Fireside Chat I Eli Ben-Sasson and Kartik Talwar I SNARKs n’ STARKs | Pragma Paris 2023

Mon, Oct 2, 2023, 12:00 AM

Join Eli Ben-Sasson, co-founder of StarkWare and pioneer of zero-knowledge proofs, for a deep and accessible conversation on the evolution of SNARKs, STARKs, and the future of Ethereum scalability. In this Pragma Paris 2023 fireside chat, Eli shares how ZK-STARKs emerged, why they matter, how Starknet and Cairo are unlocking a new era of developer experience, and what it means to achieve fractal blockchain scalability through recursive proofs. Get insight into the cryptographic foundations of scalability, security, and privacy, hear how Cairo is rapidly gaining developer adoption, and learn why STARKs are poised to shape the long-term infrastructure of Web3. Whether you're a researcher, builder, or curious learner—this talk will leave you inspired by the promise of provable computation at hyperscale. 00:00 Intro and welcoming Eli Ben-Sasson 00:43 From academia to Zcash and StarkWare 02:46 Origins of STARKs and focus on scalability 03:59 SNARKs vs STARKs: key differences 05:22 Improving STARK efficiency and recursion 07:13 Amortized proof cost and real-world usage 08:27 STARKs enabling blockchain scalability 09:42 Privacy and fractal scaling with Layer 3s 10:16 Starknet, Cairo, and developer onboarding 11:33 Applications on Starknet and account abstraction 12:41 Why Cairo instead of EVM compatibility 13:48 Fine print of EVM-compatible ZK systems 15:02 Why Cairo will dominate future smart contracts 16:20 Starknet developer growth and ecosystem 17:38 STARK-based systems becoming the norm 18:58 Ethereum as base layer, not competition 19:34 What Starknet still needs to improve 20:50 Community building and global expansion 21:25 Lessons learned in company building 22:58 Flat teams and decentralized leadership 24:16 Timeline predictions and confidence 24:48 What scalable blockchain infrastructure looks like 25:29 Closing thoughts and thank you _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇫🇷 *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 Eli Ben-Sasson* X: https://x.com/EliBenSasson ✅ *Follow StarkWare* X: https://x.com/StarkWareLtd ✅ *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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _