Episode 267: ZK Hardware Sessions with Zprize Pt. 2

In this two-part series exploring ZK Hardware, Anna Rose interviews various participants from the ZPrize competition, alongside the creator of ZPrize and co-host of this episode Alex Pruden from Aleo. Throughout these interviews, they dig into the different types of hardware, such as GPUs and FPGAs, that can be used to accelerate ZKP computation. They also discuss the underlying mathematical techniques in ZKPs that can be optimized for and the tricks and strategies that ZPrize competitors used to achieve these optimizations.

In Part 2 of the series, Anna and Alex first interview Hamid Salehi and Swati Gupta from Xilinx AMD who contribute insights from the perspective of an FPGA manufacturer. Alex and Anna then interview competitor Niall Emmart, previously from NVIDIA. They discuss his previous work and what went into winning both the MSM for GPUs and MSM for Wasm competitions in ZPrize.


Here is some additional information for this episode:

Hardware/Board options:

  • Varium C1100 board (targeted at accelerating blockchain applications).
    This board has been used to accelerate the following:
  • Poseidon hash (used in the storage sealing process for Filecoin)
  • NTT acceleration at ZPrize
  • Startups are using this to explore NTT and MSM acceleration
  • Other boards
    The U55C in particular has been shown to provide a competitive and more power efficient alternative to GPUs for MSM acceleration in this study by Ingonyama called PipeMSM. There has been interest in U55C for NTT acceleration as well due to the high HBM capacity it provides (16GB).

Research and documents on using FPGAs for ZK related implementation:

Projects using the C1100 board (These can be a good starting point for getting familiar with the hardware and tools):

Documentation on tools and boards:

GitHub Repositories:


Check out the ZK Jobs Board here: ZK Jobs.


Ingonyama’s mission is to improve the performance of Zero-Knowledge Provers by designing hardware optimized for ZK computation. They are proud to introduce their latest project, ICICLE.

For ideas and discussion around the code, visit the ICICLE channel in the Ingonyama discord server, where team members and fellow developers await.


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Previous Episodes

Episode 302: ZK for web2 interop with zkLogin & ZK Email

This week Anna and cohost Kobi chat with both Kostas Kryptos from Mysten Labs, discussing the zkLogin project and Aayush Gupta representing the ZK Email + Email Wallet projects. They explore the use case of web2 onboarding into web3, through the lens of these two different projects which emerged independently but share a lot of the same characteristics.

They discuss the way this use case problem was first identified, the solution that each project came up with independently, the decisions that each project took and the future use cases they would enable.

Episode 301: EigenLayer @ Devconnect

This week, Anna catches up with Tarun Chitra and Sreeram Kannan during a spontaneous session recorded at Devconnect 2023 in Istanbul! They cover a variety of topics seen at the event, including zk toolkits, intents and Data Availability, shedding light on how these ideas are reshaping the framework of digital interaction and governance. Their chat covers the challenges and opportunities these technologies present, highlighting their significance in the current ecosystem. Later, they explore the complexities and nuances of EigenLayer, offering detailed insights into its functionalities, applications, and potential impact on the industry.

Episode 300: A ZK Podcast Retrospective

In this week’s episode, Anna takes a look back at the last 6 years of the Zero Knowledge Podcast, how it came to be and the journey the show has been on since that very first episode in 2017. Anna reviews the highs and lows of the show, touching on episodes which made a profound impact on her own journey in the ZK space, as well as episodes she wouldn’t rush to listen to again! Discover key show learnings, how the zkSummit formed and take a trip down memory lane in the 300th episode of Zero Knowledge Podcast.

Episode 299: Catch up on zkSync with Alex G

In this week’s episode, Anna chats with Alex Gluchowski, CEO of Matter Labs & co-creator of the zkSync network. They catch up on the zkSync project since it launched in Feb 2023. They dive into recent initiatives like the ZK Stack framework, Hyperchains, and the ZK Credo mission statement. They also explore the upcoming Boojum proof system upgrade planned for zkSync Era and discuss the future of the zkSync project as a whole.

Episode 298: Mina’s zkApps and o1js with Brandon and Steve

In this week’s episode Anna Rose chats with Brandon Kase, CTO, and Steve Pack, Head of Product at O(1)Labs, focusing on the Mina Protocol. The discussion covers their journeys leading to their work on the project, developments in the Mina Protocol since the last appearance on ZK Podcast, and insights into the zkApps building environment. They delve into the technical aspects of o1js and the underlying philosophy that drives its design. The episode wraps with a forward-looking perspective on the potential applications of zero-knowledge proofs as the industry shifts from a research-centric to a builder-centric approach.

Bonus: ZK Hack Istanbul

Just a quick message to say that if you are an experienced hacker ready to jump in and build some cool zk-based applications, be sure to join our IRL hackathon on Nov 10-12. All details about ZK Hack Istanbul can be found at zkistanbul.com

Episode 297: Quantum Cryptography Part 2 with Or Sattath

In this week’s episode, Anna and Nico interview Or Sattath, Assistant Professor at the Ben-Gurion University in the Computer Science department. This is the 2nd episode with Or on this show, continuing the conversation around Quantum Cryptography. This time, he describes how we can transition from a pre-quantum to a post-quantum environment, looking at existing systems like Bitcoin and Ethereum. He covers why the methods used in the transition will be important, techniques on how this could be executed and the challenges in designing these techniques and the complications that can arise. Finally, they go on to discuss Quantum Money and recent works in this area.

Episode 296: Zeth, Bonsai and RISC Zero with Brian and Jeremy

In this week’s episode, host Anna Rose and co host Nico Mohnblatt catch up with Brian Retford and Jeremy Bruestle from RISC Zero. Together they delve into the current status of the project, breaking down the components of the stack, from the innovative RISC Zero zkVM leveraging the RISC-V instruction set architecture to the Bonsai proving service and the intriguing Type Zero zkEVM, Zeth. They also touch on their design methodology, how the system components integrate and future developments for RISC Zero.

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