recent research Sangria, which is a folding scheme for Plonk. Guillermo shares some of his current work cleaning up and formalising concepts in zk. And Anna shares some brief thoughts about the recent release of zkpod.ai - the friendly ZK bot featuring Anna’s voice and containing the entirety of the ZKPodcast knowledge (built by Kobi Gurkan). They also chat about some news, insights from ZK Hack Lisbon and some of the projects that were built there and generally check in on the state of the ecosystem. Relevant links: Sangria: a Folding Scheme for PLONK - Geometry Research ZK9: Sangria is relaxed PLONK a Nova-like folding scheme for PLONK

This week Anna Rose chats with Ravital Solomon, founder of Sunscreen. They cover her early interest in lattice-based cryptography and how this paved the way for her work on FHE, starting at NuCypher then with her startup Sunscreen. They dive into the challenges involved when building with FHE as well as exploring the power in combining ZKP and FHE. They also discuss the early emergence of lattice-based zero knowledge proofs.Here are some additional links for this episode:Episode 269: Auctions with Kshitij Kulkarni, Matheus V. X. Ferreira and Tarun Sunscreen TwitterSunscreen Website zkSummit6: Beating the Flash Boys with Fully Homomorphic Encryption + ZKPs Ravital Solomon NuCypher Check out the ZK Jobs Board here: ZK Jobs. Polygon zkEVM is here. This performant, ZK-powered, open-source, EVM-equivalent rollup launched its Mainnet Beta last month. Polygon zkEVM is making scaling truly frictionless—fast finality and EVM-equivalence means devs can do everything they can do with the EVM, only cheaper. To connect to

In this week's episode Anna Rose and Tarun Chitra explore the topic of auctions with guests Kshitij Kulkarni, PHD student at Berkeley’s EECS department and Matheus V. X. Ferreira, Postdoctoral Fellow in Computer Science at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. They discuss the history of auctions, both in the real world and in blockchain, and go on to cover more recent blockchain uses, such as MEV and NFT auctions. They review the incentives of both auction holders and the participants as well as how this incentive design can influence the effectiveness of the auctions themselves. Here are some additional links for this episode:Credibility and Incentives in Gradual Dutch Auctions by Kulkarni, Ferreira and ChitraCredible, Optimal Auctions via Blockchains by Kulkarni, Ferreira and Chitra Optimal Strategic Mining Against Cryptographic Self-Selection in Proof-of-Stake by Kulkarni, Ferreira and ChitraCredible Auctions: A Trilemma by Akbarpour and LiCredible, Truthful, and Two-Round (

In this week’s episode Anna Rose interviews Mustafa Al-Bassam, co-founder of Celestia. They cover where Celestia as an idea emerged from, how its rollup-centric data availability (DA) network works and what can be expected from their upcoming launch. They also chat about how Celestia aims to empower Sovereign chains - independent rollup chains that use Celestia as the DA and consensus layer - and how this Sovereign chain model compares with the Ethereum rollup architecture. Here are some additional links for this episode:Episode 208: Digging into Data Availability with Ismail Khoffi from Celestia A rollup-centric ethereum roadmap Introducing Rollkit: a modular rollup framework My first impressions of web3 Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance Check out the ZK Jobs Board here: ZK Jobs. Aleo is a new Layer-1 blockchain that achieves the programmability of Ethereum, the privacy of Zcash, and the scalability of a rollup.Interested in building private applications? Check out Aleo’s programming language called Leo by

In this two-part series exploring ZK Hardware, Anna Rose interviews various participants from the ZPrize competition, alongside the creator of ZPrize and co-host of this episode Alex Pruden from Aleo. Throughout these interviews, they dig into the different types of hardware, such as GPUs and FPGAs, that can be used to accelerate ZKP computation. They also discuss the underlying mathematical techniques in ZKPs that can be optimized for and the tricks and strategies that ZPrize competitors used to achieve these optimizations. In Part 2 of the series, Anna and Alex first interview Hamid Salehi and Swati Gupta from Xilinx AMD who contribute insights from the perspective of an FPGA manufacturer. Alex and Anna then interview competitor Niall Emmart, previously from NVIDIA. They discuss his previous work and what went into winning both the MSM for GPUs and MSM for Wasm competitions in ZPrize. Here is some additional information for this episode:Hardware/Board options:Varium C1100 board (targeted at accelerating bl

In this 2-part series exploring ZK Hardware, Anna Rose interviews various participants from the ZPrize competition, alongside the creator of ZPrize and co-host of this episode Alex Pruden from Aleo. Through these interviews, they dig into the different types of hardware, such as GPUs and FPGAs, that can be used to accelerate ZKP computation. They also discuss the underlying mathematical techniques in ZKPs that can be optimized for and the tricks and strategies that ZPrize competitors used to achieve these optimizations. In Part 1 of the series, Anna and Alex first interview Luke Pearson from Polychain Capital, who was an architect on the ZPrize. They then interview Ben Devlin and Rahul Yesantharao from Jane Street who were members of one of the winning teams, Hardcaml. Here are some additional links for this episode:[ZPrize.io](Zprize.io)Hardcaml ZPrize Episode 221: Funding the Next Wave of Zero Knowledge Tech Zerocaf: Short ring signatures with Bulletproofs PLONK: Permutations over Lagrange-bases for Oecumen

This week, Anna Rose and Tarun Chitra dive back into the topic of ZK ML with guests Yi Sun, co-founder of Axiom, and Daniel Kang, Assistant Professor of computer science at UIUC. They discuss Yi and Daniel’s previous academic work and what led them to get interested in ZK topics and specifically ZK ML. They then dive into a discussion about 2 recent papers which examine the use of ZK within Machine Learning architectures. Here are some additional links for this episode:Episode 246: Adversarial Machine Learning Research with Florian Tramèr Trustless Verification of Machine LearningEfficient Verifiable Image Redacting based on zk-SNARKs ZK-IMG: Attested Images via Zero-Knowledge Proofs to Fight DisinformationScaling up Trustless DNN Inference with Zero-Knowledge ProofsYi Sun’s Profile Daniel Kang’s ProfileApply for ZK Hack Lisbon here: ZK Hack application Aleo is a new Layer-1 blockchain that achieves the programmability of Ethereum, the privacy of Zcash, and the scalability of a rollup.Interested in building p

In this episode, Anna chats with Hadrien Charlanes from Sismo. They discuss his early experiences in blockchain development and DeFi, and how this led him to build Sismo, a decentralized identity product with privacy preserving properties. They also cover the ZK badge concept: how they're minted and what is happening under the hood as well as interesting emerging use cases using these zk-based on-chain instruments. Here are some additional links for this episode:Sismo.io What is Sismo? Sismo Governance Documentation Factory.sismo.io Hadrien Charlanes TwitterSismo’s Twitter Episode 260: ZK in 2023 with Kobi, Guillermo, and TarunZK HACK III - Introduction to ZK Badges and ZK Attesters - SismoWorldcoin Find out more about zkSummit9 here: zksummit.com.Apply for ZK Hack Lisbon here: ZK Hack application Anoma’s first fractal instance, Namada, is launching soon! Namada is a proof-of-stake L1 for interchain asset-agnostic privacy. Namada natively interoperates with fast-finality chains via IBC and with Ethereum via a

This week, Anna catches up with Zaki Manian, co-founder of Iqlusion and Sommelier. They embark on a comprehensive recap of the history of Cosmos to-date, covering all ground since their last interview 2 years ago. They also dive into topics such as the IBC launch, Osmosis, how the ecosystem grew and accelerated up until the Luna crash and how it continues to recover in its next phase.They then chat about Sommelier and how it has evolved, as well as the concepts of emerging asset types, such as real world assets, and how ZKPs for privacy may finally find a product market fit that could build up real market adoption. You won’t want to miss this one!Here are some additional links for this episode:Episode 108: Catch up with Zaki Manian from TendermintEpisode 174: Through the Cosmos Stargate UpgradeEpisode 201: DeFi’s Multichain Future with Zaki Manian from Sommelier ATOM 2.0 Whitepaper ATOM 2.0 Forum DiscussioniqlusionSommelierApply for zkSummit9 here: zkSummit9 Ticket Application. Aleo is a new Layer-1 blockchai

In this week's episode, Anna Rose and Kobi Gurkan chat with Carl and Trent from the Ethereum Foundation, covering many topics such as their work on the KZG Ceremony and how this is different from the previous trusted setups we have covered. The group takes a deep dive into trusted setups, discussing what they are for, how they have been run and how the setup is going so far. They also discuss Proto-Danksharding and EIP-4844 - a novel way to organize data logistics for Ethereum.Here are some additional links for this episode:KZG Ceremony Episode 76: Sean Bowe on SNARKs, Trusted Setups & Elliptic Curve Cryptography Episode 133: Trusted Setup Ceremonies Explored Episode 137: Trusted Setup Bonus: Tornado CashProto-Danksharding EIP-4844 Powers-of-Tau to the People: Decentralizing Setup Ceremonies by Nikolaenko, Ragsdale, Bonneau, Dan Boneh, 2022Apply for zkSummit9 here: zkSummit9 Ticket Application. Aztec Network is building a next-generation encrypted blockchain powered by Ethereum. Aztec is now hiring engin

This week, Anna chats with Justin Thaler, Associate Professor at Georgetown. They cover Justin’s academic history and discuss what led him to working on interactive proofs and SNARKs. They also take a look at several other topics such as the Thaler Book Study Group, his earlier work Spartan, comparing the security of different rollups built with SNARKs and STARKs and more.Here are some additional links for this episode:Justin Thaler Georgetown ProfileProofs, Arguments, and Zero-Knowledge Proofs by Justin Thaler, 2022 vSQL: Verifying Arbitrary SQL Queries over Dynamic Outsourced Databases Paper Hardware-friendliness of HyperPlonk by Ingonyama Proposed milestones for rollups taking off training wheelsA Graduate Course in Applied Cryptography by Boneh and Shoup, 2023 - Page 617 for elliptic curves over finite fields Quarks: Quadruple-efficient transparent zkSNARKs by Setty and Lee Brakedown: Linear-time and post-quantum SNARKs for R1CS by Golovnev, Lee, Setty, Thaler and Wahby, 2021 zkHack Website zkHack Discord

In this week’s episode, Anna and guest co-hosts Guillermo, Tarun and Kobi share their thoughts about the state of Zero Knowledge tech today and what it might look like going in 2023. The group discusses some exciting ZK experiments and some of the emerging topics such as: ZK ID, ZK Bridges, ZK DeFi, and more. Here are some additional links for this episode:Epicenter:State of the ZK Ecosystem with Anna Rose & Kobi Gurkan Pt 1Epicenter:State of the ZK Ecosystem with Anna Rose & Kobi Gurkan P2 Episode 246: Adversarial Machine Learning Research with Florian Tramèr Episode 247: Exploring Penumbra with Henry de Valence Apply for zkSummit9 here: zkSummit9 Ticket Application. Ever wish you could use existing rust libraries in ZK? This is a friendly reminder from the team at RISC Zero that you can! To learn more, check out the Risc Zero video tutorials from the last ZK Hack at www.youtube.com/@risczero. Follow RISC Zero on Twitter @risczero to make sure you don’t miss their upcoming 1.0 launch and the alpha la

Apply for the zkSummit 9 ->> https://9lcje6jbgv1.typeform.com/to/FCoktPh9 Happening in Lisbon on April 4th Keep an eye on our twitter and telegram channel for more info!

In this week’s episode, Anna and part-time Zero Knowledge co-hosts Tarun, Guillermo, Josh and Kobi, get together for a casual catch up and have a look back at 2022. They trace Jan to today in both the zk community and the larger ecosystem, discussing the highs and the lows, focusing on the major events which stood out to them. If you think the team missed anything, let us know by replying to our tweet announcing this episode of the Podcast. Find us at the Zero Knowledge FM Twitter. This is the final episode of 2022 and Anna and the Zero Knowledge Podcast team thanks you for your support this year! Happy Holidays and see you in 2023! Here are some additional links for this episode: Wormhole Hack zkSummit 7 + 8 Playlist The aftermath of Axie Infinity’s $650M Ronin Bridge hack Collapse of Luna cryptocurrency leads to $11 million exploit on Venus Protocol The Big Three zkEVM Announcements Three Arrows Capital to become latest casualty of crypto crash Nomad crypto bridge loses $200 million in ‘chaoti

In this episode, Anna explores the concept of Ultrasound Money with Justin Drake from the Ethereum Foundation. They kick off with updates on his work in VDFs, MEV and censorship resistance, alongside his particular interests in ZK and how the progress VRFs have made can be applied in Ethereum’s POS architecture. They then dive into the original concept of Ultrasound Money and where Justin sees it progressing to in the future, including the current status around issuance. Here are some additional links for this episode: Episode 74: Blockchain 101: Randomness and Random Beacons with Justin Drake Episode 120: ZKPs in Ethereum with Vitalik Buterin & Justin Drake Episode 168: Flashbots with Phil Daian and Stephane Gosselin Zero Knowledge Episodes on zkEVMs ZK Whiteboard Sessions: Module Fourteen - Nova Crash Course with Justin Drake MevWatch.Info DeFi Llama L2BEAT Ultrasound.Money Website RISC Zero announce the next version of their ZKVM is now available on GitHub at github.com/risc0 Today’s ep

This week, Anna explores the topic of proof of solvency with Kostas Chalkias, co-founder and chief of Cryptography at MystenLabs. They cover Kostas’ background in Cryptography and explore his work on Proof of Reserves, otherwise known as Proof of Solvency. They review past Proof of Solvency models using ZKPs and look at the protocols that major centralized exchanges are currently using. Then they dive into the security vulnerabilities, privacy issues, and general bugs that Kostas and his collaborators have identified in these protocols and their recommendations on how to better build Proof of Solvency systems. Here are some additional links for this episode: Episode 227: Move & Sui with Sam Blackshear from Mysten Labs Hard Questions: Update on Cambridge Analytica Provisions: Privacy-preserving proofs of solvency for Bitcoin exchanges By Dagher, Bünz, Bonneau, Clark and Boneh Broken Proofs of Solvency in Blockchain Custodial Wallets and Exchanges By Chalkias, Chatzigiannis and Ji Groth16 still live

On this week’s episode, Anna and Kobi Gurkan chat with Dan Boneh, Professor of Computer Science at Stanford and Director of the Stanford Center for Blockchain Research. They cover an expanse of topics: from how strides have been made within the development of zkEVMs to how trusted set ups could be integrated into the blockchain itself. This episode covers open problems in ZK such as how to generate ZK proofs on large amounts of data such as video and what solutions could be implemented when attempting to run a DAO with a private treasury. Here are some additional links for this episode: Episode 100: Dan Boneh on the past, present & future of cryptography Experimenting with Collaborative zk-SNARKs: Zero-Knowledge Proofs for Distributed Secrets by Ozdemir and Boneh, 2021 Powers-of-Tau to the People: Decentralizing Setup Ceremonies ZK Whiteboard Sessions Join ZK HACK III - see the full schedule here Join the ZK HACK Discord Follow the ZK Hack Twitter Today’s episode is sponsored by Mina

In this week’s episode, Anna and Tarun speak with Succinct Labs. Guests Uma Roy and John Guibas discuss their interest in ZK, their work with 0xparc and the goals of Succinct Labs - that is to provide proof of consensus through SNARK-based light clients. Acting similar to IBC, but in the Ethereum context, we discuss the challenge of building ZK-based light clients on Ethereum, their first implementation linking Gnosis Chain to Ethereum, and how they imagine interacting with the larger blockchain space. Here are some additional links for this episode: 0xPARC Learning Resources TrustBoost: Boosting Trust among Interoperable Blockchains by Wang, Sheng, Kannan, Nayak, Viswanath, 2022 Episode 136: Math competitions, crypto as alchemy & Gasper with Yan Zhang Past ZK HACK Events and Puzzles Join the ZK HACK III - Session #2 on 24 November Join the ZK HACK Discord Follow the ZK Hack Twitter Today's episode is sponsored by Aztec. Aztec Network is building the first privacy-enabled zkRollu

In this week’s episode, Anna and Josh Cincinnati chat with Matt Green, a cryptographer and professor at Johns Hopkins University. They explore Matt’s background in security, blockchain and privacy technologies. He shares his thoughts on early ZK blockchain research, the founding of Zcash, growth in the ZK space, how the industry is ready for tangible use-cases and navigating anonymity and regulatory bodies. This episode closes with a review of Matt’s perspective on the Tornado Cash sanctions and what this means for the space. Here are some additional links for this episode: Radiant Commons Website Sealance Website Zerocash: Decentralized Anonymous Payments from Bitcoin by Ben-Sasson, Chiesa, Garman, Green, Miers, Tromer, and Virza, 2014 An approximate introduction to how zk-SNARKs are possible by Vitalik Buterin Episode 245: Sanctions against Tornado Cash: a Legal Perspective Join the ZK HACK III - kick off event here Join the ZK HACK Discord This week’s episode is sponsored by Aave. Aave