Episode
Pushing the Limits of Proof Systems with Benedikt Bünz
- Podcast
- Zero Knowledge
- Published
- Jun 24, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4135
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://zeroknowledge.fm/podcast/404
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Summary
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 w…