# Zac Williamson I Privacy is Sooner Than You Think | Pragma Paris 2023

- Speakers: [Zac Williamson](https://streameth.org/speakers/zac-williamson)
- Channel: [ETHGlobal](https://streameth.org/ethglobal)
- Date: 2023-10-09
- Duration: 29:03
- Topics: Aztec, Zac Williamson, privacy, zk-SNARKs, recursion, Plonk, Noir, Aztec 3.0, Ethereum Layer 2, private smart contracts, programmable privacy, decentralized sequencers, private rollup, account abstraction, zk cryptography, zero knowledge, private ZK rollup, zkEVM alternatives, Plonk SNARK, universal SNARK, smart contract privacy, client-side proving, Web2 login zk, secure Ethereum scaling, Aztec sandbox, Pragma Paris 2023, Ethereum scalability, L2 privacy
- Watch: https://streameth.org/watch/yt-9frsPwJekeE
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9frsPwJekeE

## Description

Join Zac Williamson, CEO of Aztec, for a deep dive into the future of privacy, scalability, and cryptographic innovation on Ethereum. In this compelling fireside chat at Pragma Paris 2023, Zac reflects on Aztec’s journey from its early days as a privacy-lacking TradFi protocol to pioneering fully private smart contract infrastructure. He unpacks the origins of Aztec 1.0 and 2.0, the challenges of recursive SNARKs, and why privacy is essential for identity, composability, and mainstream blockchain adoption.

Learn how breakthroughs like Plonk, Noir, and client-side proving have enabled the development of Aztec’s upcoming private programmable L2. This conversation covers privacy-first rollups, ZK-EVM tradeoffs, decentralized sequencer architecture, and the roadmap to a 2025 mainnet launch. If you're interested in zk-SNARKs, private smart contracts, zero-knowledge cryptography, or the next chapter of Ethereum’s scalability, this talk is not to be missed.

00:00 Intro to Zac Williamson and Aztec
00:46 Origins of Aztec and early goals
01:42 Realizing the need for privacy on-chain
03:20 The problem with trusted setups and early limitations
05:01 Sonic paper and the path to universal SNARKs
06:05 What is Plonk and how does it work
08:56 From Aztec 1.0 to Aztec 2.0
10:27 Why Aztec focused on private rollups
11:30 Recursion challenges in private rollups
13:05 Why recursive proofs are hard to verify
14:06 Building composability through recursion
15:35 Why Aztec didn’t choose ZK-EVM
16:42 How private state changes break EVM assumptions
18:03 What private smart contracts look like
19:04 Account abstraction with privacy and Web2 logins
21:03 Using Noir to build private smart contracts
22:39 Lessons learned and what surprised Zac
24:26 What is Aztec 3.0 and what it enables
25:39 Timeline to Aztec sandbox and mainnet
26:45 Predicting Ethereum scalability in two years
27:44 Sequencer decentralization trade-offs
28:47 Closing thanks and Aztec’s future

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🇫🇷 *Pragma Paris*
Pragma Paris took place at the Pavillion Vendome in Paris on July 20, 2023, and was an in-person summit for builders and leaders in the web3 ecosystem. Watch the full Pragma Paris 2023 playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh42f0yI-hyeOCbNZpvV2fIT&si=Ez6ych6OAdn_sq1D

ETHGlobal's Pragma series takes place in cities around the world, and is designed to be a different kind of event. Pragma is a one-stage conference with founders-only on stage, bringing together a small group of curated attendees and speakers to discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. Ever since we first introduced our new event series Pragma in Tokyo of the spring of 2023, we have been fostering a curated, global community of individuals who deeply care about web3.

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X: https://x.com/aztecnetwork

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