Here’s how Argentina is leading the charge on digital identity with ZK tech
Alex Gluchowski is the Co-Founder CEO of Matter Labs, a company focused on scaling Ethereum using zero-knowledge proofs, and Matthias Broner is their Head of Growth for Latin America.
In this episode, Gluchowski and Broner discuss the QuarkID project in Buenos Aires, which uses zero-knowledge proofs to give citizens control over their digital identity and serve as a model for decentralized digital identity systems.
OUTLINE
00:00 Introduction
04:25 Blockchain Scaling
07:19 Buenos Ares ZK-Powered
12:01 Government Innovation
16:40 DID Tech Stack
18:25 ZK 101
19:57 Impact on Argentinian
21:39 DID Expansion
25:59 Crypto's Utility
31:33 Development Roadmap
32:42 Public Services Onchain
34:50 DID Security
36:24 ZKsync Roadmap
This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Polkadot
Polkadot is the blockspace ecosystem for boundless innovation. To discover more, head to polkadot.network
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ZKsync 3.0: Elastic Chain and the Future of Scalable Web3 with Matter Labs’ Nana Murugesan
Nana Murugesan, President of Matter Labs and former VP of Business Development at Coinbase, joins Camila Russo in this week’s podcast to discuss the latest updates from ZKsync, including the recently launched Elastic Chain. He explains how ZKsync’s approach to interoperability and customization aims to make Web3 infrastructure as seamless as Web2, emphasizing the importance of user-friendly experiences for mainstream adoption. Nana also highlights Matter Labs' partnership with Buenos Aires to bring ZK-backed digital identity to millions of citizens, showcasing a promising model for government and Web3 collaboration. Finally, he shares upcoming milestones for ZKsync, with new chains and collaborations in Latin America, gaming, and the creator economy.
Chapters
0:00 - Introduction
0:17 - ZKsync and Elastic Chain
2:57 - Evolution of ZKsync
5:22 - Interoperability and Customizability in Web3
7:30 - User Experience
10:16 - The Role of Governments in Blockchain Adoption
14:41 - Digital Identity on the Blockchain
17:18 - Why Zero-Knowledge Proofs Matter
21:02 - Cost and Throughput Advantage of ZKsync
25:07 - UX and Interoperability Challenges
27:05 - ZKsync in Latin America
30:05 - Upcoming Projects on Elastic Chain
32:39 - Future Focus for Matter Labs
33:46 - Closing Remarks
This episode was sponsored by:
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How ZK Will Shatter Social Media Monopolies | Alex & Stani
In this episode, Stani from Aave and Lens Protocol and Alex from Matter Labs and ZK Sync join us to discuss the future of decentralized social networks and blockchain scaling. They dive into Lens Protocol's mission to create open and fair social spaces by leveraging zero-knowledge proofs and progressive security models. They also touch on the inevitable intersection of AI and blockchains, the evolving regulatory landscape for crypto in the US, and the importance of empowering users through data ownership and monetization. Thanks for tuning in!
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Arbitrum is a game-changer for daily Ethereum's users and developers, offering top applications and lower fees. As the leading scaling solution with 600+ apps, explore Arbitrum’s Portal to find your perfect fit. Interact with the home of DeFi, a flourishing NFT and creator ecosystem, and a rapidly growing Web3 gaming hub – Arbitrum has it all.
Get started at:
portal.arbitrum.io
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Avalanche is a smart contracts platform that scales infinitely and regularly finalizes transactions in less than one second. Its novel consensus protocol, Subnet infrastructure, and HyperSDK toolkit enable Web3 developers to easily launch powerful, custom blockchain solutions.
Build anything you want, any way you want, on the eco-friendly blockchain designed for Web3 devs.
Start building today at https://www.avax.network/
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This episode is brought to you by Aura, the AI-powered digital security protection app that keeps your personal information, passwords, online activity, and tech safe from digital threats. It’s all-in-one protection from identity theft, financial fraud, malware, scams, and more.
For a limited time, Aura is offering our listeners a 14-day FREE trial plus up to 55% off an Aura subscription.
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SKALE is a modular, AppChain network that offers zero gas fee transactions and instant finality. Tailored for ease of development and onboarding, SKALE's configurable EVM chains enable next-gen use cases in gaming, AI, DePin, and others. With over 20,000,000 users having saved over $6 Billion on gas fees, SKALE is the blockchain for mass adoption.
Bridge to SKALE at portal.skale.space and stay up to date with the gasless blockchain at @skalenetwork
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Timestamps:
00:00 Lens Network Origin Story
08:24 End Game Scalability is ZK
21:18 ZK Landscape
29:33 Aura Ad
30:23 Avalanche Ad
31:20 Skale Ad
32:36 Crosschain is Matter Labs
42:27 Aave on ZK Sync?
47:31 Crypto AI Intersection
53:06 Crypto's Product Market Fit
01:00:42 Best Crypto Policy Areas
- -
Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
Ethereum Layer 2 Battle: Matter Labs CEO Explains Why He Thinks ZK-Rollups Will Win
Today we are joined by Alex Gluchowski, the co-founder and CEO of Matter Labs. Matter Labs is the initial team behind zkSync. Alex is a renowned physicist and entrepreneur. Today we dive into the founding story of zkSync, the launch of zkSync, why they chose to help scale Ethereum, and if they stand by that decision today, the zkSync mission, alpha around getting into zkSync today, when token, as well as new use cases on zkSync and so much more. But first, Alex is going to tell us the founding story of zkSync
zkSync Era Mainnet Launch & NEW zkEVM with Alex Gluchowski and Anthony Rose
Alex Gluchowski is the Co-founder and CEO of Matter Labs and the creator of zkSync. Anthony Rose is the head of engineering at Matter Labs and has a background in software and machine learning. Prior to joining Matter Labs, Anthony spent a number of years in the industry building teams at SpaceX.
In today’s episode, the four talk about zkSync’s massive announcement, they’ve launched their zkEVM to mainnet! They also delve into the engineering challenges, what zk unlocks, the difference between zkEVM vs Optimistic Rollups, what builders need to know, and of course…wen token?!
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------ Timestamps
0:00 Intro 8:15 zkSync’s Era Mainnet Launch 8:53 The Importance of zkSync Era 9:53 zkSync Era 13:53 Staged Roll-Out 18:50 zkSync Era Projects 21:14 Engineering Challenges 26:25 What Does zk Unlock? 28:16 zkEVMd vs Optimistic Rollups 36:35 How Low Can Gas Fees Go? 39:22 The Power of zkEVMs 48:58 How is zkSync Era Different? 53:08 New Risks to Pay Attention to 55:35 Path to Decentralization & Security 1:03:42 What Do Builders Need to Know? 1:05:36 Resources 1:07:12 Token?! 1:08:20 Closing & Disclaimers
------ Resources:
zkSync Website https://zksync.io/
Alex Gluchowski https://twitter.com/gluk64
Anthony Rose https://twitter.com/anthonykrose
------ Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.
Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
zkSync head of product: Ethereum learning to scale will be like 'coming out of Plato's cave'
For the final installment of this three-part Ethereum Merge special edition of The Scoop, we take a closer look at zero-knowledge (ZK) rollups — technology that could enable Ethereum to scale to millions of transactions per second.
There are four main teams working on ZK-rollups: Polygon, Scroll, Starkware, and Matter Labs.
In this episode of The Scoop, Matter Labs Chief Product Officer Steve Newcomb shares what he believes to be the key ingredients of a good ZK-rollup, and why he believes scaling solutions will herald a new wave of innovation.
According to Newcomb, a paradigm shift will occur once Ethereum successfully scales:
“Once Ethereum can scale — and truly scale — it's kind of like coming out of Plato's cave and seeing the rest of the world, and seeing these use cases we could have never even predicted.”
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has stated he believes ZK-rollups will be the main layer-2 scaling solution in the future, largely because of the speed at which users can move funds between mainnet and the layer-2.
Newcomb also believes that ZK-rollups are “going to be the end game for scaling,” although he also stipulates that a good ZK-rollup should meet the following requirements:
“These five ingredients — having a generalized ZK-rollup, being EVM compatible, working with solidity, being truly open sourced, being correctly decentralized, and having good tokenomics — these are the key ingredients of what makes a good ZK-rollup a ZK-rollup.”
Episode 93 of Season 4 of The Scoop was recorded remotely with The Block's Tim Copeland, VP of Research Larry Cermak and Matter Labs' Chief Product Officer Steve Newcomb.
Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. Email feedback and revision requests to podcast@theblockcrypto.com.
This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Tron, Chainalysis & IWC Schaffhausen
About Tron
TRON is dedicated to accelerating the decentralization of the internet via blockchain technology and decentralized applications (dApps). Founded in September 2017 by H.E. Justin Sun, the TRON network has continued to deliver impressive achievements since MainNet launch in May 2018. July 2018 also marked the ecosystem integration of BitTorrent, a pioneer in decentralized Web3 services boasting over 100 million monthly active users. The TRON network completed full decentralization in December 2021 and is now a community-governed DAO. | TRONDAO | Twitter | Discord |
About Chainalysis
Chainalysis is the leading blockchain data platform. We provide data, software, services, and research to government agencies, exchanges, financial institutions, and insurance and cybersecurity companies in over 60 countries. Backed by Accel, Addition, Benchmark, Coatue, Paradigm, Ribbit, and other leading firms in venture capital, Chainalysis builds trust in blockchains to promote more financial freedom with less risk. For more information, visit www.chainalysis.com.
