Episodes

  • Year in Review: ZK Podcast in 2025 & Beyond

    Year in Review: ZK Podcast in 2025 & Beyond
    Dec 3 2025
    In this end-of-year episode, Anna recaps the major ZK themes of 2025 and gives a preview of what’s coming in 2026 — new episodes, a mini-series, zkSummit14, and the rollout of ZK Mesh Plus, a unified space for newsletters, educational content, and events. She highlights this year’s core research threads, from lattices and Ligero to quantum security, ZK-ID systems, emerging applications, and the ongoing push toward better proving benchmarks. Anna wraps with reflections on why privacy tech is becoming more urgent in the age of AI and what the community will be exploring next year. Related Links Ecosystem
    • ZK Whiteboard Sessions
    • ZK Mesh
    • ZK Podcast substack
    • State of ZK Report

    ZK Systems Story
    • Back to the Future with Zero Knowledge
    • Zero Knowledge Systems, Privacy and Security with Jonathan Wilkins
    • The Founding of Zero Knowledge Systems with Austin Hill

    Lattices
    • Implementing LatticeFold with Matthew and Albert from Nethermind
    • Lattices, Folding, & Symphony with Binyi Chen
    • ZK Whiteboard:Lattice-based SNARKs, w/ Vadim Lyubashevsky
    • ZK Whiteboard:LatticeFold, w/ Binyi Chen

    Ligero
    • Ligero for Memory-Efficient ZK with Muthu
    • ZK Whiteboard:The Ligero Proof System, w/ Muthu Venkitasubramaniam

    Quantum
    • Quantum Engineering with Jelena Vučković
    • Quantum Punks with Alex and Nicola
    • Countdown to Q-Day with Project 11

    ZK-ID
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    15 mins
  • Pratyush Mishra on Tiny Proofs, Folding, Low-Memory SNARKs and More

    Pratyush Mishra on Tiny Proofs, Folding, Low-Memory SNARKs and More
    Nov 26 2025
    In this episode, Anna Rose and Nico Mohnblatt catch up with Pratyush Mishra, Assistant Professor of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania. They discuss the various themes in his ZK research and some of the works he has been a part of in the last few years. They explore how Garuda and Pari achieve extremely small SNARK proofs, how Arc facilitates hash-based folding, proximity proofs with FICS and FACS, his work on low-memory SNARKs, and ZK applications outside the blockchain space. Pratyush shares how these ideas intersect with one another, from faster proving to smallest proof sizes to real-world uses. He also touches on his collaborations with other leading cryptographers like Benedikt Bünz and Alessandro Chiesa, and how ZK is finding its place in broader computer science. Related Links
      • Garuda and Pari: Faster and Smaller SNARKs via Equifficient Polynomial Commitments
      • Arc: Accumulation for Reed--Solomon Codes
      • FICS and FACS: Fast IOPPs and Accumulation via Code-Switching
      • Scribe: Low-memory SNARKs via Read-Write Streaming
      • Coral: Fast Succinct Non-Interactive Zero-Knowledge CFG Proofs
      • Hekaton: Horizontally-Scalable zkSNARKs via Proof Aggregation
      • Query-Optimal IOPPs for Linear-Time Encodable Codes
      • Time-Space Trade-Offs for Sumcheck
      • Blendy: A Time-Space Tradeoff for the Sumcheck Prover
      • Accumulation without Homomorphism
      • vSQL: Verifying Arbitrary SQL Queries over Dynamic Outsourced Databases
      • Succinct Arguments in the Quantum Random Oracle Model
      • Lattices, Folding, & Symphony with Binyi Chen


    Aztec
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Lattices, Folding, & Symphony with Binyi Chen

    Lattices, Folding, & Symphony with Binyi Chen
    Nov 19 2025
    In this episode Anna Rose and Nico Mohnblatt chat with Binyi Chen, researcher at Stanford University. They discuss his work on lattice-based folding schemes, revisit LatticeFold and LatticeFold+, and cover how lattices enable low-cost, post-quantum-secure folding by replacing Pedersen hashes with Ajtai commitments. They discuss the early folding work from 2023 and how it has evolved and explore the advantages of lattices over other approaches in the folding context while also highlighting their tradeoffs. Binyi goes on to introduce Symphony, his new work that eliminates the need to implement Fiat-Shamir in the recursive verification circuit, and describes how that improves efficiency and removes the chances for a KRS-style attack. Related Links
    • Binyi Chen’s Website
    • LatticeFold: A Lattice-based Folding Scheme and its Applications to Succinct Proof Systems
    • LatticeFold+: Faster, Simpler, Shorter Lattice-Based Folding for Succinct Proof Systems
    • Symphony: Scalable SNARKs in the Random Oracle Model from Lattice-Based High-Arity Folding
    • Protostar: Generic Efficient Accumulation/Folding for Special-sound Protocols
    • ZK Whiteboard Sessions:SEASON 3 MODULE 3: Lattice-based SNARKs, w/ Vadim Lyubashevsky
    • ZK Whiteboard Sessions:SEASON 3 MODULE 4: LatticeFold, w/ Binyi Chen
    • Implementing LatticeFold with Matthew and Albert from Nethermind
    • Lattice-based ZK Systems with Vadim Lyubashevsky

    Further Reading
    • Generating Hard Instances of Lattice Problems by M. Ajtai
    • SWIFFT: A Modest Proposal for FFT Hashing
    • Delegating Computation: Interactive Proofs for Muggles
    • How to Prove False Statements: Practical Attacks...
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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • The Quest for Practical iO with Machina iO

    The Quest for Practical iO with Machina iO
    Nov 12 2025
    In this episode, Anna Rose and Tarun Chitra chat with Sora Suegami and Enrico Bottazzi from Machina iO. They explain indistinguishability obfuscation (iO) technology and how they are working to bring this powerful cryptographic primitive from theoretical territory into the practical world. They discuss how the pair got into iO and how new assumptions like all-product LWE and evasive LWE will help bridge theory to practice. They explore the benchmarks, the challenges and opportunities of this cutting-edge privacy cryptography and cover potential optimizations and real-world uses. While iO is still far from being truly practical, their work shows tangible steps ahead and offers interesting insights into how this could actually work. Related Links
    • Indistinguishability Obfuscation (iO) with Huijia (Rachel) Lin
    • Machina iO
    • Diamond iO: A Straightforward Construction of Indistinguishability Obfuscation from Lattices
    • Compact Pseudorandom Functional Encryption from Evasive LWE
    • Indistinguishability Obfuscation from Well-Founded Assumptions
    • Lookup-Table Evaluation over Key-Homomorphic Encodings and KP-ABE for Nonlinear Operations
    • Original BGG+ paper:Fully Key-Homomorphic Encryption, Arithmetic Circuit ABE, and Compact Garbled Circuits∗
    • Gentry’s classic thesis on FHE bootstrapping:A FULLY HOMOMORPHIC ENCRYPTION SCHEME
    • Gentry (GGH+) paper for obfuscation for all circuits:Candidate Indistinguishability Obfuscation and Functional Encryption for all circuits
    • Optimal Broadcast Encryption and CP-ABE from Evasive Lattice Assumptions
    • Evasive LWE Assumptions: Definitions, Classes, and Counterexamples
    • Lattice-Based Post-Quantum iO from Circular Security with Random Opening Assumption (Part II: zeroizing attacks against private-coin evasive LWE assumptions)
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Countdown to Q-Day with Project 11

    Countdown to Q-Day with Project 11
    Nov 5 2025
    In this episode, Anna Rose chats with Alex Pruden and Conor Deegan from Project 11. They revisit the topic of quantum computing and explore the threat it poses to cryptographic systems like blockchains. As blockchain technology becomes increasingly integrated into global financial infrastructure — especially through stablecoins and banking rails — the stakes for quantum security continue to rise. Alex and Conor break down which algorithms are most at risk, why simple network upgrades won’t be enough, and what users will need to do to protect their own funds. They also outline potential mitigation strategies, including how Project 11 is approaching the challenge with post-quantum signature schemes, secure vaults, and a global namespace to coordinate user migrations ahead of “Q-Day.” The conversation also touched on how post-quantum thinking overlaps with zero-knowledge research, as hash- and lattice-based SNARKs offer resilience against future quantum attacks. Related links:
    • Project 11
    • Yellow Pages
    • PQC Suite B GitHub
    • Securing Sui in the Quantum Computing Era
    • Quantum resource estimation for large scale quantum algorithms: Section 5
    • Estimating the cost of generic quantum pre-image attacks on SHA-2 and SHA-3
    • Downtime Required for Bitcoin Quantum-Safety

