Zero Knowledge

Latest Episodes:

New ZK Use Cases with Dan Boneh Nov 30, 2022

Show notes

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:

Today’s episode is sponsored by Mina Protocol

The need for private, trustless solutions has never been more clear.

Introducing Mina’s zkSpark Cohort 0, where developers share tutorials and build zero knowledge apps, or zkApps, and get rewarded. There are a quarter-of-a-million Mina tokens up for grabs for zkSpark Cohort 0 participants.

Mina’s zkApps are written in Typescript, so developers can easily get started without learning a custom programming language like other zk protocols.

To sign up for zkSpark Cohort 0 head to minaprotocol.com/zkpodcast.

Mina will be launching additional zkSpark Cohorts, just visit minaprotocol.com to check out the best way to get involved.

If you like what we do:

Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree
Subscribe to our podcast newsletter
Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm
Join us on Telegram
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Head to the ZK Community Forum
Support our Gitcoin Grant

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Verifying Consensus On-Chain with Succinct Nov 23, 2022

Show notes

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:

Today's episode is sponsored by Aztec. Aztec Network is building the first privacy-enabled zkRollup on Ethereum.

The team is proud to announce Noir, the world's first universal ZK language. Noir makes it safe and intuitive to write privacy-preserving ZK circuits.

Aztec is now hiring engineers and cryptographers to build the execution layer supporting Noir's private smart contracts.

Join the team making private Ethereum a reality. You can learn more by visiting aztec.network/careers.

If you like what we do:

Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree
Subscribe to our podcast newsletter
Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm
Join us on Telegram
Catch us on Youtube
Head to the ZK Community Forum
Support our Gitcoin Grant

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Matt Green on bringing ZK into the wild and the compliance debate Nov 16, 2022

Show notes

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:

This week’s episode is sponsored by Aave.

Aave Grants is a community-led grants program, focused on growing a thriving ecosystem of contributors within Aave by funding ideas, projects and events that benefit the protocol or surrounding ecosystem.

Aave’s latest deployment, V3, was launched on 6 networks and introduces new features like Isolation Mode, Efficiency Mode and Portals. A decentralized, collateral-backed stablecoin native to Aave called GHO has also been announced. Look out for more details on the testnet and release coming soon.

Explore the protocol at Aave.com and if you’re building in the ecosystem, apply for a grant through aavegrants.org.

If you like what we do:

Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree
Subscribe to our podcast newsletter
Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm
Join us on Telegram
Catch us on Youtube
Head to the ZK Community Forum
Support our Gitcoin Grant

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A look into Namada and Anoma with Awa Sun Yin Nov 09, 2022

Show notes

In this week's episode, Anna speaks with Awa Sun Yin, co-founder of Anoma & Namada. They discuss her background in crypto analytics, her shift to working on infrastructure and privacy tech, and how the Anoma project came to be. Awa introduces us to the soon to launch Namada network and then describes the various cryptographic pieces that the Anoma team has been developing. They discuss how these fit into Namada and into the future of the Anoma Protocol.

Here are some additional links for this episode:

Check out the sub0 Polkadot Developer Conference in Lisbon here

Join the ZK HACK III - kick off event here
Join the ZK HACK Discord

Today’s episode is sponsored by Aleo

Aleo is a new Layer-1 blockchain that achieves the programmability of Ethereum, the privacy of Zcash, and the scalability of a rollup.

If you’re interested in building private applications then check out Aleo’s programming language called Leo. Visit leo-lang.org to start building.

You can also join Aleo’s incentivized testnet3 by downloading and running a snarkOS node. No sign-up is necessary to participate. For questions, join their Discord at aleo.org/discord.

If you like what we do:

Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree
Subscribe to our podcast newsletter
Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm
Join us on Telegram
Catch us on Youtube
Head to the ZK Community Forum
Support our Gitcoin Grant

Read transcript

From Wireless to Blockchains with Pramod Viswanath Nov 02, 2022

Show notes

In this week’s episode, Anna and Tarun chat with Pramod Viswanath, Professor of Engineering at Princeton and co-founder of Witness Chain.

They discuss Pramod’s early work on wireless networks and how this type of research was brought to market at the time. They also cover topics such as the introduction of adversarial thinking into his research, his move over to blockchain, how the incentives of blockchain could be used within the wireless industry, and Pramod’s new project Witness Chain, which aims to reshape the wireless industry.

Here are some additional links for this episode:

Check out the Aleo repo here

Today’s episode is sponsored by Polygon

Introducing Polygon zkEVM. Polygon’s vision for zkEVM is simple: developers can deploy any Ethereum smart contract to a Layer 2 and benefit from the scaling power of ZK proofs.

Public testnet is now available, so you now have an opportunity to test their work and make improvements!

If you’d like to learn more about Polygon zkEVM visit bit.ly/startonzkevm to check out the Getting Started guide.

If you like what we do:

Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree
Subscribe to our podcast newsletter
Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm
Join us on Telegram
Catch us on Youtube
Head to the ZK Community Forum
Support our Gitcoin Grant

Read transcript

Exploring RISC Zero with Brian Retford and Jeremy Bruestle Oct 26, 2022

Show notes

In this week’s episode, Anna and Guillermo chat with Brian Retford and Jeremy Bruestle from RISC Zero. They discuss their previous work in cloud infrastructure and how ZK offered unique solutions to long standing scaling problems. They cover topics like RISC-V, building VMs, and how RISC Zero aims to build a system which could support a decentralized public cloud.