About IWC Schaffhausen
IWC Schaffhausen is a Swiss luxury watch manufacturer based in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Known for its unique engineering approach to watchmaking, IWC combines the best of human craftsmanship and creativity with cutting-edge technology and processes. With collections like the Portugieser and the Pilot’s Watches, the brand covers the whole spectrum from elegant timepieces to sports watches. For more information, visit IWC.com.
The zkEVM is Here | zkSync's Steve Newcomb
By the end of October, zkSync is going to be shipping the world's first zkEVM. We brought on zkSync's Chief Product Officer, Steve Newcomb to share all about it and how it's going to impact the space.
We also had to ask Steve, wen token? Tune into the episode to hear his response!
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️ ZKSYNC | THE LAYER 2 SCALING ENDGAME https://bankless.cc/zkSync ------ Timestamps:
0:00 Intro 9:38 Wen Mainnet? 11:22 What is zkSync Shipping? 12:36 zkEVM Design Choices 19:26 Why zkEVM is Progressing Fast 22:56 Optimistic Rollups vs. zkEVMs 27:00 The Layer 3 Ecosystem & Narrative 41:48 Losing Sovereignty? 44:08 Prover Competition 46:39 Same Circuit & Hyper Bridges 52:15 The Cosmos Vision 58:01 L1s to L3s 1:04:10 Onboarding Strategy 1:10:16 Wen Token? 1:13:33 2/3's Distribution 1:15:42 Open Source 1:25:08 zkSync 2.0 & 3.0 and Beyond 1:29:17 Closing & Disclaimers
------ Resources:
Steve Newcomb https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenewcomb/
zkSync https://zksync.io/
------- Not financial or tax advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This newsletter is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.
The zkWars | zkSync & Scroll
The zkWars are heating up. With 3 different teams recently announcing their zkEVM, we’re joined by Alex Gluchowski of zkSync and Ye Zhang of Scroll.
Optimism’s Ben Jones cohosts as we explore why zkEVM is such a big deal, the respective roadmaps to mainnet, and of course… wen token?
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------ Topics Covered:
0:00 Intro 3:15 Crypto 101 10:00 Alex and Ye 13:25 zkSync 18:20 Scroll 22:30 What's Different about zkSync 31:10 What's Different about Scroll 37:15 zkProof Performance 41:30 Decentralizing Provers 46:30 Approaching Developers 57:07 Challenges to Upgrading 1:03:40 Vibe Check 1:09:20 Centralized Keys 1:17:45 Closing
------ Resources:
Ben Jones https://twitter.com/ben_chain
Alex Gluchowski https://twitter.com/gluk64
Ye Zhang https://twitter.com/yezhang1998
----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.
Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/bankless-disclosures
The zkEVM is Here | Alex Gluchowski of zkSync
zkEVM is here! Alex Gluchowski, CEO & Co-Founder of Matter Labs and of zkSync is here to talk about the huge accomplishment he and his team brought to market this past week. This is the first EVM-compatible ZK Rollup on Ethereum’s testnet!
Is this the endgame of blockchain scalability? How were Alex and his team able to bring this to market way sooner than expected? Why is this important and a monumental leap forward for the space? Find out the answers to these questions and much more on this week's State of the Nation with Ryan and David!
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------ Topics Covered:
0:00 Intro 6:00 Alex from Matter Labs 9:51 What is a zkEVM? 15:57 The Breakthrough 19:08 zkSync 2.0 Public Testnet 24:04 The User Experience 29:37 Developer Tooling 32:48 Why zkRollups? 37:22 Security, Centralization, Trust 41:51 Justin Drake's Question 46:33 The Roadmap 50:30 Wen Mainnet? 53:15 Wen Token? 58:51 zkDAO 1:00:52 Ukraine 1:06:57 Crypto's Impact in Ukraine 1:11:00 Closing & Disclaimers
------ Resources:
UkraineDAO https://twitter.com/Ukraine_DAO?s=20&t=k_QiuIA3ZukqUPd9gy--LA
Alex Gluchowski on Twitter https://twitter.com/gluk64
zkSync on Twitter https://twitter.com/zksync
zkDAO https://twitter.com/zkdao_official?s=20&t=9HO7KyxvPEwqBhAo6SgbEA
zkSync's Website zksync.io
zkSync 2.0: Public Testnet is Live! https://matterlabs.medium.com/zksync-2-0-public-testnet-is-live-de870ba9632a
Modular vs Monolithic Blockchains https://shows.banklesshq.com/p/modular-vs-monolithic-blockchains?s=w
----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.
Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/bankless-disclosures