    ZK Podcast Previous Related Episodes on the topic:
    • Quantum Engineering with Jelena Vučković
    • Quantum Punks with Alex and Nicola
    • Quantum Cryptography Part 2 with Or Sattath

    ZK Whiteboard Sessions is an educational video series produced by ZK Hack in collaboration with Bain Capital Crypto. It is focused on the building blocks of zero knowledge technology. Find season 3 of the Whiteboard Sessions as well as previous seasons here.
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Bonus: ZK Mesh and ZK Whiteboard this week!

    Bonus: ZK Mesh and ZK Whiteboard this week!
    Oct 29 2025
    There is no episode this week, but we share some updates from the ZK Hack ecosystem. Sign up here for ZK Mesh and find the latest module of ZK Whiteboard Season 3 here. **If you like what we do:** * Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree * Subscribe to our podcast newsletter * Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm * Join us on Telegram * Catch us on YouTube **Support the show:** * Patreon * ETH - Donation address * BTC - Donation address * SOL - Donation address
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    1 min
  • Kevin Lacker on AI-Assisted Theorem Proving and Acorn

    Kevin Lacker on AI-Assisted Theorem Proving and Acorn
    Oct 22 2025
    In this episode, Anna Rose and Guillermo Angeris talk with Kevin Lacker, creator of Acorn, a theorem prover utilising AI. They explore what theorem provers are, their history, and how they're used today. Kevin shares how Acorn brings in AI to simplify the proving process, letting users naturally write mathematical statements while the system checks the correctness of those statements. It's built to feel more like natural math, unlike tools like Lean that demand every step. They also explore the benefits of including AI in math, and also the challenges that come with it such as hallucinations, and how Acorn could speed up research in areas like zero-knowledge proofs. The dicussion also covers the history of mathematics, community building around Acorn and its open math library, acornlib. Related Links
    • Guillermo’s Blog Post:Acorn and the future of (AI?) theorem proving
    • Acorn Theorem Prover
    • Acorn Standard Library:acornlib
    • Lean Theorem Prover

    ZK Whiteboard Sessions is an educational video series produced by ZK Hack. It is focused on the building blocks of zero knowledge technology. Find season 3 of the Whiteboard Sessions as well as previous seasons here. Check out the latest jobs in ZK at the ZK Podcast Jobs Board. **If you like what we do:** * Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree * Subscribe to our podcast newsletter * Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm * Join us on Telegram * Catch us on YouTube **Support the show:** * Patreon *
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    56 mins
  • Payy and Payy Card, the Undoxable Credit Card

    Payy and Payy Card, the Undoxable Credit Card
    Oct 15 2025
    In this episode, Anna Rose and Tarun Chitra catch up with Sid Gandhi and Calum Moore from Payy to discuss the Payy private payment system and the newly released Payy credit card. They explore their focus on building a user-friendly privacy focused product, how ZK tooling advancement makes this possible, and a walkthrough into how it works with the Visa remittance system. Sid and Cal explain Payy's design as a ZK Validium rollup on Polygon, using client-side proofs and a Merkle tree to ensure privacy and compliance. The discussion also delves into the history and past challenges of self-sovereign payments; how self-sovereign money goals were overshadowed by speculation, why many new stablecoin projects feel like a step back to traditional finance, and how privacy-focused payments are making a comeback in 2025. Related Links
    • Payy Network
    • Payy Wallet
    • Payy Card
    • Zcash
    • The whitepaper for Payy Network
    • The payy card launch on X
    • Payy runner, anew way to earn payy points

    ZK Whiteboard Sessions is an educational video series produced by ZK Hack. It is focused on the building blocks of zero knowledge technology. Find season 3 of the Whiteboard Sessions as well as previous seasons here. **If you like what we do:** * Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree * Subscribe to our podcast newsletter * Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm * Join us on Telegram * Catch us on YouTube
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    1 hr and 8 mins