Here are some additional links for this episode:

Check out the ZK Whiteboard Sessions here. Produced by ZK Hack and powered by Polygon.

Join the ZK Hack Discord
ZK Hack Twitter

Today’s episode is sponsored by Mina Protocol.

If you’re a developer looking to get hands-on experience building zero knowledge applications then you should apply for Mina’s zkApp Beta Testers Leaderboard.

Participants will get access to test challenges where you can learn how to build zkApps on Mina for a chance to rank on the leaderboard against other participants. The top participants will have the opportunity to be considered for a grant!

Learn more about the zkApp Beta Testers Leaderboard and how you can start building zkApps by heading to minaprotocol.com/zkpodcast.

If you like what we do:

Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree
Subscribe to our podcast newsletter
Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm
Join us on Telegram
Catch us on Youtube
Head to the ZK Community Forum
Support our Gitcoin Grant

Read transcript

What’s the Deal with Hash Functions? Oct 19, 2022

Show notes

In this week’s episode, Anna and Kobi Gurkan speak with Dmitry Khovratovich, researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, Dusk Network, and ABDK Consulting and JP Aumasson CSO at Taurus. This episode compares symmetric and asymmetric cryptography as well as a deep dive into hash functions. They explore what hash functions are used for, the process of developing and improving hash functions, and what it means for a hash function to be zk friendly.

Here are some additional links for this episode:

Find the Aleo repo here github.com/aleohq.

Today's episode is sponsored by Anoma.

Anoma is a set of protocols that enable self sovereign coordination.

Anoma's first fractal instance Namada is planned for later in 2022, and it focuses on enabling shielded transfers for any assets, with a few second transaction latency and near zero fees.

Visit anoma.net for more information.

If you like what we do:

Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree
Subscribe to our podcast newsletter
Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm
Join us on Telegram
Catch us on Youtube
Head to the ZK Community Forum
Support our Gitcoin Grant

Read transcript

Impact of Tornado Cash: a Builders Perspective Oct 12, 2022

Show notes

In this week’s episode, Anna and Martin Köppelmann, Co-Founder of Gnosis discuss the OFAC sanctions against Tornado Cash and the impact this has had on builders in the community. They specifically focus on how the Tornado action helped reveal centralizing forces in Ethereum as well as the need for decentralization.

Here are some additional links for this episode:

Find the Anoma Whitepaper here

ZK Jobs Board – has a fresh batch of open roles from ZK-focused projects. Find your next opportunity working in ZK!

Today’s episode is sponsored by Aleo.

Aleo is a new Layer-1 blockchain that achieves the programmability of Ethereum, the privacy of Zcash, and the scalability of a rollup.

If you’re interested in building private applications then check out Aleo’s programming language called Leo. Visit leo-lang.org to start building.

You can also join Aleo’s incentivized testnet3 by downloading and running a snarkOS node. No sign-up is necessary to participate. For questions, join their Discord at aleo.org/discord.

If you like what we do:

Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree
Subscribe to our podcast newsletter
Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm
Join us on Telegram
Catch us on Youtube
Head to the ZK Community Forum
Support our Gitcoin Grant

Read transcript

Revisiting FHE with Rand Hindi from Zama Oct 05, 2022

Show notes

In this week’s episode, Anna revisits the topic of FHE with Rand Hindi, CEO at Zama. FHE stands for Fully Homomorphic Encryption, a cryptosystem that allows for computation to occur on encrypted inputs.

They discuss the FHE landscape, what specific use cases it is ideal for, where the technology is at and how FHE differs from MPC and ZK. They also explore some of the nuances of the different types of approaches to FHE to achieve this cryptographic environment where one can do computation in a truly private manner.

Here are some additional links for this episode:

ZK Jobs Board – has a fresh batch of open roles from ZK-focused projects. Find your next opportunity working in ZK!

Check out the Sub0 Event from the Web3 Foundation to explore the latest in Polkadot Network and the Substrate blockchain framework.

Today's episode is sponsored by Anoma.

Anoma is a set of protocols that enable self sovereign coordination.

Anoma's first fractal instance Namada is planned for later in 2022, and it focuses on enabling shielded transfers for any assets, with a few second transaction latency and near zero fees.

Visit anoma.net for more information.

If you like what we do:

Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree
Subscribe to our podcast newsletter
Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm
Join us on Telegram
Catch us on Youtube
Head to the ZK Community Forum
Support our Gitcoin Grant

Read transcript

Exploring Penumbra with Henry de Valence Sep 28, 2022

Show notes

In this week’s episode, Anna and Guillermo catch up with Henry de Valence from Penumbra. They discuss his thoughts on requirements for adoption of privacy systems and how these led to him to develop Penumbra. They explore how Penumbra aims to use privacy features not as ‘nice to haves' within the system, but rather as essential components that offer a new paradigm for how to think about DeFi in a Multichain Ecosystem.

Here are some additional links for this episode:

Find the Anoma Whitepaper here.

ZK Jobs Board – has a fresh batch of open roles from ZK-focused projects. Find your next opportunity working in ZK!

Today’s episode is sponsored by Aleo.

Aleo is a new Layer-1 blockchain that achieves the programmability of Ethereum, the privacy of Zcash, and the scalability of a rollup.

If you’re interested in building private applications then check out Aleo’s programming language called Leo. Visit leo-lang.org to start building.

You can also join Aleo’s incentivized testnet3 by downloading and running a snarkOS node. No sign-up is necessary to participate. For questions, join their Discord at aleo.org/discord.

If you like what we do: