In this episode, Anna Rose and Tarun Chitra chat with Vlad and Murat from Lighter , a ZK-powered perp DEX on Ethereum. They explore how perps, short for perpetuals/perpetual trades, emerged as a crypto invention, how the exchanges offering perps evolved over the years, and the tradeoff space between transparency and privacy, specifically for market makers. Vladimir discusses the advantage of building a perp DEX with a team consisting of both quants and engineers. They also cover how ZK has come ...
Aug 27, 2025•1 hr 14 min
In this episode, Anna Rose and Nico Mohnblatt catch up with Justin Drake from the Ethereum Foundation to explore Ethproofs , asking what exactly is Ethproofs: is it a meme, a platform, a benchmarking effort and/or an emerging community? Justin shares the emergence of the project within the EF, the influences that shaped it and what Ethproofs comprises of today. He also shares the goals of the project and how this initiative supports the snarkification of the EVM by providing standardized benchma...
Aug 20, 2025•1 hr 24 min
In this episode, Anna Rose and Kobi Gurkan chat with Vikas Rushi from PSE , and Ying Tong to explore two topics at the intersection of ZK and the real-world data: zkPDF and zkID. First they dive into zkPDF , a set of tools for proving facts on digitally signed PDFs. Vikas talks about the challenges of parsing data inside zkVMs—working with decades-old specifications that use many different encodings, and tackling practical use-cases like bank statements and ID verification. They also explain how...
Aug 13, 2025•1 hr 9 min
In this episode, Anna Rose and Tarun Chitra chat with Miranda Christ , a computer science PhD student at Columbia University , about the intersection of cryptography and AI through watermarking techniques. Miranda shares her research on developing imperceptible ways to prove that content was created by AI models, covering everything from simple red-green word lists to sophisticated pseudorandom error-correcting codes. The discussion explores the cryptographic properties of watermarks - including...
Aug 06, 2025•1 hr 12 min
In this episode, Anna Rose welcomes back Daniel Kang professor at UIUC and founding technical advisor at VAIL , for an update on ZKML and how the space has evolved since early 2023. Daniel covers the 2023-2024 cohort of ZKML tools including zkCNN, zkLLM, EZKL, and his original ZKML project, while introducing his new project ZKTorch, which offers a flexible hybrid of specialized and general-purpose approaches. The discussion explores practical applications like verified FaceID, proof of prompt, a...
Jul 30, 2025•51 min
In this episode, Anna Rose and Guillermo Angeris catch up with Muthu Venkitasubramaniam , Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University and cofounder of Ligero . They discuss how Ligero’s small memory footprint makes it a good choice for client-side proving, as well as the importance of programmable compliance in blockchain. The conversation explores the differences between ‘MPC in the head’ and error-correcting code perspectives, and how well-established primitives influence the design...
Jul 23, 2025•1 hr 16 min
In this episode, Anna Rose and Nico Mohnblatt speak with Dan and Sinu from TLSNotary to trace the project’s journey from early Bitcoin forum ideas to its current role as a foundational protocol maintained by PSE . Dan recounts the origins of TLSNotary as a tool for cryptographically proving web data, while Sinu explains how the project was revived to provide modern TLS attestation. The conversation covers the use-cases for verifiable web proofs, the different modes these interactive protocols ca...
Jul 16, 2025•50 min
In this episode, Anna Rose and Nico Mohnblatt speak with Goblin Oats from Tonk and grjte from Bain Capital Crypto to explore the emerging world of local-first architecture. Goblin shares the evolution of Tonk from an experimental lab working on blockchain games to a product that enables anyone to build personalised local-first software using natural language. grjte discusses her Groundmist project exploring personal data lakes and the intersection between local-first systems and the AT Protocol....
Jul 09, 2025•1 hr 2 min
In this episode, Anna Rose speaks with Florent Tavernier from Self and Marek Olszewski from Self and Celo to explore how Self are bringing identity onchain using ZK, the Sybil protection that offers, and the origins of OpenPassport. The discussion covers Self's approach to supporting different forms of ID, the challenges of disparate cryptographic standards, and how government signatures can be used to bootstrap onchain identity systems. Related links: Self Protocol on X/Twitter Episode 364: AI ...
Jul 02, 2025•1 hr 13 min
In this episode, Anna Rose and Tarun Chitra catch up with Kostas Kryptos from Mysten Labs to explore the latest ZK innovations being built on Sui . Kostas shares updates on zkLogin and introduces zkAt (ZK Authenticator), a new research project enabling programmable and updatable access control for accounts where Groth16's trusted setup and the generated toxic waste is used in a very novel way. This discussion also covers Sui's ambitious plans to become quantum-ready, including their innovative a...
