Theory to Code: Building the Breakthrough zkVM Jolt

web3 with a16z crypto

MP3•Pagina principale dell'episodio

36:27

Not many artists actually hail from Tennessee, but the scenic valleys and rolling hills of The Volunteer State are part of Dustin Lynch’s DNA. In this episode of On the Bus, Country Thunder CEO Troy Vollhoffer sits down with Dustin to discuss his journey from playing fraternity parties and weddings across the southeast to being the first country artist with a club residency at the Wynn in Las Vegas. Plus, stick around for our new segment, Thunder Strike, where Troy features upcoming festival performer Riley Green’s hit song “Damn Good Day to Leave” to give you a taste of what’s to come at Country Thunder in 2025.…

circa un anno fa 1:15:09

with @SuccinctJT @samrags_ @moodlezoup @rhhackett

Welcome to web3 with a16z, a show about building the next era of the internet by the team at a16z crypto. That includes me, host Robert Hackett. Today's all new episode covers a very important and now fast developing area of technology that can help scale blockchains, but that also has many uses beyond blockchains as well.

That category of technology is verifiable computing, and specifically, SNARKs. So today we dig into zkVMs, or "zero knowledge virtual machines," which use SNARKs, and we discuss a new design for them that the guests on this episode helped develop — work that resulted in Jolt, the most performant, easy-for-developers-to-use zkVM to date.

The conversation that follows covers the history and evolution of the field, the surprising similarities between SNARK design and computer chip architecture, the tensions between general purpose versus application specific programming, and the challenges of turning abstract research theory into concrete engineering practice.

Our guests include Justin Thaler, research partner at a16z crypto and associate professor of computer science at Georgetown University, who came up with the insights underpinning Jolt, along with collaborators from Microsoft Research, Carnegie Mellon, and New York Universities. His is the first voice you'll hear after mine, followed by Sam Ragsdale, investment engineer at a16z crypto, and Michael Zhu, research engineer at a16Z crypto, both of whom brought Jolt from concept to code.

Resources for references in this episode:

"Jolt: SNARKs for Virtual Machines via Lookups" by Arasu Arun, Srinath Setty & Justin Thaler (Cryptology ePrint Archive, 2023)
the Jolt Github page
Michael Zhu and Sam Ragsdale’s post on the open source implementation
Justin Thaler’s post on the ideas behind Jolt
an FAQ untangling this new SNARK design paradigm
our Lasso + Jolt archives
▶️📹 Jolt, zkVMs, and speeding up blockchains by Justin Thaler — a quick (five minute) explanation of what Jolt is and why it's important
▶️📹 Correcting some SNARK misconceptions by Justin Thaler — a deeper dive into some of the common misconceptions behind Lasso (the theoretical foundation of Jolt) and how this new paradigm works
"Zero Knowledge Canon, Part 1 & 2" by Elena Burger et al. (a16z crypto, September 2022)
Computational Complexity: A Modern Approach by Sanjeev Arora and Boaz Barak (Princeton University, January 2007)

As a reminder, none of the following should be taken as tax, business, legal, or investment advice. See a16zcrypto.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

69 episodi

Theory to Code: Building the Breakthrough zkVM Jolt

web3 with a16z crypto

24,606 subscribers

published circa un anno fa

MP3•Pagina principale dell'episodio

with @SuccinctJT @samrags_ @moodlezoup @rhhackett

Resources for references in this episode:

"Jolt: SNARKs for Virtual Machines via Lookups" by Arasu Arun, Srinath Setty & Justin Thaler (Cryptology ePrint Archive, 2023)
the Jolt Github page
Michael Zhu and Sam Ragsdale’s post on the open source implementation
Justin Thaler’s post on the ideas behind Jolt
an FAQ untangling this new SNARK design paradigm
our Lasso + Jolt archives
▶️📹 Jolt, zkVMs, and speeding up blockchains by Justin Thaler — a quick (five minute) explanation of what Jolt is and why it's important
▶️📹 Correcting some SNARK misconceptions by Justin Thaler — a deeper dive into some of the common misconceptions behind Lasso (the theoretical foundation of Jolt) and how this new paradigm works
"Zero Knowledge Canon, Part 1 & 2" by Elena Burger et al. (a16z crypto, September 2022)
Computational Complexity: A Modern Approach by Sanjeev Arora and Boaz Barak (Princeton University, January 2007)

69 episodi

Tutti gli episodi

1
Congestion Pricing: Economics, Theory, Reality 57:31

7 giorni fa57:31

57:31

with @mostrovs @skominers @rhhackett Welcome to web3 with a16z . I’m your host Robert Hackett, and today we’re talking about congestion pricing — an area of mechanism design that’s aimed at alleviating something everyone hates: traffic. Now you may have heard this term recently since New York adopted its own version of congestion pricing at the beginning of the year. This is the first program of its kind in the U.S. — and it’s got supporters and detractors. We’ll talk about that, and we’re also going to talk about much more. In the first part of today’s episode we’ll trace the history of the economic ideas that got us here. In the middle, we’ll dig deeper into the details of putting congestion pricing into practice, plus technological alternatives. And in the final part, we’ll explore parallels to — and implications for — crypto networks. Our guests are Michael Ostrovsky, a Stanford Economics Professor who specializes in this area and who has done research on congestion pricing in New York. We’re also joined by a16z crypto Research Partner Scott Kominers, who is a Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School where he teaches market design and entrepreneurship. Resources: Michael Ostrovsky's paper on congestion pricing in New York City (from before the launch, foreseeing its issues): https://web.stanford.edu/~ost/papers/nyc.pdf Michael Ostrovsky's thread that went viral on X shortly after the debut of congestion pricing in New York, discussing the post-launch evidence, his team's data collection efforts, and the link between observed data and predictions in the above paper: https://x.com/mostrovs/status/1876798157595476420 Two of Ostrovsky's earlier theoretical papers on the topic: (1) https://web.stanford.edu/~ost/papers/complementarity.pdf , (2) https://web.stanford.edu/~ost/papers/sdc.pdf Economist William Vickrey's influential paper on congestion pricing: Vickrey, W. S. (1969). Congestion theory and transport investment. American Economic Review 59 (2), 251–260. https://matthewturner.org/ec2410/readings/Vickrey_AER_1969.pdf As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as tax, business, legal, or investment advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.…

1
You Better Have a 30-Year Goal (with Eigen Labs) 1:15:09

11 giorni fa1:15:09

1:15:09

Welcome to web3 with a16z . Today we’re talking about a founder’s journey from academia to the tech startup world — and the many lessons he’s learned along the way. We dig into big ideas, like what people mean when they call blockchains "truth machines." We also share practical advice and insights, like how to go about deciding on your life’s work; what you can do to keep increasing — and compounding — your leverage; plus, how a bungled interview question can change your life. Today’s episode features a conversation between Eigen Labs Founder Sreeram Kannan, formerly an associate professor at the University of Washington where he led its Blockchain Lab, and a16z crypto General Partner Ali Yahya. This conversation originally took place in the fall at our CSX crypto startup accelerator in New York. If you like what you hear, subscribe to the a16z crypto YouTube channel for this video and many others like it. Timestamps: (0:00) introduction (1:25) open innovation (4:08) evolution of blockchain technologies (12:34) journey from academia (16:00) one of the best life lessons (19:40) impact of network information theory (24:31) activation energy and moving earth (29:13) building a trust network (36:20) blockchains as commitment engines (45:17) Q&A (45:57) the power of narrative (52:19) restaking and the memetic sphere (56:01) two approaches to problem solving (59:53) startup focus and exponential games (1:04:56) professor coins (1:09:03) win-win or no deal (01:13:59) conclusion As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as tax, business, legal, or investment advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.…

1
Blockchain Performance, Demystified 30:18

22 giorni fa30:18

30:18

with @SashaSpiegelman @Tim_Roughgarden @rhhackett Welcome to web3 with a16z. Today we’re talking about the ins and outs of blockchain performance. How does the “speed” of one chain compare to another? What are the tricky ways that people talk about important metrics like throughput and latency? And how do design choices across things like consensus and execution result in performance tradeoffs? Our guest today is Aptos Labs’ Head of Research Sasha Spiegelman, who is helping build out and develop technologies he originally co-created at Meta. We’re also joined by a16z crypto Head of Research and Columbia University professor Tim Roughgarden, who specializes in the intersection of computer science and economics, which is fitting as we dig into technical details throughout. Timestamps: (0:00) introduction (2:48) understanding blockchain metrics (7:59) consensus protocols: PBFT and beyond (14:56) innovations from Meta’s Novi to Aptos (20:51) optimizing blockchain execution (with BlockSTM) (25:23) tech debate: dynamic vs. static parallelism (27:55) open source and the prisoner’s dilemma (29:15) conclusion *** As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as tax, business, legal, or investment advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.…

1
Inside the Biggest Heist 44:12

28 giorni fa44:12

44:12

with @mg_486662 and @rhhackett Welcome to web3 with a16z. I’m Robert Hackett and today we’re talking about what is potentially the biggest heist of all time — a hack of the Dubai-based crypto exchange ByBit which took place last month for a total of $1.5 billion and which the Federal Bureau of Investigation has attributed to a North Korean state-sponsored hacking group. In this episode, we cover details of how the attack went down, the state of crypto security across different types of wallets and organizations, and what you can do to help protect yourself from similar attacks. We’re joined by Matt Gleason, a security expert at a16z crypto, whose excellent write-up of the incident you can find below. We’ve also included an FBI PSA about the hack and other useful links as well. Resources: Breaking down the ByBit hack: Lessons to learn from crypto’s largest heist [a16z crypto; March 2025] North Korea responsible for $1.5 billion ByBit hack [FBI; February 2025] Learn THIS so you don't lose $50M | Multi-sig (Safe) Hardware Wallet Verification [Patrick Collins on YouTube; January 2025] As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.…

1
Creativity Across Industries, with Uniswap & KidSuper 35:22

5 weeks fa35:22

35:22

with @haydenzadams @kidsuper @smc90 This episode involves a special mix of guests: Hayden Adams, founder and CEO of Uniswap Labs , and inventor of the Uniswap Protocol a leader in decentralized finance (DeFi); they recently announced Unichain; and Colm Dillane, the multimedia artist behind fashion brand KidSuper , CFDA award winner who has his own Warhol Factory-like creative studio and space; Dillane started out selling t-shirts in his highschool cafeteria, and then went on to present his collection at Paris Fashion week — and has also done creative campaigns for iconic brands from Louis Vuitton and Mercedes Benz to Puma and Converse ...in conversation with editor in chief Sonal Chokshi. The conversation originally took place at our Founder Summit (October 2024) but is more relevant than ever as the crypto industry focuses on mainstream applications and users . It covers: industry jargon, to making technology not just more broadly available but more culturally and socially understood the power of naming, including the origin story behind the unicorn and Unisocks and more the difference between marketing vs. spectacle the power of early community and what it means to expand to new users vs "sell out” drops -- “airdrops” in crypto; drops in fashion (a la Supreme), and just product launches in general We also touch on some questions and issues around open source, including forking and copying -- good or bad? -- and whether a collective can actually do good design. The theme throughout is about innovating vs. stagnating -- learning from different industries and places; trying (unexpected) new things, even when there may not be a clear business case up front, and much more. As a reminder: None of the following should be taken as business, investment, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information.…

1
Where AI x Crypto Converge 40:50

6 weeks fa40:50

40:50

Welcome to web3 with a16z, today we’re running a special episode about the intersection of AI and crypto. Our guests are a16z crypto Founder and Managing Partner Chris Dixon & a16z Growth General Partner David George. They discuss the broken economics of the internet, new models for creative people, how to think through the first-, second- and third-order effects of big platform shifts, and more. Today’s episode is a crossover from a16z’s AI Revolution conversation series — and it’s especially timely as the paperback edition of Chris Dixon’s bestselling book Read Write Own goes to print. Check out the show notes for links to those and more. Watch the video here Read the transcript here See more from the AI Revolution conversation series here Check out Chris Dixon's book Read Write Own here As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.…

1
Why blockchains need privacy 40:54

9 weeks fa40:54

40:54

with @1HowardWu @SuccinctJT @rhhackett Welcome to web3 with a16z. Today’s show is all about privacy, why it matters, and how to achieve it technically onchain. It's fair to say that many blockchains today are quite… revealing. But that openness and transparency doesn’t work for everything — who would want anyone to have full-on X-Ray vision into your finances? That’s one reason why there’s been a growing appreciation for — and trend toward — more blockchain privacy. Our guest today argues that there are many other reasons you might want some secrecy too, including a whole host of onchain applications and uses that only become feasible when you have a notion of privacy. That guest is Provable Cofounder and CEO Howard Wu who helped invent the protocols behind and build Aleo, a privacy-focused blockchain network. Wu joins a16z crypto Research Partner Justin Thaler, who is also a computer scientist at Georgetown University (as well as the brains behind the cutting-edge, open source zkVM Jolt ), plus me, your host, Robert Hackett. The first voice you’ll hear is mine, then Howard’s, then Justin’s. As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.…

1
How This Foodie Founder Is Revamping Restaurants 1:00:03

10 weeks fa1:00:03

1:00:03

with @benleventhal @AriannaSimpson Welcome to web3 with a16z. How many of you are regulars at a favorite cafe, bar, or dinner spot? Probably a lot of you — but if you’re not, well, our guest today aims to make you one. This episode features Ben Leventhal — the founder and CEO of BlackBird, and formerly the founder of Resy and Eater. In it, he shares his journey as a serial entrepreneur in conversation with a16z crypto General Partner Arianna Simpson. Ben shares hard-won lessons learned in company-building, including navigating in wartime; the difference between measuring vs feeling when it comes to defining success; and more. Today’s conversation originally took place in the fall at our CSX Crypto Startup Accelerator in New York. We're currently accepting applications for our next cohort in the spring in San Francisco. Visit a16zcrypto.com/csx for more information and to apply. As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.…

1
Social Media Secrets: How to Build Your Presence 41:20

12 weeks fa41:20

41:20

with @0xgaut @ishverduzco @rhhackett Welcome to web3 with a16z. Today we’re talking about how to make social media work for you, rather than overwhelming you. Whether you’re a startup founder, creator, avid doomscroller, or longtime lurker, this show has tips and tactics you can use to attract attention, build a following, and level up your online presence. In this episode, we cover what to do and what not to do, how much of your authentic self to bring to the table vs. merely playing to the algorithms, turning your interests and obsessions into viral hits, and what standup comedy has to do with the art of posting. Our guest today is Gauthier Le Meur, aka Gaut, a meme-maker with a cult following who also happens to be the cofounder and chief operating officer of Alongside, a DeFi project that creates investible crypto market indices. Joining him is the man behind our handles, a16z crypto Social Lead Ish Verduzco, as well as me, your host, Robert Hackett. Resources Social for startup founders: A practical guide to building an online presence by Ish Verduzco [a16z crypto, August 2024] How to build a social presence in web3 and beyond [video] How to 10x on Twitter (without getting lucky) [@ishverduzco on X, March 2021] 24 Prompts to Get Over Writer's Block in 2024 by Ish Verduzco [ The Creator Blueprint , January 2024] As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.…

1
Designing Beloved Brands 36:46

14 weeks fa36:46

36:46

Welcome to web3 with a16z . Today's episode is all about design, creativity, and taste-making. Our special guest is Jason Mayden, the chief design officer of Jordan Brand at Nike — that's Jordan as in former NBA superstar Michael Jordan. In his role, Mayden is responsible for the look and feel of iconic products, like Air Jordan sneakers and related apparel. In this episode, Mayden speaks with Chris Lyons, a16z crypto's president of web3 media, about the interdisciplinary nature of industrial design, the role of humans in an AI world, what makes fashion and food alike, and how to build a brand, whether you’re in crypto, sportswear, or another field. This conversation originally took place at a16z crypto's Founders Summit in the fall of 2024. Be sure to subscribe to the a16z crypto Youtube channel where you can listen to more from that event, plus many more thought-provoking talks and other resources. As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.…

1
Trends for 2025 (part 2): AI x Crypto - From Agents in Games & DePIN to Proof of Personhood and More 40:05

15 weeks fa40:05

40:05

with @carrawu @eddylazzarin @0xkarmacoma and @smc90 @rhhackett Welcome to our special end-of-year episodes -- which also look ahead to 2025 -- covering our annual Big Ideas lists , where various a16z crypto team members share what they are personally excited about. (You can see the firmwide list, also including all the trends of the crypto team, here .) This episode is part 2 of 2 -- but you don't have to listen to them in any particular order -- covering the intersection of crypto & AI: agents that have their own crypto wallets -- and also AI agents in games; DePin/ decentralized physical infrastructure, like energy grids; and more; proof of personhood, and why having a unique ID matters in a world of deepfakes, bots, scams and more is needed with proliferating AI; decentralized, truly autonomous, chatbots (using TEEs or trusted execution environment). Covering each of these -- and coming from the investing, engineering, and other teams -- are: Carra Wu, Eddy Lazzarin, and Karma (aka Daniel Reynaud); in conversation with hosts Sonal Chokshi and Robert Hackett, who also share some commentary at the top. These are just a few of the 14 trends we shared; you can check out the full list at a16zcrypto.com/bigideas. Also be sure to check out part 1, which covers the trends of stablecoins, app stores, infrastructure, and user experience. As a reminder, none of the content is investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information -- including a link to a list of our investments.…

1
Trends for 2025 (part 1): Stablecoins, App Stores, UX, and More 33:52

15 weeks fa33:52

33:52

with @sambroner @meigga @darenmatsuoka @jneu_net @chrislyons and @rhhackett @smc90 Welcome to our special end-of-year episodes -- which also look ahead to 2025 -- covering our annual Big Ideas lists , where various a16z crypto team members share what they are personally excited about. (You can see the firmwide list, also including all the trends of the crypto team, here .) This episode is part 1 of 2 -- but you don't have to listen to them in any particular order -- covering the trends and themes of: stablecoins, payments, and where the early adopters will come from; app store distribution, curation, and discovery; where the next crypto users will come from, turning passive holders into active users; how builders improve, and better choose, infrastructure; and simplifying user experience. Covering each of these -- and coming from the investing, go-to-market, data science, research, and media teams are: Sam Broner, Maggie Hsu, Daren Matsuoka, Joachim Neu, and Chris Lyons; in conversation with hosts Sonal Chokshi and Robert Hackett. (Stay tuned until the end for some of our meta-commentary.) These are just 5 of the 14 trends we shared; you can check out the full list at a16zcrypto.com/bigideas. Also be sure to check out part 2, which covers all the trends at the intersection of crypto and AI. As a reminder, none of the content is investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information -- including a link to a list of our investments.…

1
Prediction Markets and Beyond 1:48:05

19 weeks fa1:48:05

1:48:05

with @atabarrok @skominers @smc90 We've heard a lot about the premise and the promise of prediction markets for a long time, but they finally hit the main stage with the most recent election. So what worked (and didn't) this time? Are they better than pollsters, journalists, domain experts, superforecasters? So in this conversation, we tease apart the hype from the reality of prediction markets, from the recent election to market foundations... going more deeply into the how, why, and where these markets work. We also discuss the design challenges and opportunities, including implications for builders throughout. And we also cover other information aggregation mechanisms -- from peer prediction to others -- given that prediction markets are part of a broader category of information-elicitation and information-aggregation mechanisms. Where do (and don't) blockchain and crypto technologies come in -- and what specific features (decentralization, transparency, real-time, open source, etc.) matter most, and in what contexts? Finally, we discuss applications for prediction and decision markets -- things we could do right away to in the near-to distant future -- touching on everything from corporate decisions and scientific replication to trends like AI, DeSci, futarchy/ governance, and more? Our special expert guests are Alex Tabarrok, professor of economics at George Mason University and Chair in Economics at the Mercatus Center; and Scott Duke Kominers, research partner at a16z crypto, and professor at Harvard Business School -- both in conversation with Sonal Chokshi. RESOURCES (from links to research mentioned to more on the topics discussed) The Use of Knowledge in Society by Friedrich Hayek (American Economic Review, 1945) Everything is priced in by rsd99 (r/wallstreetbets, 2019) Idea Futures (aka prediction markets, information markets) by Robin Hanson (1996) Auctions: The Social Construction of Value by Charles Smith Social value of public information by Stephen Morris and Hyun Song Shin (American Economic Review, December 2002) Using prediction markets to estimate the reproducibility of scientific research by Anna Dreber, Thomas Pfeiffer, Johan Almenberg, Siri Isaksson, Brad Wilson, Yiling Chen, Brian Nosek, and Magnus Johannesson (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (November 2015) A solution to the single-question crowd wisdom problem by Dražen Prelec, Sebastian Seung, and John McCoy (Nature, January 2017) Targeting high ability entrepreneurs using community information: Mechanism design in the field by Reshmaan Hussam, Natalia Rigol, and Benjamin Roth (American Economic Review, March 2022) Information aggregation mechanisms: concept, design, and implementation for a sales forecasting problem by Charles Plott and Kay-Yut Chen, Hewlett Packard Laboratories (March 2002) If I had a million [on deciding to dump the CEO or not] by Robin Hanson (2008) Futarchy: Vote values, but bet beliefs by Robin Hanson (2013) From prediction markets to info finance by Vitalik Buterin (November 2024) Composability is innovation by Linda Xie (June 2021) Composability is to software as compounding interest is to finance by Chris Dixon (October 2021) resources & research on DAOs , a16z crypto…

1
Government... By Lottery? 57:24

22 weeks fa57:24

57:24

with @baileyflan @ahall_research @rhhackett Today we’re dusting off an ancient practice that has become trendy once again: the old-but-new idea of “sortition,” or selecting representatives by lottery. Sortition was used in ancient Athenian democracy to elect public officials. It’s also been lately revived by tech companies like Meta and AI startups like OpenAI and Anthropic to tackle some of their thorniest policymaking challenges. Our guests today are experts on sortition, including Bailey Flanigan, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard who is joining MIT as an assistant professor next year, and who has helped develop selection algorithms for sortition that are in use today. Also joining is Andrew Hall, Stanford University poli sci professor, advisor to Meta, and consultant to a16z crypto research. In this episode, we discuss why not to rely exclusively on expert authority, how the process of deliberation changes people’s minds, and how sortition can apply everywhere from the governance of countries to the governance of crypto projects, and more. Related resources: Algorithms for fair, manipulation-robust, and transparent sortition with Bailey Flanigan As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.…

1
AI Bots & Memecoins 38:02

23 weeks fa38:02