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Zero Knowledge

Zero Knowledge

410 episodes — Page 6 of 9

DAppNode & the ETH2 kick off with Eduardo Antuña Díez

This week, Anna chats with Eduardo Antuñia Díez - co-founder / project lead of DAppNode - about the importance of running your own node, the roll out of ETH2 and the role DAppNode aims to play in the future.Here are some useful links: STABLE ActJordi episodeDAppNode DiscordDAppNode Gaurdians of Ethereum DAO proposalZero Knowledge Gitcoin grant is eligible for Gitcoin's CLR matching - on now! Last chance to donate before the new year. Thanks to this week’s sponsor O(1) Labs, the team incubating [Mina](minaprotocol.com) protocol.Mina is the world’s lightest blockchain, powered by participants. And over the past 18 months, the community - alongside the core team at O(1) Labs - have been working on a rigorous testnet. And now they’re close to finding a mainnet candidate. Signup for this adversarial testnet, Testworld. Signups open today, but is limited to the first 1000 participants. Go to minaprotocol.com/adversarial to secure your spot. Also be sure to join their active technical community discord at bit.ly/minadiscordIf you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch us on YoutubeRead up on the r/ZKPodcast subredditGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreon Read transcript

Dec 16, 20201h 0m

MACI with Koh Wei Jie

This week, Anna chats with Koh Wei Jie from the Ethereum Foundation about the MACI or Minimum Anti-Collusion Infrastructure. They chat about the challenges in voting digitally and in decentralised networks, how MACI uses zkps to solve this, and how it could be used in the context of quadratic voting. They also do a step by step walkthrough of how a vote is cast and counted in MACIHere are some helpful links: https://www.zeroknowledge.fm/133https://kohweijie.com/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKuNj_IQVYIhttps://github.com/appliedzkp/macihttps://www.maxgrok.com/posts/clrfundCheck out the Zero Knowledge Podcast Gitcoin Grant here -> https://gitcoin.co/grants/329/zero-knowledge-podcastThanks to this week's sponsor Parity Technologies Parity is a company building the core infrastructure to power Web 3.0. And at the heart of the company is a genuine goal of empower developers to create better products and services through decentralized web technologies.Parity has the following job openings: • Berlin office: looking for a passionate social media manager to maintain and grow the company’s social networks, and to activate customers and contributors. into advocates. • Remote work: looking for a CI/CD Engineer to help automate an ever-growing set of open source repos in GitHub. Experience: Github Actions, Gitlab CI or similar, Linux, Compiler experience like Docker.Find out more at parity.io/jobsSo thanks again Parity! If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefm -https://twitter.com/zeroknowledgefmJoin us on Telegram -https://t.me/joinchat/B_81tQ57-ThZg8yOSx5gjACatch us on Youtube -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYWsYz5cKw4wZ9Mpe4kuM_gRead up on the r/ZKPodcast subreddit -https://www.reddit.com/r/zkpodcast Give us feedback! -https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin Grant -https://gitcoin.co/grants/329/zero-knowledge-podcast-2Support us on the ZKPatreon -https://www.patreon.com/zeroknowledgeOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ Read transcript

Dec 9, 202044 min

Threshold Cryptography with Omer Shlomovits from ZenGo

In this week’s episode, we chat with Omer Shlomovits from ZenGo Wallet about MPC, threshold cryptography and how the research around this topic can be used in a blockchain context. We reference the Zero Knowledge Podcast Episode 90 with Nigel Smart. Here are some additional links to check out: ZenGo XFlaws Could Have Exposed Cryptocurrency Exchanges to Hackers presented at Blackhat USA Omer’s work on DiogenesSurvey of threshold ECDSAMPC Alliance JugglingSwap: Scriptless Atomic Cross-Chain SwapsCryptoWills: How to Bequeath CryptoassetsThanks to this week’s sponsor Least Authority. If you are skilled in the area of zero-knowledge protocols and other advanced cryptography for scalability and privacy enhancing tech, you should get in contact with them. They currently have an open security auditor position see more at leastauthority.com/careersYou can also find the Gitcoin grants here:Least Authority’s Grant for the Moon Math Manual -> https://gitcoin.co/grants/543/the-moonmath-manual-to-zk-snarksZero Knowledge Podcast -> https://gitcoin.co/grants/329/zero-knowledge-podcastIf you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch us on YoutubeRead up on the r/ZKPodcast subredditGive us feedback! -https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ Read transcript

Dec 2, 202053 min

Illia Polosukhin on the development and launch of NEAR protocol

This week, Anna catches up with Illia Polosukhin, CTO and co-founder of NEAR, to talk about what's new in the network since last year. They go deeper on some of the topics they discussed last time - such as sharded vs non-sharded blockchains and data availability as well as discuss the long and rocky road to launching a new PoS network, building a validator community and where we might see privacy and zkp tech in Near. Some episodes we reference in our chat. Ep 91: Near Protocol's focus on UXEp 135: Look into SolanaEp 156: Stateless Validation with Alin TomescuThank you to this week’s sponsor Trail of Bits. Trail of Bits has published this guide for building secure contracts with their Crytic offering. Crytic is a SaaS-based GitHub application created by Trail of Bits that continuously assures your Ethereum smart contracts are safe and functional. It reports build status on every commit and runs a suite of security analyses so you get immediate security feedback. Check out this guide - which I have added to the show notes - for tips on how to build security into your dapps from the start and how to use the Trail of Bits suite of tools for automated vulnerability detection. Thank you once again Trail of BitsIf you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefm -https://twitter.com/zeroknowledgefmJoin us on Telegram -https://t.me/joinchat/B_81tQ57-ThZg8yOSx5gjACatch us on Youtube -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYWsYz5cKw4wZ9Mpe4kuM_gRead up on the r/ZKPodcast subreddit -https://www.reddit.com/r/zkpodcast Give us feedback! -https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin Grant -https://gitcoin.co/grants/329/zero-knowledge-podcast-2Support us on the ZKPatreon -https://www.patreon.com/zeroknowledgeOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ Read transcript

Nov 25, 20201h 2m

Stateless Validation with Alin Tomescu

In this week’s episode, Anna and Fredrik chat with Alin Tomescu, a post-doc researcher at VMWare Research Group, about the concept of stateless systems. Specifically, they explore his work on stateless validation, why this would be desirable and what is the state of the research around this topic. Have a look at Alin’s previous zkStudy Club episodes: zkStudyClub: Alin Tomescu on authenticated dictionaries and cross-incremental proof (dis)aggregation & zkStudyClub: Aggregatable Subvector Commitments with Alin Tomescu (VMWare Research)This episode is packed full of info and Alin shared an amazing list of resources to help navigate this : RMCI17e, Improving Authenticated Dynamic Dictionaries, with Applications to Cryptocurrencies, Leonid Reyzin and Dmitry Meshkov and Alexander Chepurnoy and Sasha IvanovCPZ18, Edrax: A Cryptocurrency with Stateless Transaction Validation, 2018, Alexander Chepurnoy and Charalampos Papamanthou and Yupeng ZhangBBF18, Batching Techniques for Accumulators with Applications to IOPs and Stateless Blockchains, 2018, Dan Boneh and Benedikt Bünz and Ben FischTome20, How to Keep a Secret and Share a Public Key (Using Polynomial Commitments), 2020, Tomescu, Alin, CFG+20, [Vector Commitment Techniques and Applications to Verifiable Decentralized Storage](https://eprint.iacr.org/2020/149], 2020, Matteo Campanelli and Dario Fiore and Nicola Greco and Dimitris Kolonelos and Luca NizzardoGRWZ20, Pointproofs: Aggregating Proofs for Multiple Vector Commitments, 2020, Sergey Gorbunov and Leonid Reyzin and Hoeteck Wee and Zhenfei ZhangTAB+20e, Aggregatable Subvector Commitments for Stateless Cryptocurrencies, 2020, Alin Tomescu and Ittai Abraham and Vitalik Buterin and Justin Drake and Dankrad Feist and Dmitry KhovratovichLGG+20, Aardvark: A Concurrent Authenticated Dictionary with Short Proofs, 2020, Derek Leung and Yossi Gilad and Sergey Gorbunov and Leonid Reyzin and Nickolai ZeldovichAR20, KVaC: Key-Value Commitments for Blockchains and Beyond, 2020, Shashank Agrawal and Srinivasan RaghuramanTXN20, Authenticated Dictionaries with Cross-Incremental Proof (Dis)aggregation, 2020, Alin Tomescu and Yu Xia and Zachary NewmanzkSummit6 is happening on Nov 23-24 2020 - grab your spot: https://www.zksummit.com/Thanks to this week's sponsor Parity Technologies. Check out Polkadot Decoded happening on December 3rd. This free online event is the Polkadot community conference and the first Polkadot gathering since the multi-chain network’s launch and decentralization.Featuring a full program of talks on all aspects of Polkadot by the teams building the network’s core technology, as well as those building ecosystem parachains, applications, and cross-network bridges Whether you’re new to Polkadot or an experienced Polkadot community member, be sure to learn the latest and future developments in the Polkadot ecosystem and connect with the Polkadot community.Check out the full program for Polkadot Decoded and register for free at decoded.polkadot.networkThanks again Parity Technologies! If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefm -https://twitter.com/zeroknowledgefmJoin us on Telegram -https://t.me/joinchat/B_81tQ57-ThZg8yOSx5gjACatch us on Youtube -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYWsYz5cKw4wZ9Mpe4kuM_gRead up on the r/ZKPodcast subreddit -https://www.reddit.com/r/zkpodcast Give us feedback! -https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin Grant -https://gitcoin.co/grants/329/zero-knowledge-podcast-2Support us on the ZKPatreon -https://www.patreon.com/zeroknowledgeOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ Read transcript

Nov 18, 20201h 5m

Testing PoW Consensus Algorithm Security with Ren Zhang from Nervos

In this week’s episode, we revisit the topic of consensus algorithms with Ren Zhang, a researchers at Nervos and previously at imec-COSIC (KU Leuven). We chat about an earlier work he did on evaluating PoW consensus protocols security and explore his more recent work on NC-Max - a consensus protocol that breaks the throughput limit and enables the full utilization of the nodes’ bandwidth in confirming transactionsHere are a few of the links we mention in the interview: Consensus Algorithms & HotStuff with Ittai AbrahamMajority is not Enough:Bitcoin Mining is VulnerableFruitChains: A Fair BlockchainRSK technologySubchains: A Technique to Scale Bitcoin and Improve the User ExperienceLay Down the Common Metrics: Evaluating Proof-of-Work Consensus Protocols' Security by Ren Zhang & Bart PreneelNC-Max: Breaking the Throughput Limit of Nakamoto Consensus by Ren Zhang, Dingwei Zhang, Quake Wang, Jan Xie and Bart PreneelSquirRL - A recent paper extending the "Lay Down the Common Metrics" paperMarkov decision process on Wikipedia- Monsters in the Mempool with Dan Robinson from ParadigmPrism: Deconstructing the Blockchain to Approach Physical LimitsAlan Szepieniec on Hash Functions & Supersonic SNARKsMore on Nervos:For the UTXO Programming Model of Nervos, the best starting point is Ren’s colleague Xuejie Xiao's blog.An explanation of Nervos DAOAn introduction of the Virtual Machine and smart contract support Thanks to our sponsor Least Authority. Least Authority is a security consulting company known for their dedication to pushing the limits on how to build privacy-respecting solutions. They are a team of security researchers, open source developers, privacy advocates, cryptographers who specialize in security audits, design specification reviews, and security-by-design. Given that privacy is at the core of their work and mission, least authority recognizes the importance of privacy in DeFi and other decentralizing technologies and the role it plays in preserving balance of power. Least Authority is supporting this through a growing list of security reviews, building distributed systems and regular contributions to open source software projects.To find out about their work, visit leastauthority.com to check out their security audit reports.And get in touch at [email protected] if you want to talk about the security of your DeFi project. If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefm -https://twitter.com/zeroknowledgefmJoin us on Telegram -https://t.me/joinchat/B_81tQ57-ThZg8yOSx5gjACatch us on Youtube -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYWsYz5cKw4wZ9Mpe4kuM_gRead up on the r/ZKPodcast subreddit -https://www.reddit.com/r/zkpodcast Give us feedback! -https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin Grant -https://gitcoin.co/grants/329/zero-knowledge-podcast-2Support us on the ZKPatreon -https://www.patreon.com/zeroknowledgeOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ Read transcript

Nov 11, 202055 min

ZK for authentication with Nolan and Locke from NuID

In this week’s episode, Anna spoke with Nolan Smith and Locke Brown, co-founders at NuID - a zero knowledge authentication solution. They explore the use-case of zk-powered password management and how this relates to Identity. Here are a few of the articles mentioned in the episode: -Universally Composable Direct Anonymous Attestation by Jan Camenisch , Manu Drijvers , and Anja Lehmann-Practical UC-Secure Delegatable Credentials with Attributes and Their Application to Blockchain by Jan Camenisch , Manu Drijvers , and Anja Lehmann-Privacy-Preserving User-Auditable Pseudonym Systems by Jan Camenisch & Anja Lehmann IBM Research – ZurichFind out more at the NuID developer portal https://portal.nuid.ioThanks to this week’s sponsor AleoAleo is the first platform for fully private applications. It uses blockchain and zero-knowledge cryptography to deliver a web experience that is both personal and private. With Aleo, developers can write private applications, without a background in blockchains or expertise in cryptography.Aleo has released Developer Preview I, an early peek at what the future of the web will look like. The release introduces a new programming language called Leo, a new community-driven package manager for Leo, and a new development environment or IDE called Aleo Studio.We recently had Howard Wu, a co-founder of Aleo, on the show for an interview - you can find that episode here. Learn more about Aleo at https://aleo.org/ Thanks again Aleo! If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefm -https://twitter.com/zeroknowledgefmJoin us on Telegram -https://t.me/joinchat/B_81tQ57-ThZg8yOSx5gjACatch us on Youtube -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYWsYz5cKw4wZ9Mpe4kuM_gRead up on the r/ZKPodcast subreddit -https://www.reddit.com/r/zkpodcast Give us feedback! -https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin Grant -https://gitcoin.co/grants/329/zero-knowledge-podcast-2Support us on the ZKPatreon -https://www.patreon.com/zeroknowledgeOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ Read transcript

Nov 4, 202052 min

Monsters in the Mempool with Dan Robinson from Paradigm

In this week’s episode, we chat with Dan Robinson, a Research Partner at Paradigm. We talk about the world of crypto VC and revisit of the topic of the Ethereum mempool. We then hear Dan's story about how he and some colleagues tried to save a transaction from the monsters that lurk in the mempool as told in his blog post entitled “Ethereum is a Dark Forest”. For some background, here are some links: Ep 44: Blockchain 101: Transaction lifecycle & the mempoolEthereum is a Dark Forest By Dan Robinson and Georgios KonstantopoulosEscaping the Dark Forest by SamCZSun Ep 141: ZK & Games: Dark Forest with Brian Gu Thanks to our sponsor Least Authority. Least Authority is a security consulting company known for their dedication to pushing the limits on how to build privacy-respecting solutions. They are a team of security researchers, open source developers, privacy advocates, cryptographers who specialize in security audits, design specification reviews, and security-by-design. Known for security audits like the Eth 2.0 Specification, Protocol Lab's Gossipsub Protocol, Atomex Library, Wallet and Smart Contracts for Tezos Foundation, Blockstack's Investor Wallet, Centrifuge Tinlake 3.0 and more, the Least Authority team is passionate about advancing the security of projects in the blockchain, cryptocurrency and DeFi space. If you are looking to further improve the security of your protocol and its use of cryptography, email Least Authority at [email protected] to book a no-obligations consultation appointment. Thanks again Least AuthorityIf you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefm -https://twitter.com/zeroknowledgefmJoin us on Telegram -https://t.me/joinchat/B_81tQ57-ThZg8yOSx5gjACatch us on Youtube -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYWsYz5cKw4wZ9Mpe4kuM_gRead up on the r/ZKPodcast subreddit -https://www.reddit.com/r/zkpodcast Give us feedback! -https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin Grant -https://gitcoin.co/grants/329/zero-knowledge-podcast-2Support us on the ZKPatreon -https://www.patreon.com/zeroknowledgeOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ Read transcript

Oct 28, 202055 min

Blockchain analytics with Alex Svanevik from Nansen

In this week’s episode, guest host Tarun Chitra and Anna chat with Alex Svanevik, CEO & cofounder of Nansen. They cover crypto analytics, DeFi analytics as well as discuss the push and pull between a need for privacy and the need for blockchain transparency and data. Topics include: can DeFi and Privacy co-exist, how being aware of blockchain analytics could help people improve their opsec, the role of reputation in these systems, and, finally, how analytics in public blockchains may used as a novel marketing tactic (eg. when someone purposefully makes a big buy, knowing sophisticated traders are following their every move using these analytics tools and will see this as a signal to buy as well).Thanks to this week’s sponsor AleoAleo is the first platform for fully private applications. It uses blockchain and zero-knowledge cryptography to deliver a web experience that is both personal and private. With Aleo, developers can write private applications, without a background in blockchains or expertise in cryptography.Aleo has released Developer Preview I, an early peek at what the future of the web will look like. The release introduces a new programming language called Leo, a new community-driven package manager for Leo, and a new development environment or IDE called Aleo Studio.We recently had Howard Wu, a co-founder of Aleo, on the show for an interview - you can find that episode here. Learn more about Aleo at https://aleo.org/ Thanks again Aleo! If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefm -https://twitter.com/zeroknowledgefmJoin us on Telegram -https://t.me/joinchat/B_81tQ57-ThZg8yOSx5gjACatch us on Youtube -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYWsYz5cKw4wZ9Mpe4kuM_gRead up on the r/ZKPodcast subreddit -https://www.reddit.com/r/zkpodcast Give us feedback! -https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin Grant -https://gitcoin.co/grants/329/zero-knowledge-podcast-2Support us on the ZKPatreon -https://www.patreon.com/zeroknowledgeOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ Read transcript

Oct 21, 20201h 3m

John Adler on Optimistic vs ZK Rollup and the data availability problem

In this episode, we chat with John Adler - co-founder of Lazy Ledger (now Celestia) and Fuel Labs. We compare Optimistic Rollups and ZK Rollups as well as discuss how Ethereum, specifically Eth1, could look over the next few years. We also talk about the data availability challenge in blockchains and how Lazy Ledger aims to solve this. Relevant links can be found here: James Prestwich's thread on Scalability vs Throughput mythsThe LazyLedger academic paper Security analysis of ORU from Fuel What would a rollup-centric ethereum roadmap look like?Video: "Scaling Ethereum in 2020 and Beyond" - Vitalik ButerinSome additional thoughts from John on Eth1Thanks to our sponsor Least Authority. Least Authority is a security consulting company known for their dedication to pushing the limits on how to build privacy-respecting solutions. They are a team of security researchers, open source developers, privacy advocates, cryptographers who specialize in security audits, design specification reviews, and security-by-design. Known for their security reviews, including work with zero knowledge proofs as well as having implemented zero-knowledge access passes with the distributed storage system, Tahoe-LAFS. If you are skilled in the area of zero-knowledge protocols and other advanced cryptography for scalability and privacy enhancing tech, you should get in contact with them. They’re expanding their team, so email them at [email protected] again Least AuthorityIf you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefm -https://twitter.com/zeroknowledgefmJoin us on Telegram -https://t.me/joinchat/B_81tQ57-ThZg8yOSx5gjACatch us on Youtube -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYWsYz5cKw4wZ9Mpe4kuM_gRead up on the r/ZKPodcast subreddit -https://www.reddit.com/r/zkpodcast Give us feedback! -https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin Grant -https://gitcoin.co/grants/329/zero-knowledge-podcast-2Support us on the ZKPatreon -https://www.patreon.com/zeroknowledgeOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ Read transcript

Oct 14, 20201h 10m

NFTs & Rarible with Alex Salnikov

This week, Anna continues to dig into the topic of NFTs - That is Non-Fungible-Tokens or unique digital items - with Alex Salnikov, co-founder & chief product officer at Rarible. They talk about the project, the link between NFTs and DeFi concepts, how the NFT space is developing, novel use cases and more. Here are some of the topics we mention: The path to an ERC standard CryptoKitties, Dapper Labs and Flow with Dieter Shirley Somnium Space VR 0x Cert Centrifuge Thank you to this week’s sponsor Trail of Bits. Trail of Bits has published a new guide for building secure contracts with their Crytic offering. Crytic is a SaaS-based GitHub application created by Trail of Bits that continuously assures your Ethereum smart contracts are safe and functional. It reports build status on every commit and runs a suite of security analyses so you get immediate security feedback. Check out this guide - which I have added to the show notes - for tips on how to build security into your dapps from the start and how to use the Trail of Bits suite of tools for automated vulnerability detection. Thank you once again Trail of BitsIf you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch us on YoutubeRead up on the r/ZKPodcast subredditGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t-add: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQz-add: zs1f8jjtkuqwvxy9h4q7grl6287hmpzyt4s55d392djx43wxxudwv20x7qgs74kp2h6e9k95lswst8 Read transcript

Oct 7, 202052 min

CryptoKitties, Dapper Labs and Flow with Dieter Shirley

In this week's episode, we chat with Dieter Shirley, CTO Dapper Labs, Chief Architect of Flow Blockchain, and co-creator of CryptoKitties. We go back to look at the history of CryptoKitties, the NFT standard, what pushed Dapper Labs to build their own blockchain, how Flow works and what’s next. Here are a few useful links: The Path to an ERC standard where we look at the path to the ERC721 standard as an example. DapperLabs Coinlist sale Dieter's talk on Verifier’s Dilemma at Ready Layer One - subject we touched on briefly in our talkThanks to this week’s sponsor AleoAleo is the first platform for fully private applications. It uses blockchain and zero-knowledge cryptography to deliver a web experience that is both personal and private. With Aleo, developers can write private applications, without a background in blockchains or expertise in cryptography.Aleo has released Developer Preview I, an early peek at what the future of the web will look like. The release introduces a new programming language called Leo, a new community-driven package manager for Leo, and a new development environment or IDE called Aleo Studio.We recently had Howard Wu, a co-founder of Aleo, on the show for an interview - you can find that episode here. Learn more about Aleo at https://aleo.org/ Thanks again Aleo! If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch us on YoutubeRead up on the r/ZKPodcast subredditGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t-add: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQz-add: zs1f8jjtkuqwvxy9h4q7grl6287hmpzyt4s55d392djx43wxxudwv20x7qgs74kp2h6e9k95lswst8 Read transcript

Sep 30, 202057 min

Sushiswap Bonus Chat

This is a short bonus chat to Episode 148 "Tale of the Sushi(swap)". Tarun, Hasu and Anna reconvene to wrap up the story of Governance Tokens, Sushiswap and the Uniswap token distribution. Be sure to first listen to "Tale of the Sushi(swap) - Part 1" "Tale of the Sushi(swap) - Part 2" on the uncommoncore podcast If you like what we do, be sure to check out the Zero Knowledge Podcast Gitcoin Grant - CLR matching is happening now! https://gitcoin.co/grants/329/zero-knowledge-podcast

Sep 24, 20209 min

A Tale of Sushi(Swap) with Tarun, Hasu and Anna – Part1

In this special podcast crossover episode, Tarun, Hasu and Anna cover the emergence of governance tokens in the DeFi space and then dive deep into the Sushiswap story - what protocols came before and how it performed a vampire attack on (what was at the time) a tokenless Uniswap. This story acts as a fascinating case study as well as a cautionary tale for moat-less protocols.This episode is the 1st of 2 parts, with the 2nd part airing on Hasu's Uncommon Core podcast. In this part, we cover the definition of governance tokens and the first half of the sushi swap story. Tarun also mentions "impermanent loss" in this episode. However this term has been called to "divergence loss" and you can read more about what it is here. A quick caveat: We recorded this episode just hours before the Uniswap token launch, and so we decided to produce an amendment section to tackle the aftermath of the launch and wrap up the story. You can find this here: Sushiswap Bonus ChatThanks to our sponsor Least Authority. Least Authority is a security consulting company known for their dedication to pushing the limits on how to build privacy-respecting solutions. They are a team of security researchers, open source developers, privacy advocates, cryptographers who specialize in security audits, design specification reviews, and security-by-design. Known for their security reviews, including work with zero knowledge proofs as well as having implemented zero-knowledge access passes with the distributed storage system, Tahoe-LAFS. It seems fitting then that they are now working on a step by step guide to building zk-SNARKS called The MoonMath Manual which you can find and donate to on GitcoinAs an aside, the Zero Knowledge podcast also has a grant there, so you might consider donating to both! If you are interested in working with Least Authority on anything zero-knowledge related, reach out to them - whether you want an audit of your project, want to collaborate on security research or even just want to learn more about zk proofs, they would like to hear from you. I’ve added the email in the shownotes, [email protected] or visit them at LeastAuthority.comIf you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch us on YoutubeRead up on the r/ZKPodcast subredditGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0x4BF66E52f3009Cd138e48f142D47661037160001BTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t-add: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQz-add: zs1f8jjtkuqwvxy9h4q7grl6287hmpzyt4s55d392djx43wxxudwv20x7qgs74kp2h6e9k95lswst8 Read transcript

Sep 24, 202058 min

Oasis Labs & Privacy with Vishwanath Raman

In this episode, we catch up with Vishwanath Raman, Privacy Architect at Oasis Labs where he works on privacy and confidentiality technologies for Direct to Consumer and Business to Business use cases. His interest and experience span formal methods, applied machine learning, security, and privacy. Vishwa got his PhD in Computer Science at UC Santa Cruz followed by postdoctoral work at Carnegie Mellon. The Oasis Network is a privacy-enabled blockchain platform for responsible data use. Using a combination of secure computing and privacy technologies, the Oasis Network enables data owners to take control of their data and treat their data as a digital asset via data tokenization. They provide privacy as a service and use secure enclaves and differential privacy in order build a platform for a responsible data economy.We dive into the way the Oasis system is architected for privacy, who the ideal customers are and what the use cases for this protocol is. We also chatted about some of the tradeoffs in using SGX as well as the recent Binance-led CryptoSafe Alliance announcement where Oasis is the primary infrastructure builder. Here are some of the papers and links that we discuss: Oasis Labs at zkSummit ZK0x02 Chorus: Differential Privacy via Query Rewriting Towards Practical Differential Privacy for SQL Queries Problems with machine learning and privacy (one of many)Towards Practical Differentially Private Convex OptimizationOne small correction: Vishwa mentions the number of Validators on Oasis as numbering in the hundreds, but upon checking, we were informed that the number of validators that will participate in the consensus committee at mainnet launch is 70-100. More details in the following blog post: https://docs.oasis.dev/oasis-network-primer/token-metrics-and-distributionThank you to this week’s sponsor Trail of Bits. Trail of Bits has recently published a new guide for building secure contracts with their Crytic offering. Crytic is a SaaS-based GitHub application created by Trail of Bits that continuously assures your Ethereum smart contracts are safe and functional. It reports build status on every commit and runs a suite of security analyses so you get immediate security feedback. Check out this guide for tips on how to build security into your dapps from the start and how to use the Trail of Bits suite of tools for automated vulnerability detection. Thank you once again Trail of BitsJoin their Slack channel (#crytic) for support, and follow Crytic on Twitter @CryticCIIf you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch us on YoutubeRead up on the r/ZKPodcast subredditGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0x4BF66E52f3009Cd138e48f142D47661037160001BTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t-add: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQz-add: zs1f8jjtkuqwvxy9h4q7grl6287hmpzyt4s55d392djx43wxxudwv20x7qgs74kp2h6e9k95lswst8 Read transcript

Sep 16, 202054 min

Catch up with Anna & Fredrik

In this week’s special episode, we flip the script and invite our friend Alexandra Heller to ask ZKPodcast co-hosts Anna & Fredrik some questions from the audience.. It’s a bit of a different format, so hope you will enjoy! Here are a few of the episodes we mention: -Chatting about consensus algorithms with Robert Habermeier-Zooko talks Zcash on our 50th episode -Sean Bowe on SNARKs, Trusted Setups & Elliptic Curve Cryptography-A fireside chat with a couple Parity peeps-Isogenies with Luca De Feo-Statistical modeling of PoS systems with Tarun Chitra-Introduction to ZKPsAnd other podcasts we mention: -Bikeshed: https://www.bikeshed.fm -Distributed: https://distributed.blog/podcast/ -Extremities: https://anchor.fm/extremities -Accidental Tech: https://atp.fm -History of Rome: https://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/-Hardcore History: https://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/-Epicenter: https://epicenter.tv/-Uncommon Core: https://uncommoncore.co/Thanks to this week’s sponsor AleoAleo is the first platform for fully private applications. It uses blockchain and zero-knowledge cryptography to deliver a web experience that is both personal and private. With Aleo, developers can write private applications, without a background in blockchains or expertise in cryptography.Aleo has released Developer Preview I, an early peek at what the future of the web will look like. The release introduces a new programming language called Leo, a new community-driven package manager for Leo, and a new development environment or IDE called Aleo Studio.We recently had Howard Wu, a co-founder of Aleo, on the show for an interview - you can find that episode here. Learn more about Aleo at https://aleo.org/ Thanks again Aleo! If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch us on YoutubeRead up on the r/ZKPodcast subredditGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t-add: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQz-add: zs1f8jjtkuqwvxy9h4q7grl6287hmpzyt4s55d392djx43wxxudwv20x7qgs74kp2h6e9k95lswst8 Read transcript

Sep 9, 20201h 6m

Circom & Hermez with Jordi Baylina

In this week's episode, Anna and Fredrik catch up with Jordi Baylina, co-founder of Iden3, the creator of Circom & SnarkJS. They chat about his work in the ecosystem, building zk circuits and the recently announced Hermez, a new zkrollup with a novel proof-of-donation mechanism that will redistribute 40% of earnings to Ethereum-based community projects. Jordi has an amazing story, which we got to explore in this episode, so thanks again Jordi for being on the show! Here are some relevant links:Jordi's talk about Circom at the zkSummit Iden3 WebsiteCircom on GithubHermez Website & TwitterHis talk on Liquid Democracy at Web3Our previous episode about the DAO hack with Griff GreenThank you to this week's sponsor Parity Technologies Parity is currently looking to fill a number of job positions including many on the engineering side. As an engineer at Parity, you would get to write Rust all day, be at the forefront of creating and shaping the decentralized web and hopefully also dig into some cool zero knowledge crypto tech! The best way to get noticed for this role is to familiarise yourself with Substrate - the platform built by Parity to make building blockchains much much easier. So go check out the substrate libraries and then head over to parity.io/jobs to find out moreThanks again Parity for sponsoring this episode!If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch us on YoutubeRead up on the r/ZKPodcast subredditGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t-add: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQz-add: zs1f8jjtkuqwvxy9h4q7grl6287hmpzyt4s55d392djx43wxxudwv20x7qgs74kp2h6e9k95lswst8 Read transcript

Sep 2, 20201h 7m

Aleo with Howard Wu

In this episode, we invite Howard Wu back to the show to share more about his new project Aleo - a privacy-focused blockchain that enables fully private applications. Howard's previous ZKPodcast episode, Introduction to zkSNARKs, remains one of our most popular episodes to date! We chat about why you need programming languages for SNARKs, what it is like to switch from VC/Academia to being a founder and the two important things missing in web services, high programmability and true user privacy. The project enables private applications with both data privacy and functional privacy - where the nature of the program running and all activity remains private. It is based on the ZEXE protocol and Proof-of-Succinct-Work, from the Proof-of-Necessary-Work originally presented Joseph Bonneau & Akis Kattis For more info check out these additional links & episodes: Aleo Developer Preview IZexe: Decentralized Private Computation with Pratyush MishraZEXE paperProof-of-Necessary-Work with Akis Kattis (NYU)Thank you to this week’s sponsor Least Authority. Least Authority is a security consulting company known for their dedication to privacy-respecting solutions and boundary-pushing technology. You may know them as the team behind the security audits and reviews of the Eth 2.0 Specification, Protocol Lab's Gossipsub Protocol, Zcash Sapling upgrade, Tezos Foundation's TzBTC, Blockstack's Investor Wallet, MetaMask's Lavamoat and moreIf you are looking to improve the security of your protocol or verify your use of cryptography, schedule a no-obligation call to find out how Least Authority can help on your project. Visit leastauthority.com and hit the “Schedule a Call” button to book one of these calls. If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch us on YoutubeRead up on the r/ZKPodcast subredditGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t-add: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQz-add: zs1f8jjtkuqwvxy9h4q7grl6287hmpzyt4s55d392djx43wxxudwv20x7qgs74kp2h6e9k95lswst8 Read transcript

Aug 26, 202057 min

Josh Cincinnati on Zcash, governance and leaving the Zcash Foundation

In this episode we chat with Josh Cincinnati, the former executive director of Zcash Foundation. We cover Josh's career before Zcash, his work at the foundation, the important role privacy plays in crypto and the challenges of decentralised governance. We also discuss his decision to leave the foundation, Zcash Foundation's philosophy of transparency, his hopes for the future of the Zcash community, his next steps and why he thinks people in crypto may wanna take themselves a bit less serious and remember to have some fun! Here are some additional links: Zcash FoundationJosh’s parting letterPrevious episodes on Zcash with Zooko, Sean Bowe, Sean and Daira and Henry de ValenceCatch this cross-over appearance with Anna on Josh's Twodcast. His show is released once per ... whenever Josh feels like As mentioned in the intro, the ZkValidator.com is now live on 3 networks: Cosmos, Kusama and, as of this month, Polkadot. For the origin story of the ZKValidator, check out this zkpodcast episode with the guys from Bison TrailsIf you are a token holder on Cosmos, Kusama and/or Polkadot and you think privacy matters, want to see more zkps integrated throughout these networks and generally wanna support this initiative, head to our website: ZkValidator.com. There you can find instructions on how to stake your tokens to our validator. For Cosmos visit - https://zkvalidator.com/cosmos/For Kusama visit - https://zkvalidator.com/kusama/For Polkadot visit - https://zkvalidator.com/polkadot/If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch us on YoutubeRead up on the r/ZKPodcast subredditGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: T-add: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQZ-add: zs1f8jjtkuqwvxy9h4q7grl6287hmpzyt4s55d392djx43wxxudwv20x7qgs74kp2h6e9k95lswst8 (Just added!!) Read transcript

Aug 19, 20201h 19m

Hasu & Georgios on Bitcoin Security & Elastic Block Size Proposals

In this episode, Anna and guest host Georgios chat with Hasu, an independent crypto researcher focused on economics and security, about elastic block size proposals in both Bitcoin and Ethereum.They cover how Hasu found his way into research as well as the history of the block size BIPs that shaped the ecosystem as well as Ethereum’s EIP 1559Here are some additional links: Research paper: A model for Bitcoin’s security and the declining block subsidyAnalysis of EIP-2593 (Escalator)Analysis of EIP-1559Thank you to this week’s sponsor Trail of Bits.Trail of Bits found a bug in yVault that would have allowed an attacker to drain most (if not all) of the pool's assets. They quickly reported the bug to the yVault team and were able to secure the roughly $400K USD held in the system. This bug, which was thankfully caught, highlights the risk stemming from increased complexity caused by composition in the DeFi space. ‘Generally - DeFi composability is hard. For example, If you integrate multiple tokens, any one token could compromise the security of your entire platform. On the other hand, if you integrate multiple platforms, your protocol could suffer from complex interactions.If this is a relevant topic for you or the project you work on, reach out to Trail of Bits to arrange a security assessment, or sign up for their Ethereum security office hours.Here is a link to their blog post “Accidentally stepping on a DeFi lego” https://blog.trailofbits.com/2020/08/05/accidentally-stepping-on-a-defi-lego Contact them here: https://www.trailofbits.com/contact/If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch us on YoutubeRead up on the r/ZKPodcast subredditGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ Read transcript

Aug 12, 20201h 4m

ZK & Games: Dark Forest with Brian Gu

In this week's episode, we chat with Brian Gu, a student at MIT and creator of the Dark Forest game. We chat about education, blockchain based games and what inspired his work on the Dark Forest game. We then dig into how this game creates an incomplete information game space by using zkSNARKs to create a “cryptographic fog of war” and more! As described on their blog, Dark Forest is an MMO space-conquest game where players discover and conquer planets in an infinite, procedurally-generated, cryptographically-specified universe. Find out more about the game here: https://zkga.me/Least Authority is a team of security researchers, open source developers, privacy advocates, and cryptographers focused is on securing distributed systems: blockchain, peer-to-peer and other approaches to systems built with the principle of least authority. They are known for security audits and reviews like the Eth 2.0 Specification, Protocol Lab's Gossipsub Protocol, Zcash Sapling upgrade, & Tezos Foundation's TzBTC, as well as their work with zero knowledge proofs integrated into the Tahoe-LAFS (secure distributed file store) with "ZKAPs: zero knowledge access passes". They are currently looking for a technical writer to help the Least Authority team write security research and audit reports, open source technical documentation and privacy analysis statements on technical approaches. Find out more here: leastauthority.com/zkpodcastIf you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch us on YoutubeGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ Read transcript

Aug 5, 20201h 2m

Staking derivatives & DeFi with Alex Evans (and Tarun!)

** Be sure to visit our ZKPodcast subreddit and leave us some questions for the upcoming AMA!** In this week’s episode, Anna and guest-host / frequent guest Tarun Chitra catch up with Alex Evans, researcher at Placeholder Capital. They dive into the latest in DeFi, a topic that we don't cover too often, but has become hard to ignore. Specifically they discuss the emergence of liquidity farming, the difference between the zkresearch space and the DeFi space, some emerging concepts like AMM and Staking derivatives, and cover a recent report Tarun and Alex published together on the impact of staking derivatives on the security of PoS systems. Here are a few of the articles and links mentioned in the episode: What PoS and DeFi can learn from mortgage-backed securities by Tarun and AlexLiquidity Provider Returns in Geometric Mean Markets by Alex EvansBuilding Liquidity into Token DistributionBlack–Scholes modelThank you to this week's sponsor Trail of Bits. Upgradeable contracts are not as safe as you think. Architectures for upgradeability can be flawed, locking contracts, losing data, or sabotaging your ability to recover from an incident. Every contract upgrade must be carefully reviewed to avoid catastrophic mistakes. The GitHub App Crytic now includes a comprehensive suite of 17 upgradeability checks to help you avoid these pitfalls. This tool allows devs to stress test their upgradeable contracts as they go, saving time and potentially catastrophic headaches down the line. For more check out their blog post where they describe how to use this tool - https://blog.trailofbits.com/2020/06/12/upgradeable-contracts-made-safer-with-crytic/So thanks again Trail of BitsIf you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch us on YoutubeGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ Read transcript

Jul 29, 20201h 14m

Findora with Benedikt Bunz and Ben Fisch

** Check out the ZKPodcast subreddit and share some comments/questions for our upcoming AMA **This week, we catch up with Benedikt Bunz and Ben Fisch, PhD students at Stanford, once again. In this episode, we dive deeper into Findora, a project that was co-founded by Ben (who is also the CTO) and where Benedikt works as the Head of Research. We look at what the Findora project is, discuss the "selective disclosure" concept at the heart of their constructions, explore the balance between transparency and privacy and describe what problems Findora aims to solve. For some background on our guests, check out these previous episode with Benedikt Bunz on Bulletproofs and Ben Fisch on AccumulatorsHere are some additional relevant links: Findora's siteAlan Szepieniec on Supersonics - 11:33Ben Fisch on Supersonics at the SF zkSummit in Oct 2019If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch us on YoutubeGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Jul 22, 202056 min

Validium with DeversiFi & Starkware

In this episode, we will be exploring StarkWare and DeversiFi’s collaboration - a Layer 2 STARK-powered exchange for Ethereum assets. Guests Tom Brand, product manager at Starkware, and Will Harborne, co-founder of DeversiFi, discuss the project, how it works under the hood and give us a glimpse into what they have planned for the future. We also look at how Validium, that is Layer-2 scaling solutions in which the validity of all transactions is enforced using zero-knowledge proofs, while data availability is kept off-chain, differ from other layer 2 scaling solutions like Plasma, Optimistic Rollup and zkRollup, and discuss the axioms used to quantify these differences.Here is some of additional material:Matter Labs Blog post defining ValidiumDeversifi Blog post about the collaborationStarkware's STARKEx explained At the beginning of the episode, Anna and Will also discussed their joint project ZKValidator which works on Cosmos, Polkadot and Kusama. If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch us on YoutubeGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Jul 15, 202058 min

Trusted Setup Bonus: Tornado Cash

In this week's episode, Anna follows up on the trusted setup survey she did in her previous episode on the topic with this bonus interview with Roman Semanov & Roman Storm from Tornado Cash. Tornado Cash's trusted setup, held in May 2020, was the largest to date with over 1000 participants.Be sure to listen to the full ZKPodcast Trusted Setup episode firstFind out more about Tornado Cash's trusted setup hereThere are a number of zkPodcast related channels and groups to explore. Here they are: TelegramYoutubeRecent zkStudyClub with Sean and DairaZKMesh NewsletterZKValidatorr/ZKPodcast & r/zeroknowledge on Reddit Do you want to join us? Want to connect with the ecosystem, learn more and work on zk research? If you are very organised and have worked producing either events, content or generally organising people in the past, these roles might be interesting for you. Here are the 2 roles: 1) zkPodcast Support: Work with Anna & Fredrik on our zk-related projects (excluding the zkValidator) on a part-time basis. This would primarily involve coordinating podcast guest, scheduling and coordinating studyclub sessions, help organise events like the zkSummit, writing blog posts and managing social channels. This would be 5-8 hours per week to start, and could be a student job. If this is interesting, please email a brief CV (a short email describing your experience is also fine) to [email protected] or tweet at Anna -> @AnnaRRose2) Project Manager at the zkValidator. In this role, you would be working with Anna and Will Harborne to connect with members of the networks the zkValidator operates on - that is Cosmos, Kusama, Polkadot and more as we add them. The role would entail writing reports, doing research, managing network partners, scheduling workshops, working with zk engineers and cryptographers and more. This would be 15 hours per week to start, and we are looking for someone with at least 3 years of work experience. If this is interesting, please send us a summarised CV and/or LinkedIn profile to [email protected] If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch us on YoutubeGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Jul 8, 202029 min

Math competitions, crypto as alchemy & Gasper with Yan Zhang

This week, Anna and guest host Tarun Chitra chat with Yan X Zhang, professor at SJSU, about math competitions, math education, how crypto is like alchemy and the Gasper paper - work Yan and his students collaborated on with the Ethereum Foundation. “Gasper” is a proof-of-stake-based consensus protocol, which is an idealized version of the proposed Ethereum 2.0 beacon chain. The protocol combines Casper FFG, a finality tool, with LMD GHOST, a fork-choice rule.Here are a few episodes and papers that we mention: Consensus Algorithms & HotStuff with Ittai AbrahamCombining GHOST and CasperAli Rahimi - NIPS 2017 Test-of-Time Award presentationAs mentioned in the intro, we looking for some help on the organisational front with some of the zk related projects - this Zero Knowledge Podcast, zkStudyClub, zkSummit and the zkValidator.If you are looking to connect with the ecosystem, learn more and work on zk research AND if you are very organised and have worked producing either events, content or generally organising people in the past, these roles might be interesting for you. Here are the 2 roles: 1) zkPodcast Support: Work with Anna & Fredrik on our zk-related projects (excluding the zkValidator) on a part-time basis. This would primarily involve coordinating podcast guest, scheduling and coordinating studyclub sessions, help organise events like the zkSummit, writing blog posts and managing social channels. This would be 5-8 hours per week to start, and could be a student job. If this is interesting, please email a brief CV (a short email describing your experience is also fine) to [email protected] or tweet at Anna -> @AnnaRRose2) Project Manager at the zkValidator. In this role, you would be working with Anna and Will Harborne to connect with members of the networks the zkValidator operates on - that is Cosmos, Kusama, Polkadot and more as we add them. The role would entail writing reports, doing research, managing network partners, scheduling workshops, working with zk engineers and cryptographers and more. This would be 15 hours per week to start, and we are looking for someone with at least 3 years of work experience. If this is interesting, please send us a summarised CV and/or LinkedIn profile to [email protected] If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Jul 1, 202057 min

Look into Solana

This week, Anna and guest host Georgios Konstantopoulos chat with Anatoly Yakovenko from Solana network. They learn about this system and discuss the innovations that allow them to achieve high performance without sharding.For more on Solana check out their website - https://solana.com/We also mention this episode on VDF's with Joseph Bonneau. Here is a further explanation of the differences. Want to help support the show? Check out our grant on Gitcoin and please donate today! CLR Matching is happening now! Link is here -->> https://gitcoin.co/grants/329/zero-knowledge-podcast-2If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Jun 24, 202059 min

tBTC with Matt Luongo

In this episode, we chat with Matt Luongo, CEO of Thesis, founder of Keep Network, and project lead of tBTC. We cover the need for BTC to ETH bridges, what the challenges are in building bridges with BTC, tBTC and how it is setup, what went down with the initial tBTC release - an event the team now refers to as "release candidate 0", and where we might be seeing tBTC go next. Here are some useful links: Introduction to tBTCDetails of the tBTC Deposit Pause on May 18, 2020Want to help support the show? Check out our grant on Gitcoin and please donate today! CLR Matching is happening now! Link is here -->> https://gitcoin.co/grants/329/zero-knowledge-podcast-2If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Jun 17, 202058 min

Trusted Setup Ceremonies Explored

In this week's episode, Anna explores the state of trusted setups with 4 of the people who have recently coordinated and run trusted setups for different SNARK systems. She interviews Koh Wei Jie from the Ethereum Foundation, Thomas Walton-Pocock from Aztec Protocol, Brecht Devos from Loopring and Kobi Gurkan from the EF and cLabs. This episode covers the new generation of trusted setups and how the teams working on these are learning from each other and at times, even sharing parts of the trusted set up itself. As a primer, Trusted Setups are those events or ceremonies that one needs to perform to generate the parameters that can kick off SNARK based systems. It is an MPC - or multiparty computation - that involves a number of participants sequentially downloading software, running a computation that includes some randomness that they generate and re-uploading their result to be folded into the next participants computation. At the end of this process, there is a hidden parameter that is used to create the keys that are used to create proofs for private transactions, and to verify those proofs. These keys prove that a transaction is correct. Here are some helpful links about all the various trusted setups we mention:Zcash's Trusted Setupshttps://www.zeroknowledge.fm/50 - Zooko speaks about the trusted set up at timecode 17:45https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/ceremonyhttps://z.cash/technology/paramgen/EF's Perpetual Powers of Tauhttps://github.com/weijiekoh/perpetualpowersoftauSemaphoreSemaphore blog postSemaphore Phase 2 Multi-Party Trusted Setup Participant Guide MACI (upcoming) https://github.com/appliedzkp/maciAztec Protocolhttps://www.aztecprotocol.com/ignition/https://ignition.aztecprotocol.com/Loopringhttps://loopring.org/#/post/loopring-starts-trusted-setup-multi-party-computation-ceremonyTornado Cashhttps://medium.com/@tornado.cash/the-biggest-trusted-setup-ceremony-in-the-world-3c6ab9c8fffahttps://ceremony.tornado.cash/cLabs (upcoming)https://github.com/celo-org/snark-setupCheck out the Zero Knowledge Youtube Channel and be sure to subscribe to get the latest videos from the Podcast, zkSummit and zkStudyClub!Signup for zkMesh Newsletter - a monthly newsletter focused on sharing resources about decentralised privacy-preserving technologies, privacy protocol development and zero knowledge systems research.Signup to get this delivered directly into your inbox -->> https://zkmesh.substack.com/ If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Jun 10, 20201h 14m

Handshake Protocol with Mark Tyneway

In this episode, we chat with Mark Tyneway who is a contributor on the Handshake project - an experimental peer-to-peer root naming system. We learn about this decentralised, foundation-free project, the issues of DNS, how Handshake plans on fixing this, how it differs from ENS, their unique airdrop process, what an Urkel Trie is, and more. Here are a few useful links: Handshake WhitepaperAn airdrop that preserves recipient privacy - https://fc20.ifca.ai/preproceedings/54.pdfReadyLayerOne Presentation & Slides Developer Protocol SummaryMessari ProfileSignup for zkMesh Newsletter - a monthly newsletter focused on sharing resources about decentralised privacy-preserving technologies, privacy protocol development and zero knowledge systems research.Signup to get this delivered directly into your inbox -->> https://zkmesh.substack.com/ If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Jun 3, 202055 min

Proof of Necessary Work with Akis Kattis (NYU)

In this week's episode, Anna and guest host Tarun Chitra chat with Akis Kattis, a PhD student at NYU & the co-author of Proof of Necessary Work: Succinct State Verification with Fairness Guarantees - a paper he co-wrote with Joseph Bonneau. They discuss the challenge of Proof of Useful Work, the unique properties that SNARKs have, such as puzzle hardness, that allow for PoNW to overcome these challenges, PoS SNARK systems, elastic block construction, and more. Here are a few of the articles we mention in the interview: Proof of Necessary Work: Succinct State Verification with Fairness Guarantees Stabilizing Congestion in Decentralized Record-Keepers Check out the Zero Knowledge Youtube Channel and be sure to subscribe to get the latest videos from the Podcast, zkSummit and zkStudyClub!If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

May 27, 202059 min

Exploring Tezos & their recent Sapling integration

In this week's episode, Anna interviews three people from the Tezos community: Jacob Arluck (co-founders TQ ), Marc Beunardeau and Marco Stronati (both from Nomadic Labs). They chat about the Tezos origin story, the development of the PoS system, the governance of Tezos, and how they are incorporating zk proofs - and specifically Sapling from Zcash - into their system. Here is some additional info related to the interview: Nomadic blog post about the Sapling integrationTezos implementation of SaplingWired article about early Tezos issuesTransparent Polynomial Delegation and Its Applications to Zero Knowledge ProofThank you to this week's sponsor - Trail of Bits. Trail of Bits has partnered with Johns Hopkins University to supply vulnerability researchers with software that can produce ZK proofs of exploitability. This is part of a larger effort funded by DARPA, called SIEVE, to push forward the state of the art in zero-knowledge proofs. For more info check out their blog!https://blog.trailofbits.com/2020/05/21/reinventing-vulnerability-disclosure-using-zero-knowledge-proofs/.If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

May 20, 20201h 5m

IPFS 0.5 with Molly Mackinlay from Protocol Labs

In this episode, we chat with Molly Mackinlay, Project Lead for the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) at Protocol Labs. We talk about her journey to Protocol Labs, as well as take a deeper view into IPFS, LibP2P, Bitswap, Testground, the use cases and projects working with these tools, and the specific upgrades they have made with the recent 0.5 IPFS release. We cover:the importance of distributed testing infra to facilitate enterprise adoptionhow UX and simple tooling plays into the developer upgrade paththe path to decentralisation and the importance of building bridges to the Web2 worldIn preparation for this ep, it might be useful to check out our episode last fall with Juan Benet as well. If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

May 13, 202058 min

DP-3T & Contact Tracing with Kenny Paterson from ETH Zurich

In this week's episode, Anna catches up with Kenny Paterson, Professor of Computer Science and Lead of Applied Cryptography Group at ETH Zurich. The goal of the episode is to take a deeper look at DP-3T and privacy preserving contact tracing research in Europe generally. They cover his work at ETH Zurich, discuss how the DP-3T project came to be, look at risks facing contact tracing protocols generally, and discuss why putting privacy and decentralisation at the heart of these types of protocol is so important. A few of the topics we cover: ZKPodcast interview with Claudia Diaz ZKPodcast interview with Henry de ValenceDP-3T site Some early critical analysis of the protocol Here + HereApplied Crypto group at ETH ZurichIf you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

May 6, 20201h 1m

Consensus Algorithms & HotStuff with Ittai Abraham

In this week's episode, we go deep into Consensus Algorithms and HotStuff with Ittai Abraham from VMware Research. We chat about the evolution of consensus algorithms, BFT, and how these early ideas have become the backbone of blockchain tech. We cover PBFT, Tendermint and Ittai's research into SBFT, HotStuff, and the improvements he has been working on since HotStuff's incorporation into Facebook's Libra protocol. The papers and references we mention:Early zkpodcast episode on consensus with Robert HabermeierPBFT (Castro and Liskov) (see project here)BASE (Castro, Rodrigues, and Liskov) (the forgotten companion of PBFT that suggests a clean State Machine abstraction)Consensus in the Presence of Partial Synchrony (Dwork, Lynch Stockmeyer)Consensus in the Presence of Partial Synchrony (Dwork, Lynch Stockmeyer) (this paper won the 2007 Dijkstra award)Multiple leader BFT (Katz and Koo)Some of Ittai's work: SBFT (with Golan, Grossman, Malkhi, Pinkas, Reiter, Seredinschi, Tamir, and Tomescu)Hotstuff (with Yin, Malkhi, Reiter, and Golan)Asynchronous BFT (with Malkhi and Spiegelman)Sync Hotstuff (with Malkhi, Nayak, Ren, and Yin)Optimal Good-case Latency for Byzantine Broadcast and State Machine Replication (with Nayak, Ren, and Xiang) new!On the Optimality of Optimistic Responsiveness (with Nayak ,Ren, and Shrestha) new!Ittai's group blog on cryptography and consensus: Decentralized Thoughts blog We also mention:Tendermint (from 2016 not 2014)Casper FFGThunderellaThe AVA consensusThank you to this week's sponsor Matter Labs. Matter Labs, the creator of the first zkRollup prototype, is also the team behind zkSync: a user-centric Ethereum scaling solution, secured by zero-knowledge proofs. zkSync testnet is live! You are welcome to try out its simple and intuitive user interface at zksync.io. If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Apr 29, 20201h 2m

Crypto libraries, Zcash's Zebra and contact tracing with Henry de Valence

In this week's episode, we chat with Henry de Valence from the Zcash Foundation. We discuss what makes for a strong crypto library, some of the work he has been doing at the ZF and he shares an update about the Zebra Zcash client. We also learn about the TCN Coalition, a group he is working with that aims to build and evaluate privacy-preserving contact tracing protocols - an important tool in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Here are some useful links about things we discussed: The Zcash Foundation's 2020 Q1 ReportCosmos Zcash Pegzone researchDesired characteristics and assumptions of a contact tracing systemDP3T protocol Thank you to this week's sponsor Trail of BitsIn a recent blog post, ToB announced some important updates to Echidna, their smart contract fuzzer. Echidna is one of the tools that the team at Trail of Bits uses the most in their smart contract audits - it has been used in almost 35% of their smart contract audits over the past two years. Including the audits they did for MakerDAO, 0x, and Balancer. In this update to the fuzzer, they have streamlined integration with complex Truffle projects and the tool now support smart contracts written in Vyper. Thay have also removed the need to write Echidna-specific tests and can automatically fuzz assert statements in Solidity. For more about all these new features check out the blog all about it here: https://blog.trailofbits.com/2020/03/30/an-echidna-for-all-seasons/Thanks again Trail of Bits.If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramGive us feedback! https://forms.gle/iKMSrVtcAn6BByH6A Support our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Apr 22, 20201h 6m

Mixnets and privacy technology with Claudia Diaz from Nym

In this episode, Anna catches up with Claudia Diaz, professor at KU Leuven and the Chief Science Officer at Nym Technology to learn about mixnets, the history of privacy technology and how there may be some opportunities for new privacy tech to emerge in this post-pandemic world. Here is the contact tracing project that Claudia highlights in the episode: Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity TracingAnalysis of DP3TA big thank you to this week's sponsor Aztec!Aztec makes private transactions easy for developers via its Privacy SDK, which removes the complexities of ZK proofs and note management. With Aztec network, you can build custom private assets as well as shields for ERC-20s. The team is now developing the ZK² Rollup, upgrade for this network, which adds ID privacy and improves throughput. Here is a blog post about it. Learn more at aztecprotocol.com or email [email protected] for API keys. You can also find them on Twitter or [Telegram](t.me/aztecprotocol).If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramSupport our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Apr 15, 20201h 4m

Exploring FHE with Flavio Bergamaschi from IBM Research

In this episode, we chat with Flavio Bergamaschi from IBM research about Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE). FHE allows for computation on encrypted data. First developed in 2009 at IBM, this tech has long been the considered only theoretically possible. However, as we learn in the interview, there have been strides made in the last few years and we are starting to see FHE technology being used in some real world applications. In this interview, we discuss the origin of the technology, what it is, how it can be combined with other cryptographic techniques such as MPC and ZKPs, and applications for FHE technology being explored today. Here are some relevant links: IBM's Open Source Homomorphic Encryption Library (HElib) v1.0.0 Towards a Homomorphic Machine Learning Big Data Pipeline for the Financial Services SectorHomomorphic Training of 30,000 Logistic Regression ModelsHomomorphically Securing AI at the EdgeArticle on IBM's FHE work with a Brazilian bankEpisode 63: Proxy re-encryption and FHE with NuCypherNigel Smart on Multi-Party Computation: From Theory to PracticeIf you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramSupport our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Apr 8, 20201h 4m

Halo with Sean Bowe and Daira Hopwood from ECC

In this episode, we catch up with Sean Bowe and Daira Hopwood from the Electric Coin Company to chat about Halo, a recursive proof composition that doesn't require a trusted setup. We cover the efficiency techniques used in Halo such as "nested amortization", how the protocol was developed, what some of the key findings are, and how it fits in with the other recent SNARK-based protocols. We touch on the following material: Sean Bowe on SNARKs, Trusted Setups & Elliptic Curve Cryptographyhttps://github.com/daira/tweedleHalo whitepaperEndomorphismLatest recursive SNARKitecture with Izaak Meckler from O(1)LabsExploring the Fractal transparent SNARK construction If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramSupport our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Apr 1, 20201h 8m

ZKPs, Audits & Security with Benjamin Perez from Trail of Bits

In this week's episode, we chat with Benjamin Perez from Trail of Bits about zero knowledge proof systems and security. We touch on the evolution of the crypto tech auditing business, the new challenges that emerge in zero knowledge proof systems regarding security, some of the recent bugs and vulnerabilities found in zkp systems and more! Here is our previous episode on this topic with JP of Trail of Bits Here is some background on the zkp vulnerabilities mentioned. An Empirical Analysis of Anonymity in ZcashRemote Side-Channel Attacks on Anonymous TransactionsIf you want to join the zkSummit 5 online event, happening on Marcch 31st at 7 am PST, 10am EST, 4pm CET, please buy a ticket for the crowdcast here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/zksummitHope to see you there! If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramSupport our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Mar 25, 202054 min

Urbit with Galen Wolf-Pauly from Tlon

In this episode, we meet with Galen Wolf-Pauly from the Tlon Corporation to discuss the project Urbit. Urbit is an encrypted peer-to-peer network comprised of a deterministic operating system (Urbit OS / Arvo) and a secure, global identity layer (Urbit ID / Azimuth). The Urbit contributors have created new stack, built from the ground up as an integrated system with a focus on user experience. It also describes itself as a personal server built from scratch. For some additional links about the project, have a look here: https://urbit.org/faq/https://urbit.org/blog/urbit-and-the-blockchain/https://urbit.org/blog/urbit-for-normies/If you are interested in participanting in the now ONLINE version of the zkSummit - Sign up directly here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/zksummitYou will then receive a link to an updated ticket page shortly. If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramSupport our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Mar 18, 20201h 17m

ZKPs in Ethereum with Vitalik Buterin & Justin Drake

In this episode, we catch up with Justin Drake and Vitalik Buterin from the Ethereum Foundation to chat about how zero knowledge proof systems are being used throughout the Eth1x and Eth2.0 stacks. We look at their applications for privacy and scalability throughout layer 1, layer 1.5 and layer 2, as well as explore some other emerging applications. Here were some of the articles and ideas discussed:5 ways to optimise zkps:Remove the need for FFTs SparsenessRecursion Custom gates HardwareJacobian groups https://eprint.iacr.org/2020/196.pdfTrilinear maps https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.07923Give the Zero Knowledge Podcast some feedback. Whether you are a long-time listener or new to the show, we would love to hear from you! Please share your feedback with us here: https://forms.gle/LtQQyKJV6r7LrSND7If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch up with us on YoutubeSupport our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKP PatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Mar 11, 20201h 12m

Alistair and Jeff from Web3 on ZKPs & more

In this week’s episode, we sit down with Alistair Stewart and Jeff Burges, researchers at the Web3 Foundation, to dig into what they are working on, what they are thinking about at the moment, and how zero knowledge proofs can be used throughout the Polkadot ecosystem. Here are some links and ressources to check out: Gavin Wood episodeRob Habermeier episodeThe Moral Character of Cryptographic WorkDaniel Bernstein on TwitterIsogenies VDF Axolotl RatchetThank you to this week's sponsor Trail of BitsCheck out the blog post describing how Manticore could have discovered the ENS bug here: https://blog.trailofbits.com/2020/03/03/manticore-discovers-the-ens-bug/Thanks again Trail of Bits.If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramSupport our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Mar 4, 20201h 1m

Tarun and James talk Flash Loans & more

In this week's episode, we catch up with our friends Tarun Chitra and James Prestwich at the Stanford Blockchain Conference. We chat about the Flashloan phenomenon & the recent arbitrage 'exploit'. We also catch up about the known challenges facing PoS systems, what EVM support means on other chains & more! Catch our previous episodes with Tarun and James here: https://www.zeroknowledge.fm/99https://www.zeroknowledge.fm/61https://www.zeroknowledge.fm/34The tweet that Anna quotes in the episode is here -> https://twitter.com/bneiluj/status/1228757175595438080If you want to join the zkSummit, happening on March 31st, Berlin, do get your application in here: https://forms.gle/WDhUCmowAEk2ymYa7Thanks to this week's sponsor Nucypher! Nucypher is currently looking for an engineering lead to work on a new open-source cryptosystem for privacy-preserving smart contracts. This is a new product and so you will get to work on some cool primitives like fully homomorphic encryption and zero knowledge proofs. For more about lead engineer role, check out the ad here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21693548If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramSupport our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Feb 26, 20201h 10m

Isogenies with Luca De Feo

In this week’s episode, we take the podcast in a slightly different direction and dive into Isogenies - a topic at the cutting edge of cryptography. We look at how they are related to VDFs and randomness generation. Our guest, Luca de Feo, one of the co-inventor of SIDH, helps us get an understanding for what Isogenies - or morphisms of algebraic groups - really are. Here are some useful links to check out: https://sike.org/https://isogeny.org/https://vdfresearch.org/Some visualizations:https://isogenies.enricflorit.com/Some blog posts:https://blog.intothesymmetry.com/2019/07/on-isogenies-verifiable-delay-functions.htmlhttps://www.esat.kuleuven.be/cosic/asiacrypt19-verifiable-delay-functions-from-supersingular-isogenies-and-pairings/https://www.esat.kuleuven.be/cosic/elliptic-curves-are-quantum-dead-long-live-elliptic-curves/https://www.esat.kuleuven.be/cosic/csidh-post-quantum-key-exchange-using-isogeny-based-group-actions/https://www.esat.kuleuven.be/cosic/csi-fish-a-new-record-class-group-computation-and-fast-isogeny-based-signatures/Give the Zero Knowledge Podcast some feedback. Whether you are a long-time listener or new to the show, we would love to hear from you! Please share your feedback with us here: https://forms.gle/LtQQyKJV6r7LrSND7If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch up with us on YoutubeSupport our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKP PatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Feb 19, 20201h 0m

zkSync and Redshift: Matter Labs update

In this week's episode of the podcast, we catch up with Alex Glukowski of Matter Labs to hear about zkSync, the latest iteration of their zkRollup implementation built to be a scaling and privacy engine for Ethereum. We also touch on the Redshift protocol, a new transparent zkSNARK system that emerged as a result of work on this system.Here are a few links that we mention: Previous episode on Matter LabsZkSync and Redshift REDSHIFT: Transparent SNARKs from List Polynomial Commitment IOPsHotstuff paperGive the Zero Knowledge Podcast some feedback. Whether you are a long-time listener or new to the show, we would love to hear from you! Please share your feedback with us here: https://forms.gle/LtQQyKJV6r7LrSND7If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch up with us on YoutubeSupport our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKP PatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Feb 12, 202056 min

Cosmos, IBC and ZKPs with Chris Goes

In this week’s episode, we catch up with Christopher Goes, IBC Lead at Tendermint. We learn a bit more about the Cosmos Network ecosystem and his work on IBC. We then focus in on how he is thinking about zero knowledge proofs in the context of IBC like-interoperability constructions. We explore some of the ways in which zkps could be incorporated into different schemes for interoperability - including bridging, lightclient constructions, validity proofs and more. We mention the following episodes on Cosmos: Light Clients and ZKPs with CeloDiving into Cosmos with SunnyGive the Zero Knowledge Podcast some feedback. Whether you are a long-time listener or new to the show, we would love to hear from you! Please share your feedback with us here: https://forms.gle/LtQQyKJV6r7LrSND7If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch up with us on YoutubeSupport our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKP PatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Feb 5, 20201h 2m

Exploring the Fractal transparent SNARK construction

This week, we explore the Fractal transparent SNARK construction with its authors Dev Ojha and Nick Spooner - both students of Alessandro Chiesa at UC Berkeley. We explore how Fractal works, how it improves on some of the earlier work on Sonic and Marlin, how it borrows from but differentiates itself from STARKs, as well as what they discovered while working on this paper about recursive SNARKs and what makes that property possible. Here is some of the material we touch on: Fractal Paper Ariel Gabizon's episodeEli Ben-sasson's episodeMarlin PaperDigging into recursive snarksLatest recursive SNARKitecture with Izaak Meckler from O(1)LabsThank you to this week's sponsor Trail of BitsJust recently, a critical vulnerability was found in the certificate validation functionality on Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016/2019 This bug allows attackers to break the validation of trust in a wide variety of contexts, such as HTTPS and code signing - Trail of Bits has developed a PoC exploit and put up a website Whose Curve is it Anyway that let's users test whether or not they are vulnerable. To learn more about this vulnerability and the Trail of Bits exploit, please check out this recent blog post entitled: Exploiting the Windows CryptoAPI Vulnerability. Also keep an eye on the ToB blog for security news and explanation pieces like this one. Thanks again Trail of BitsIf you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramSupport our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Jan 29, 202050 min

Latest recursive SNARKitecture with Izaak Meckler from O(1)Labs

In this week’s episode, we catch up with Izaak Meckler from 0(1) Labs to talk about launching a recursive snark based incentivised test net, a recap of recursive SNARKs, updates on the working SNARKitecture, and a look at what's next for the project. We also touch on some new use-cases and ideas for how zkps may be a component in making computer programmes potentially more accountable to their users. Please listen to our earlier episode with Izaak and Evan to get a full picture of 0(1)Labs and the Coda projectHere are a few of the other projects we mentioned! ZEXEMarlinFractalNotes from the SNARKoconomicon at the zkSummitGive the Zero Knowledge Podcast some feedback. Whether you are a long-time listener or new to the show, we would love to hear from you! Please share your feedback with us here: https://forms.gle/LtQQyKJV6r7LrSND7If you like what we do: Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramCatch up with us on YoutubeSupport our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKP PatreonOr directly here: ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Jan 22, 202051 min

Dive into Plonk!

In this week’s episode, we learn more about Plonk with Ariel Gabizon and Zac Williamson from Aztec. PLONK is a recent highly efficient, universal SNARK construction. We explore what distinguishes Plonk from some other other new constructions including their focus on Lagrange-bases to deconstruct complex problem statements into simple polynomial identities. This episode goes very deep and so we do recommend you check out a few of previous episodes to help you follow along! All mentioned can be found here along with the other deep zk-topic episodes: https://www.zeroknowledge.fm/zkseriesHere is Justin Drake Polynomial commitment schemes study club video, as well as videos from the zkSummit on Marlin and SupersonicsAriel also mentions the [Bayer groth permutation argument](www0.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/J.Groth/MinimalShuffle.pdf) which influenced their work. Thanks to this week's sponsor Nucypher!On January 20th, NuCypher's incentivized testnet is launching on Coinlist. This incentivised testnet has the motto "Come and Stake It”! If you are interested, be sure to pre-register now. Keep an eye on their blog for launch date, structure, and prize details. All winners will need to complete KYC/AML. Please go to [nucypher.com](nucypher.com) to sign up. Thanks again Nucypher for sponsoring our show!If you like what we do:Follow us on Twitter - @zeroknowledgefmJoin us on TelegramSupport our Gitcoin GrantSupport us on the ZKPatreonOr directly here:ETH: 0xC0FFEE1B5083230a5154F55f253B6b6ae8F29B1aBTC: 1cafekGa3podM4fBxPSQc6RCEXQNTK8ZzZEC: t1R2bujRF3Hzte9ALHpMJvY8t5kb9ut9SpQ

Jan 15, 202055 min