Jun 25, 2025•1 hr 24 min
In this episode, Anna sits down with David Wong from zkSecurity to discuss the impact of AI on the field of zero-knowledge auditing. David shares how his team is integrating AI agents into their workflow, the opportunities and challenges this brings, and how the role of the human auditor is evolving as AI becomes more capable. They also cover the unique aspects of auditing ZK-based systems, how this is different from smart contract auditing, and the broader implications of AI for security in cry...
Jun 18, 2025•1 hr 9 min
In this episode, Anna and Nico speak with Abhi Shelat and Matteo Frigo from Google about their work integrating zero-knowledge proofs into the Google Wallet. They discuss the technical decisions behind the Anonymous Credentials for ECDSA system, including the challenge of designing a proof system where proving must be efficient enough to run on the client device in a large-scale consumer application, and how they design a system using sumcheck and Ligero to overcome NTT issues. The conversation ...
Jun 11, 2025•1 hr 4 min
In this episode, Anna speaks with Madhavan ( Maddy ) Malolan from Reclaim Protocol about his work on zkTLS and its applications in web data verification. Maddy shares the journey of building Reclaim, from initial attempts at implementing DECO to developing their current proxy-based solution. The conversation explores the technical challenges of implementing zero-knowledge proofs for HTTPS connections, comparing proxy and MPC approaches, and discussing security considerations. Maddy explains how ...
Jun 04, 2025•58 min
In this episode, Anna and Nico speak with Matthew Klein and Albert Garreta from Nethermind about their work implementing and advancing lattice-based cryptography systems, particularly focusing on folding schemes and their applications in zero-knowledge proofs. Matthew and Albert share insights from their implementation of LatticeFold and discuss the evolution of lattice-based systems, including newer developments like LatticeFold+ and Neo. The conversation explores the unique challenges and oppo...
May 14, 2025•52 min
In this episode, Anna and Guillermo are joined by Alex Obadia and Nicola Greco , co-authors of the Quantum Punks Manifesto , for a discussion at the intersection of quantum technology and cryptography. They explore the cultural and technical gaps between the quantum and crypto communities, sharing the story behind the manifesto, their vision for bridging these worlds and the applications that such a combination could unlock. Related links: Quantum Punks Manifesto Episode 288: Quantum Cryptograph...
May 07, 2025•1 hr 17 min
In this episode, Anna and Nico speak with Vadim Lyubashevsky , research scientist at IBM Research, about the evolving field of lattice-based cryptography and its role in zero-knowledge systems. Vadim shares the history and mathematical foundations of lattices, and explains how they might be used to build post-quantum secure ZK proofs and SNARKs. The conversation covers the unique challenges of adapting lattice techniques to zero-knowledge, explores the tradeoffs relative to hash-based constructi...
Apr 30, 2025•1 hr 5 min
This week, Anna speaks with Lasha Antadze , co-founder of Rarilabs and Rarimo , about the evolution of digital identity systems. Lasha shares his journey from working with government eID systems to building decentralized identity solutions using zero-knowledge proofs. The conversation explores how Rarimo is taking a fundamentally different approach to identity verification by keeping all processing client-side, from passport scanning to biometric verification. This enables new use cases like cen...
Apr 23, 2025•1 hr 8 min
In this episode, Anna and Guillermo speak with Professor Jelena Vučković from Stanford's Nanoscale and Quantum Photonics Lab about the fascinating world of quantum engineering. Jelena explains different quantum technology platforms and how quantum entanglement serves as the foundation for various applications such as eavesdropping detection. They explore how researchers are developing chip-scale quantum systems and the significant implications these technologies have for secure communication and...
Apr 16, 2025•1 hr 15 min
In this episode Anna explores the contentious topic of ZK benchmarking with Conner Swann , founder of ProofLab . Drawing parallels with AI's development, they explore how tools like ProofLab could help standardize benchmarking across dimensions like speed, cost, and security. The conversation touches on the importance of formal verification and real-world workload testing, while considering how better benchmarking could accelerate ZK adoption and potentially lead to ZK's own 'ChatGPT moment' Rel...
Apr 09, 2025•52 min
In this episode Anna dives back into the topic of prover networks & prover marketplaces with Norbert Vadas , Head of Product at ZkCloud . They kick off by mapping out different actors in the ZK supply chain, and then cover the variety of approaches and economic models behind prover marketplaces. They explore the ZkCloud system before diving into Norbert’s perspective on the future of large-scale, industrial-grade ZK proving and what that will unlock. Related links: ZKV ZK Hack Kraków Mina Sn...
Apr 02, 2025•1 hr 5 min
This week, we present the third installment in the Zero Knowledge Systems story. In this episode, Anna chats with Austin Hill , one of the original founders of Zero Knowledge Systems . They explore the company’s early days, Austin’s background in tech, and what this scene in Montreal was like in the late ’90s. The conversation covers fundraising during the dot-com boom, Zero Knowledge Systems’s ambitious vision for internet privacy, its flagship product Freedom , and how the company pivoted from...
Mar 25, 2025•1 hr 32 min
This week Anna catches up with Aayush Gupta from ZK Email , covering the latest developments and real-world applications of the ZK Email protocol. They explore how the project serves as a bridge between Web2 systems and Web3 infrastructure and go on to discuss use cases like wallet-based account recovery, anonymous reputation-based communication, and digital provenance verification. This was an exploration of novel ZK use cases, which is something we love to cover - so we hope you enjoy it! Rela...
Mar 19, 2025•1 hr 3 min
This week Anna chats with Jeffrey Scholz , founder of RareSkills . They discuss onboarding developers into ZK and dive into RareSkills' education program via The ZK Book and their ZK bootcamps. They explore strategies for breaking down complex topics, decisions on curriculum design, tool selection, and methodologies for enabling self-sufficient learning. A great listen for the listeners who want to learn ZK and are trying to figure out how to approach the challenge. Related links: RareSkills Web...
Mar 12, 2025•1 hr 8 min
This week Anna jumps back into the story of Zero Knowledge Systems with Jonathan Wilkins , cofounder Blockstream and Cloaked Services and previous employee of ZKS back in 2000. They explore the emergence of security culture in the 1990s, what led Jonathan to join Zero Knowledge Systems and his experience working on projects such as the Freedom Network. They discuss the office atmosphere and the research lab before catching up on the work Jonathan has focused on since then. Key concepts we see in...
Mar 05, 2025•1 hr 5 min
This week Anna and Tarun chat with Mert Mumtaz . Mert is the co-founder and CEO of Helius and is known for his contributions to the Solana ecosystem. They explore Mert’s background, his entry into the space, and his experiences during the 2022 market downturn and subsequent recovery. The conversation covers Solana’s positioning within the broader blockchain landscape and includes an overview of emerging ZK projects in the ecosystem. Related links: Zero-Knowledge Proofs: Its Applications on Solan...
Feb 26, 2025•1 hr 10 min
Read transcript This week Anna catches up with Nico , Guillermo and Alex from Bain Capital Crypto to discuss two of their recent works; ZODA: Zero-Overhead Data Availability by the trio and The Accidental Computer by Alex & Guille. The group starts with a discussion about how papers like FRIDA and Foundations of Data Availability Sampling inspired ZODA and then cover the innovations presented in ZODA itself. They wrap up with a discussion about The Accidental Computer, and in doing so tease ...
Feb 19, 2025•1 hr 7 min
This week, Anna and Nico chat with Andrew Lu and Vivek Bhupatiraju from Cursive . They map out the timeline of their in-person activations and experiments using programmable cryptography, which they have been running since late 2023. By quickly developing small applications and products to test with real users, they have gathered tangible data about these innovations at various live conferences worldwide, including our own flagship events, zkSummit11 and zkSummit12. They share the challenges and...
Feb 12, 2025•1 hr 20 min
We’re back with a new look and a new jingle! In this episode, ZK Podcast returns, and host Anna Rose shares a story from her past that strangely connects to the present day and the name "Zero Knowledge." Listen in as we kick off the show once again. Applications for zkSummit13 are now open, apply for your spot here . Check out the latest jobs in ZK at the ZK Podcast jobs board . Zero Knowledge Systems on Wikipedia IF YOU LIKE WHAT WE DO: Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree Subscri...
Feb 05, 2025•16 min
Summary This week, Anna catches up with cohosts, Tarun , Nico and Guillermo to do a look back at the zk research and applications that came out in 2024. They go on to discuss the challenges facing the ecosystem. And they wrap with a brief look forward, covering what to expect in ZK in 2025. This will be the last ep of 2024, thank you for joining us this year! Further Reading: ZK12: Welcome to zkSummit & Sponsor Intro - Anna Rose Circle STARKs by Haböck, Levit and Papini StarkWare Unveils New...
Dec 23, 2024•58 min
Summary In this week’s episode, Anna catches up with Dan Boneh , Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Stanford University. They discuss the focus of his research today, covering new ZK research problems and themes. This includes work on lattice-based SNARKs, ZK for content provenance, ZK in the FHE context, updates on ZK in ML and more! Here’s some additional links for this episode: Episode 256: New ZK Use Cases with Dan Boneh Episode 100: Dan Boneh on the past, present &...
Nov 27, 2024•1 hr 3 min
