History of ZKProofs | With Eli Ben Sasson

The History of Zero-Knowledge Proofs | with ZK “Godfather” Eli Ben Sasson

In 2013, computer science professor Eli Ben-Sasson presented his research on zero-knowledge proofs at a small Bitcoin conference outside of Standford University. The presentation immediately sparked interest from Bitcoin Core developer Greg Maxwell—leading Eli into over a decade of sustained work advancing ZK-based solutions for blockchain scalability and privacy.Today, zero-knowledge proofs are widely considered some of the most powerful and promising cryptographic primitives for scaling—with their full potential for Bitcoin simmering just beneath the surface of active development.This episode shares Eli’s early discussions of ZKPs for scaling, the use of proofs in privacy-enhancing technologies like Zcash, the explosion of ZKPs for Layer 2s on Ethereum… and his recent return to exploring ZKPs for Bitcoin.

This episode nods heavily to other contributors in the space—including Adam Back, Jeremy Rubin, Robin Linus, Ethan Heilman and others. Thanks in advance to Nathan Jeffay and the Starkware team for making this episode possible!

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TIMESTAMPS

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00:51 Eli Ben-Sasson: Godfather of ZKPs02:15 Revealing Proof Research to Bitcoiners04:15 Meeting Greg Maxwell; Mike Hearn06:10 ZCash: Bringing ZK Based Privacy for Crypto07:05 SNARKs and STARKs Explained08:10 Would Satoshi Approve of Bitcoin STARKs?11:41 ZCash Privacy Versus Monero13:45 When did the ZKP era begin on Ethereum?16:34 What’s different about ZK STARKs?18:40 Vitalik and STARKs on Ethereum with Starkware21:10 Academics finally appreciating STARKs23:18 Healthy competition in the ZK industry24:20 What is Starknet?25:50 What is an L2, in Eli’s view?27:20 Focustree, an app on Starknet30:00 How Eli arrived at Bitcoin Season 234:45 When did ZK look realistic for Bitcoin?36:55 Eli first heard about OP_CAT39:30 Why Lightning isn’t good enough40:30 When did Starkware start focusing on OP_CAT?44:20 Runes bridge to Starknet!46:00 Expanding Starknet staking to BTC48:20 Why is OP_CAT “barely enough” for Bitcoin L2s?51:00 The real reason people oppose OP_CAT, per Eli53:00 The risks of *not* changing Bitcoin55:35 The weakness of Bitcoin’s lack of governance01:00:15 We will need to softfork for quantum!