When an Intelligent Sequencer Guards a Chain | Martin Derka at Pragma Prague 2025

Thu, Oct 2, 2025, 12:00 AM

In this talk at Pragma Prague 2025, Martin Derka from Zircuit explores how intelligent sequencers can enhance blockchain security. He explains Zircuit's approach to sequencer-level security (SLS) using AI to detect and prevent hacks in real-time, sharing insights on EVM compatibility, transaction analysis architectures, and practical applications like phishing protection. The presentation covers technical challenges in implementing proactive security measures while maintaining blockchain performance, along with real-world testing methodologies to validate the system's effectiveness. 00:00 Introduction to Martin Derka and Zircuit 00:47 The problem: Recurring blockchain hacks 01:25 Zircuit's mission: Proactive chain security 01:57 Zircuit as EVM-equivalent ZK rollup 02:34 Traditional rollup flow vs SLS architecture 03:06 How sequencer-level security works 03:37 Transaction quarantine process 04:08 System design requirements 04:40 Scanning transactions vs full blocks 05:10 SLS 1.0: Transaction-level analysis 05:42 Advantages of pre-block analysis 06:16 Transaction dependency challenges 06:43 SLS 2.0: Block-level analysis 07:11 Performance tradeoffs 07:32 SLS 3.0: Optimistic execution 08:04 Handling analysis delays 08:28 Zircuit's hybrid SLS approach 08:48 Current architecture evolution 09:24 Training AI to detect hacks 10:01 Leveraging EVM compatibility 10:33 Model accuracy metrics 11:13 Potential impact on historical hacks 11:39 False positive challenges 12:09 Testing methodology 12:43 Porting real-world hacks for testing 13:14 Migration challenges 13:44 Research on contract migration 14:17 Address reference handling 14:49 Phishing protection use case 15:19 Wallet security limitations 15:50 On-chain phishing detection 16:22 Superiority of sequencer-level protection 16:54 Rule-based transaction filtering 17:25 Institutional adoption benefits 17:58 KYC/AML compliance solutions 18:30 System synchronization challenges 18:59 Forced inclusion considerations 19:32 DOS attack prevention 20:03 User experience design 20:36 Future detector development _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇨🇿 *Pragma Prague* Pragma Prague 2025 was held on May 29th at Holešovice Market in Prague, Czech Republic and was an in-person summit for builders and leaders in the web3 ecosystem. This event was in collaboration with ETH Prague. Watch the full Pragma Prague YouTube Playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh7vLS72NelQ2dOx2VgPNxJZ&si=UsHtX5roJ4R2R4_K 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 Martin Derka X: https://x.com/dr_zircuit ✅ Follow Zircuit X: https://x.com/ZircuitL2 ✅ Follow Kartik Talwar X: https://x.com/TheRealKartik ✅ Follow ETHGlobal X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCfF9ZO8Ug4xk_AJd4aeT5HA _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _