Kautuk Kundan, Danilo Kim and Remi Gai I Practical Zero Knowledge Proofs | Pragma India 2023

Wed, Oct 2, 2024, 12:00 AM

n this deep-dive panel from Pragma India 2023, ETHGlobal’s Kartik Talwar sits down with leading Web3 founders—Kautuk Kundan (Stackr), Danilo Kim (Kakarot ZK-EVM), and Remi Gai (Inco Network)—for an unfiltered discussion on building practical applications with zero-knowledge proofs, fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), and next-gen micro rollups. This conversation demystifies how cryptographic tools like ZK-SNARKs, ZK-STARKs, Cairo, FHE, and micro rollups are powering the future of privacy, scalability, and composability in Web3. You’ll learn why performance, accessibility, and UX matter just as much as security, how new architectures like Kakarot and Stackr are changing the developer landscape, and what trade-offs exist when balancing decentralization with real-world usability. 00:00 Panel intro: ZK, FHE, and rollup builders 00:44 What is Inco Network? Confidential EVM with FHE 01:18 What is Stackr? Micro rollup framework explained 01:52 What is Kakarot? EVM written in Cairo 02:31 What is fully homomorphic encryption (FHE)? 03:36 Real-world FHE use cases: games, DeFi, coordination 05:10 ZK vs FHE: key differences in computation 06:43 What are micro rollups and why they matter 07:41 Example: token transfer via micro rollup 08:40 Building rollups in any general-purpose language 09:11 Why Kakarot chose Cairo: speed, safety, and trade-offs 10:25 Cairo advantages over raw circuits 12:20 Why build an EVM in Cairo? Compatibility benefits 13:28 Kakarot compatibility and remaining limitations 14:41 Why Inco chose EVM for encrypted smart contracts 15:17 Stackr’s broader vision: web2-like UX in web3 16:54 Real-world dapps without Solidity: rideshare, ticketing 18:45 Stackr’s trust model and verification layers 21:05 Do we need powerful provers? Hardware and costs 22:11 FHE scaling with FPGA and validator roadmap 23:40 ZK parallel proving, mobile-friendly validation 24:42 The future of cryptography and consumer devices 25:42 Advice for hackers building ZK apps at ETHIndia 26:46 How to approach ZK hackathon projects 28:23 Use libraries, avoid reinventing the wheel 28:50 Hackathons = the birthplace of innovation 29:18 Try FHE with Inco Network during ETHIndia 29:46 Final thoughts and closing thanks _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇮🇳 *Pragma India* The final Pragma of the year took place in Bengaluru India in December 2023 with a curated series of high-quality talks that sparked thought and discussion. Pragma India 2023 was an opportunity discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. Watch the full Pragma India 2023 playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh4rHV1H4J7y0wDok4bIS17t&si=lb8ttkU1HS2tpnUP 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. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow ETHGlobal* X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ETHGlobal _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship?_ 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _