I recently attended the UC Berkeley RDI’s ZKP workshop, hackathon awards ceremony, and career fair on May 2, 2023. It was a great experience, and I was able to meet and talk to many professionals in the space. However, my favorite part of the event was having the opportunity to hear from both Shafi Goldwasser and Dan Boneh in the fireside chat. One of Shafi’s responses that I found particularly interesting was her example of what zero-knowledge proofs can accomplish via a specific use case, connecting it to the television show Suits. One could use zero-knowledge proofs to prove that they had not committed insider trading while not revealing their proprietary trading strategies and losing their edge. As someone who became interested in the concept of zero-knowledge proofs because of my experience in the blockchain industry, I always find it interesting to hear how the cryptographic principles can actually be applied to more widespread use cases. I remember on the first day of class, Shafi had mentioned how it had use cases in securing nuclear launch codes, which is very dependent on security and privacy. 

Another interesting conversation during the fireside chat was the discussion on the ethical implications of ZK technology, and Professor Dawn Song cited the example of how AI is progressing very rapidly and researchers are calling for a pause in its development. Dan gave the example in the blockchain space of Tornado Cash, which was shut down because it provided users with too much privacy, in a sense. Law enforcement might conflict with the ideals of ZK technology because regarding payments, it is very debatable whether every financial transaction should be hidden. Another example of this is the infamous Silk Road website. The website was a hub for illegal purchases, and it protected the anonymity of users via cryptocurrency payments. Many would argue that this should not be enabled, but with ZK-based technology, it could be extremely difficult to prevent. This is why ethical dilemmas need to be fully considered before we reach a point of no return. I am currently taking an ethics class here at Berkeley, and this notion connects well to a principle I learned in it. The Collingridge Dilemma states that the impacts of a certain technology are hard to predict, and by the time they are apparent, the technology or product can be so widespread that it is significantly more difficult to mitigate. As a result of the explosion of the cryptocurrency space, zero-knowledge proofs seem to be progressing more rapidly. However, I agree with Dan and Dawn that we need to tread very carefully.

After the fireside chat, I enjoyed speaking with engineers and representatives from companies working on zero-knowledge technology. It was interesting to hear their sentiments on the space as a whole right now. The cryptocurrency space is very dependent on space, but concepts like ZKPs are very much research oriented. It seemed that people agreed that as hype decreases and falls off, progress and development slows as well. That isn’t to say that it stops altogether, since people who truly believe in the technology and space will find a way to continue working on it, but it can definitely make it harder to raise money and hire new people.

As a whole, I greatly enjoyed the event and hope to attend more in the future!