ZKM, the developer of the general-purpose zkVM ‘zkMIPS’, hosted a highly successful side-event during the Science of Blockchain Conference in New York City. This event, co-hosted with Aleo and co-organized by House of ZK, IC3, Stanford CBR, and Berkeley RDI, brought together researchers and industry leaders to discuss the most recent advancements in ZK technology.
A platinum sponsor of SBC, ZKM focuses on creating fundamental infrastructure for blockchain systems. Their state-of-the-art zkVM, zkMIPS, addresses key challenges in blockchain interoperability, enabling trust-minimized interactions across previously incompatible networks. zkMIPS operates as a verifiable computing platform, allowing the verification of computation results generated by untrusted machines. It generates ZK proofs of the correct execution of any program compiled to MIPS assembly language, which can then be verified on-chain.
ZKM’s House of ZK media and events branch has been active in advancing dialogue within the ZK community, recently launching the HoZK Radio podcast and the ‘Pulse Check’ industry news initiative. After a vibrant event in Brussels during EthCC, House of ZK organized a more academically focused side event at the Science of Blockchain Conference, featuring technical workshops, compelling presentations, and deep discussions led by thought leaders in the ZK space.
A ‘ZK Day’ for Networking and Learning
Held on Tuesday, August 6, before the main conference, ZK DAY at SBC ‘24 was opened by Alice Liu, Education Lead at ZKM. The stage then passed to senior researcher Lucas Fraga, who delivered a comprehensive presentation on zkMIPS architecture, discussing its unique properties, technical intricacies and potential applications.
After Fraga provided attendees with valuable insights into this nascent software, Alice Liu demonstrated the innovative capabilities of the ZKM Proving Service to help the attendees understand its real-world applications and benefits. The proving service is designed to remove the hardware restraints usually associated with zkVMs.
The event even covered the GOAT Network, a Bitcoin L2 scheduled to launch this year. The GOAT Network will offer yield-earning opportunities to those who pledge their BTC and have already secured over 5,000 BTC.
Dylan Kawalec, GOAT Network DevRel Lead, provided a technical presentation on ‘GOAT’s Layer 2 Bitcoin Roll-Up Solution with ZKM’ at the event. He explored the architecture and potential of Bitcoin L2s and highlighted the critical role of ZKPs in enhancing Bitcoin security.
ZKM’s Senior Cryptographer, Jeroen Van de Graaf, gave the keynote on ‘Entangled Ledger’ to highlight new possibilities for blockchain interoperability using ZKM’s zkMIPS and Entangled Rollup design, before Polygon Miden’s Senior Protocol Engineer, Paul-Henry Kajfasz, tackled ZK for privacy, covering the critical need for privacy in blockchain systems and the future application of privacy-preserving technologies in blockchain.
The event also saw Alex Pruden, Executive Director at Aleo Foundation, touching upon Aleo’s approach to optimizing programmability, privacy, and scalability within a single blockchain. Jimmy Ngo, DevRel Ambassador at the Foundation, meanwhile covered the process of building private dApps on Aleo.
Further discussions included advancements in proving languages and their applications by Provable’s VP of Protocol Development, Pranav Gaddamadugu, and the multi-proof necessity for Ethereum and L2s by Gwyneth’s (Taiko) ZK Engineer, Cecilia Zhang.
Overall, the event provided an excellent opportunity for the academic community to come together and discuss the future of the ZK industry.
About House of ZK Events
House of ZK brings together the brightest minds in the zero-knowledge field through a series of engaging events, featuring technical presentations, workshops, panels, and speeches from industry leaders. Our events have been successful at venues like EthDenver, EthCC, and SBC, and we are continuously expanding to more global locations. Often co-organized with leading academic and industry institutions, these events ensure high-quality content and diverse participation.
House of ZK was established by ZKM | Twitter: @HouseofZK | Email: houseofzk@zkm.io
