Fireside Chat I Ethereum at Hyperscale With Alex Gluchowski and Kartik Talwar | Pragma Paris 2023

Mon, Oct 2, 2023, 12:00 AM

Join Alex Gluchowski, CEO and co-founder of Matter Labs and creator of zkSync, as he dives deep into the future of Ethereum scalability in this fireside chat at Pragma Paris 2023. This conversation explores Ethereum at hyperscale—from zero-knowledge proofs and ZK rollups to GPU-powered proof generation, recursive SNARKs, the ZK Stack, volition models, and more. Alex shares the technical breakthroughs that make hyperscalable blockchains possible, including zkSync’s new proof system Boojum, decentralized sequencers, and elastic data availability. With insights on ZK-EVM design choices, compression benchmarks, developer UX, the evolution of Ethereum rollups, and what true blockchain mass adoption looks like, this talk is a must-watch for anyone building or investing in Ethereum infrastructure. 00:00 Welcome & Introduction with Alex Gluchowski 00:38 Why zkSync was created 01:48 Zero-knowledge proofs as a scaling catalyst 03:33 Capitalism, freedom & permissionless innovation 05:11 Ethereum as the value layer of the internet 06:16 What ZK rollups enable: scale and privacy 08:25 Volition and zkPorter explained 10:07 zkSync’s cost efficiency and privacy roadmap 11:06 Recursion and constant-size proof benefits 12:05 Breakthroughs and proof system: Boojum 14:22 Performance benchmarks and GPU proving 16:57 Mainnet rollout and shadow proving 17:56 Unlimited block size with ZK recursion 19:03 zkSync throughput and battle-tested usage 20:12 ZK vs Optimistic rollups 23:28 State diffs vs calldata and compression 25:10 Volition trade-offs and user security 26:45 ZK Stack and EVM compatibility 28:41 Modular deployments with hyperchains 30:23 Hyperchains as city districts 33:38 Hyperbridging and seamless interoperability 35:18 Lessons learned and early missteps 36:55 How to measure Ethereum scalability success 38:38 ZK Credo and defining hyperscalability _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇫🇷 *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. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow Kartik Talwar* X: https://x.com/therealkartik Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/kartik ✅ *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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _