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  • lean Ethereum Part 4: leanVM, a Custom VM for Signature Aggregation

    lean Ethereum Part 4: leanVM, a Custom VM for Signature Aggregation
    Mar 11 2026
    https://youtu.be/YWkyvTrwtQU

    In this episode of the lean Ethereum miniseries, Nico Mohnblatt speaks with Thomas Coratger and Emile from the Ethereum Foundation about the design and implementation of LeanVM, a minimal zkVM created to support post-quantum signature aggregation on Ethereum’s consensus layer. They explain why the team chose a VM architecture over fixed circuits and how LeanVM takes inspiration from Cairo with just 4 opcodes and 2 precompiles to keep the instruction set extremely small and make formal verification easier.

    The conversation also covers LeanVM implementation choices like using Plonky3 and WHIR for efficient proving on CPUs, benchmarks for aggregation speed, and the role of Python specs in testing client interop. They share ongoing efforts to optimize low-level primitives and invite community input on the project.

    Related Links
    • lean Ethereum Part 1: Introduction with Justin Drake
    • lean Ethereum Part 2: PQ Signatures and Poseidon with Dmitry and Benedikt
    • lean Ethereum Part 3: Security of PQ SNARKs and an update about the Proximity Prize
    • lean Ethereum
    • Lean Consensus R&D Progress
    • Cairo zkVM
    • WHIR: Reed–Solomon Proximity Testing with Super-Fast Verification
    • Minimal zkVM for Lean Ethereum by Emile

    Repos
    • leanEthereum github organization
    • leanSig repo (optimized Rust implementation of XMSS for Ethereum usage)
    • leanSpec repo (the Python spec of the lean consensus)
    • WHIR repo
    • Plonky3 repo
    • leanVM

    Applications to speak at zkSummit14 close this Sunday March 15! This edition will be more intimate with limited spots — we recommend applying early. Apply at www.zksummit.com zkMesh+ live! Subscribe for zkMesh+ and catch the latest State of ZK 2025 report. **If you like what we do:** * Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree * Subscribe to our podcast newsletter * Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm * Join us on Telegram * Catch us on YouTube **Support the show:** * Patreon * ETH - Donation address * BTC - Donation address * SOL - Donation address * ZEC - Donation address Read transcript
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    33 Min.
  • lean Ethereum Part 3: Security of PQ SNARKs and an update about the Proximity Prize

    lean Ethereum Part 3: Security of PQ SNARKs and an update about the Proximity Prize
    Mar 4 2026
    https://youtu.be/v8SGKS3T-3A In this episode, Nico Mohnblatt speaks with Giacomo Fenzi from EPFL and Antonio Sanso from the Ethereum Foundation. For this 3rd instalment of the lean Ethereum miniseries, they talk about the theory and security behind post-quantum SNARKs. They dive into the hash-based proof systems underpinning LeanVM, multilinear approaches like sumcheck, and how these fit into Ethereum's post-quantum upgrades. They cover the $1M Proximity Prize and the recent wave of papers on proximity gaps, correlated agreement, and list decoding. From negative results near the Elias bound to breakthroughs beyond the Johnson bound for certain codes, the discussion explores how new results slightly degrade conjectural security, why the 128-bit threshold still matters, and what it means to move from conjectural to provable security in large-scale systems like Ethereum. Related Links lean Ethereum Part 1: Introduction with Justin Drakelean Ethereum Part 2: PQ Signatures and Poseidon with Dmitry and Benediktlean EthereumLean Consensus R&D ProgressleanSig ImplementationPoseidon2: A Faster Version of the Poseidon Hash FunctionOn Proximity Gaps for Reed–Solomon CodesProximity Gaps in Interleaved CodesOn Reed–Solomon Proximity Gaps ConjecturesOptimal Proximity Gaps for Subspace-Design Codes and (Random) Reed-Solomon CodesAll Polynomial Generators Preserve Distance with Mutual Correlated Agreement Additional Resources Soundcalc GitHubProximity prizeOn the Distribution of the Distances of Random WordsSmall-field hash-based SNARGs are less sound than conjectured by Fenzi and SansoWHIR: Reed–Solomon Proximity Testing with Super-Fast VerificationSTIR: Reed–Solomon Proximity Testing with Fewer QueriesLinear-Time Accumulation SchemesTensorSwitch Applications to speak at zkSummit14 are now open! This edition will be more intimate with limited spots — we recommend applying early. Apply at www.zksummit.com zkMesh+ live! Subscribe for zkMesh+ and catch the latest State of ZK 2025 report. **If you like what we do:** * Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree * Subscribe to our podcast newsletter * Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm * Join us on Telegram * Catch us on YouTube **Support the show:** * Patreon * ETH - Donation address * BTC - Donation address * SOL - Donation address * ZEC - Donation address Read transcript
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    37 Min.
  • lean Ethereum Part 2: PQ Signatures and Poseidon with Dmitry and Benedikt

    lean Ethereum Part 2: PQ Signatures and Poseidon with Dmitry and Benedikt
    Feb 25 2026
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh8hbz1nqxQ In this episode, Nico Mohnblatt speaks with Benedikt Wagner and Dmitry Khovratovich, cryptography researchers at the Ethereum Foundation, for the second instalment of the lean Ethereum miniseries. They explore leanSig, a hash-based multi-signature scheme designed as a post-quantum replacement for BLS in Ethereum consensus. The conversation walks through how one-time signatures and Merkle trees can be combined to support long-lived validators, and why SNARK-based aggregation is needed in a post-quantum setting. The talk touches on key tradeoffs like signature size versus verification speed, encoding challenges behind their At the Top of the Hypercube work, and the role of Poseidon as the core hash function. Related Links
    • lean Ethereum Part 1: Introduction with Justin Drake
    • lean Ethereum
    • Lean Consensus R&D Progress
    • leanSig Implementation
    • Poseidon2: A Faster Version of the Poseidon Hash Function
    • At the Top of the Hypercube – Better Size-Time Tradeoffs for Hash-Based Signatures
    • Hash-Based Multi-Signatures for Post-Quantum Ethereum
    • Technical Note: LeanSig for Post-Quantum Ethereum
    • Aborting Random Oracles: How to Build them, How to Use them
    • The Billion Dollar Merkle Tree
    • Poseidon: A New Hash Function for Zero-Knowledge Proof Systems
    • Poseidon Cryptanalysis Initiative

    Applications to speak at zkSummit14 are now open! This edition will be more intimate with limited spots — we recommend applying early. Apply at www.zksummit.com zkMesh+ live! Subscribe for zkMesh+ and catch the latest State of ZK 2025 report....
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    35 Min.
  • Introduction to Lean Ethereum with Justin Drake

    Introduction to Lean Ethereum with Justin Drake
    Feb 18 2026
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dad2UonQ9Ag&feature=youtu.be In this episode, Nico Mohnblatt sits down with Justin Drake from the Ethereum Foundation to kick off a miniseries on lean Ethereum, a bold vision to rethink Ethereum’s consensus, data, and execution layers. Justin outlines how post-quantum cryptography, faster finality, and enshrined zkEVMs fit together into a cohesive redesign. At the heart of it is leanVM, an ultra-minimal zkVM built to aggregate hash-based signatures and recursively verify proofs, potentially turning post-quantum migration into a scalability win. They also explore formal verification efforts, the shift from conjectured to provable proximity gaps, Poseidon2 as a hash candidate, and how this work could set a post-quantum standard not just for Ethereum, but for other blockchains as well. This episode sets the stage for deeper dives in coming episodes. Related Links
    • Ethproofs
    • lean Ethereum
    • Lean Consensus R&D Progress
    • Poseidon2: A Faster Version of the Poseidon Hash Function
    • github.com/leanEthereum/leanSpec
    • github.com/leanEthereum/leanMultisig

    Applications to speak at zkSummit14 on May 7 in Rome, Italy are now open! This edition will be more intimate with limited spots — we recommend applying early. Apply at www.zksummit.com zkMesh+ live! Subscribe for zkMesh+ and catch the latest State of ZK 2025 report. **If you like what we do:** * Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree * Subscribe to our podcast newsletter * Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm * Join us on Telegram * Catch us on YouTube **Support the show:** * Patreon * ETH - Donation address
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    36 Min.
  • lean Ethereum Miniseries Kick-off with Anna & Nico

    lean Ethereum Miniseries Kick-off with Anna & Nico
    Feb 18 2026
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbskOlf7oA0 In this episode, Anna Rose and Nico Mohnblatt kick-off a new six-part video miniseries exploring lean Ethereum. Lean Ethereum is a proposal initiated by the EF that weaves zero-knowledge cryptography and post-quantum upgrades throughout Ethereum’s stack. They discuss why the topic deserves a deeper series, what listeners can expect from upcoming episodes, and how this new video-first format will differ from the podcast’s usual style. The conversation previews key themes like hash-based signatures, formal verification, proximity gaps, and the broader goal of future-proofing blockchain protocols with minimal cryptographic assumptions. They also share details about the upcoming zkSummit14 and how the community can get involved. Related Links
    • Ethproofs
    • lean Ethereum
    • Lean Consensus R&D Progress
    • Poseidon2: A Faster Version of the Poseidon Hash Function

    Applications to speak at zkSummit14 on May 7 in Rome, Italy are now open! This edition will be more intimate with limited spots — we recommend applying early. Apply at www.zksummit.com zkMesh+ live! Subscribe for zkMesh+ and catch the latest State of ZK 2025 report. **If you like what we do:** * Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree * Subscribe to our podcast newsletter * Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm * Join us on Telegram * Catch us on YouTube **Support the show:** * Patreon * ETH - Donation address * BTC - Donation address * SOL - Donation...
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    9 Min.
  • Bonus: zkMesh+ & Upcoming Miniseries

    Bonus: zkMesh+ & Upcoming Miniseries
    Feb 11 2026
    There’s no full-length episode this week, but we wanted to highlighting a new bonus segment available exclusively to zkMesh+ subscribers. In this, we revisit last week’s conversation with Ian Miers, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Maryland. Ian dives deeper into:
    • The renewed cultural focus on privacy
    • The evolving narrative around Zcash
    • His recent research on reducing nullifier state growth without relying on traditional pruning

    Join zkMesh+ as a paid subscriber to get access to this and all our extra members-only perks. https://zkmesh.substack.com/subscribe We return next week with a 6-part series on Lean Ethereum… stay tuned!
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    2 Min.
  • Stateful ZK Identity with Ian Miers

    Stateful ZK Identity with Ian Miers
    Feb 4 2026
    In this episode, Anna Rose and Nico Mohnblatt welcome back Ian Miers, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Maryland, to continue the conversation from a previous episode and dig deeper into his latest work like zk-Promises, zk-Cookies, and Cryptographic Personas. These ZK tools aim to build social networks that protect user privacy while maintaining integrity, like anonymous moderation and reputation systems without central databases. Ian explains how they differ from traditional creds but share ideas around proving attributes securely. The conversation explores real-world applications, such as banning bad actors without de-anonymizing them, setting rules in private group chats, and creating self-sovereign identities that persist over time. Ian also touches on challenges like stolen accounts, trolling, age checks, and how these primitives could shape future online interactions. Related Links
    • Ian Miers: Academic profile and publications
    • zk-creds: Flexible Anonymous Credentials from zkSNARKs and Existing Identity Infrastructure
    • zk-promises: Anonymous Moderation, Reputation, and Blocking from Anonymous Credentials with Callbacks
    • zk-Cookies: Continuous Anonymous Authentication for the Web
    • Cryptographic Personas: Responsible Pseudonyms Without De-Anonymization
    • Zexe: Enabling Decentralized Private Computation
    • Zerocoin to zk-creds: Modern ZK History with Ian Miers

    zkMesh+ is live! Subscribe for zkMesh+ and catch the latest State of ZK 2025 report. **If you like what we do:** * Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree * Subscribe to our podcast newsletter * Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm * Join us on Telegram * Catch us on
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    1 Std. und 2 Min.
  • Bonus: Join zkMesh+ for some bonus podcast content!

    Bonus: Join zkMesh+ for some bonus podcast content!
    Jan 29 2026
    No full length episode this week, but we have released an additional podcast clip with Sean Bowe to our a zkMesh+ paid subscribers. Sean Bowe is a Zcash core developer and lead on Tachyon. In this clip, Sean shares his thoughts on the question of quantum computers and their real impact on blockchains and ZK systems. Join zkMesh+ as a paid subscriber to get access to this and all our extra members-only perks. https://zkmesh.substack.com/subscribe
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    1 Min.