S15 E36: Eli Ben-Sasson on STARKs, Rollups & Privacy

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Back in 2014, Eli Ben-Sasson co-authored the Zerocash paper, which proposed a ZK SNARK system that creates anonymous Bitcoin payments. Around the same time, he also spoke about the compression benefits of zero-knowledge proofs – a full Bitcoin node can be synced within seconds just by verifying against a valid proof.

More recently, he became interested in STARKs and built a company around this cryptographic breakthrough. If SNARKs require a trusted setup, then STARKs are a major leap towards trust minimization.

If Bitcoin activates the OP_CAT soft fork, then this ZK rollup scheme also becomes possible to enable great privacy and low-sized transactions.

Time stamps:
Introduction to the Podcast (00:00:35)

What is a Zero-Knowledge Proof? (00:02:03)

Vision for Bitcoin Node Synchronization (00:04:09)

Current State of Zero-Knowledge Proofs (00:05:44)

Challenges in Implementing Zero-Knowledge Proofs (00:06:38)

Importance of OP_CAT Opcode (00:09:19)

Comparison of OP_CAT and OP_CTV (00:12:04)

Differences Between SNARKs and STARKs (00:13:13)

Popularity of SNARKs and STARKs (00:17:47)

Ellie's Journey to Starkware (00:19:52)

The Future of Zcash (00:23:50)

The Importance of Zcash Ceremony (00:24:17)

User Experience Challenges with Zcash (00:24:38)

Impact of Zcash on Zero-Knowledge Proofs (00:26:13)

Scaling Solutions: Sidechains vs. Rollups (00:27:03)

Stark Technology as a Gold Standard (00:27:20)

Quantum Computing Threats to Bitcoin (00:29:19)

Proactive Measures Against Quantum Threats (00:31:55)

Benefits of Starks Beyond Quantum Security (00:32:25)

Resurgence of the Block Size Debate (00:33:34)

Future of Bitcoin with Starks (00:34:15)

Cultural Shift in Bitcoin Development (00:35:12)

Data Availability in Blockchains (00:37:02)

Scalability Solutions and State Differences (00:40:34)

Founding Starkware: Joy and Challenges (00:42:33)

Drivechain and Stark Integration (00:46:02)

Efficient Operations for STARKs (00:47:02)

Bitcoin's Conservative Approach (00:48:22)

Integration with Bitcoin (00:49:55)

User Experience with STARKs (00:51:00)

Understanding Starkware and Starknet (00:53:43)

Starknet's Features and Capabilities (00:54:49)

Opportunities for Bitcoin Enthusiasts (00:56:11)

Potential Collaboration with Elizabeth Stark (00:58:56)

The Future of STARKs (01:01:20)

Following Starknet and Starkware (01:04:29)