From Elliptic Curves to zk-SNARKs and Beyond

Elliptic curves are behind some of the most renowned results in mathematics, like Andrew Wiles’ proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem. Elliptic curves and their bi-linear pairing functions are fueling nearly all pre-processing ZK-SNARKs (Pinocchio, Zcash, Groth16, PLONK, Marlin and more).

This special episode of STARK @ Home will be a fireside chat with Professor Dan Boneh of Stanford University, co-inventor of pairing-based cryptography, in which we’ll discuss:

The invention and history of pairing-based cryptography

Cryptographic proofs like ZK-SNARKs and ZK-STARKs and secure MPC, and recent exciting work of Dan and collaborators on “lifting” SNARKs to collaborative proof systems and functional commitment schemes

Fireside chat with Professor Dan Boneh