Pushing the Limits of Proof Systems with Benedikt Bünz

In this episode, Anna and Kobi speak with Benedikt Bünz, Chief Scientist at Espresso Systems and Professor at NYU. They start with a quick update on Espresso's architecture, its role in delivering fast finality across chains, and the challenges of building high-throughput blockchain infrastructure. The conversation then turns to Benedikt’s recent research on folding schemes, hash-based proof systems such as Arc and Warp, and Golden, a non-interactive distributed key generation protocol for threshold signatures. The episode later explores Flock, a new proof system for standard hash functions such as Blake3 and SHA-256 that exceeds Ethereum's post-quantum proving targets without relying on specialized hash functions. They conclude by discussing proof system performance, post-quantum cryptography, and the use of AI-assisted development in cryptographic engineering. Related Links Bulletproofs — Short Proofs for Confidential Transactions and More Protostar — Generic Efficient Accumulation/Folding for Special-Sound Protocols HyperPlonk — Plonk with Linear-Time Prover and High-Degree Custom Gates Nova — Recursive Zero-Knowledge Arguments from Folding Schemes Arc — Accumulation for Reed–Solomon Codes Linear-Time Accumulation Schemes Golden: Lightweight Non-Interactive Distributed Key Generation Flock: Fast Proving for Batch Boolean Computations TensorSwitch — Nearly Optimal Polynomial Commitments from Tensor Codes Bolt: Faster SNARKs from Sketched Codes Ligero — Lightweight Sublinear Arguments Without Trusted Setup Systems and Infrastructure Espresso Systems Documentation CAPE (Configurable Asset Privacy for Ethereum) Monero Additional Reading Vitalik Buterin — The Splurge: Post-Quantum Ethereum Accumulation without Homomorphism Neo and SuperNeo: Post-Quantum Folding with Pay-Per-Bit Commitments Espresso’s HotShot: A Consensus Protocol Designed for Rollups **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 * ZEC - Donation address Read transcript