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Building privacy-enhancing and secure technology require diving into the beauty of understanding current cryptographic building blocks. One of the existing heavily-researched cryptographic tools is the zero-knowledge proof. Zero-knowledge proofs are currently in excessive development, both in terms of theoretical machinery but also practical implementations, and have the potential to scale blockchain-based solutions securely. Additionally, a standardization effort for zero-knowledge proofs is currently in progress.

Zero-knowledge proofs refer to a cryptographic protocol where a party can prove possession of certain information without revealing the information itself. Most learning materials struggle to explain why they are important and how they work internally, so zero-knowledge proofs remain somewhat “magical” and elusive, deterring developers from effectively exploring or utilising them in a big span of projects.

During this interactive workshop, we will focus on the mathematical and cryptographic foundations of zk-SNARKs, a type of commonly used zero-knowledge proof. The acronym zk-SNARK stands for “Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge”, and the workshop will focus on every development step of the Groth16 zk-SNARK.

Participants should note that learnings from these mathematical and cryptographic basics can be applied not only for understanding zero-knowledge proofs but also to being able to discuss modern cryptography more generally. We will also review implementation setups for zk-SNARKs.

The workshop will start with an opening speech by Prof Monica Yang, Chairman of Beosin Security Alliance, and an introduction to the workshop by Liz Steininger, CEO and Managing Director of Least Authority. At the end of the workshop, Dr Lo Swee Won, Centre Lead of Node of Inclusive Fintech (NiFT), will give us an overarching conclusion of the workshop.

We look forward to seeing you and to understand the intricacies of Zero-Knowledge Proof together, sign up now!

Reference:
MoonMath Manual: https://leastauthority.com/community-matters/moonmath-manual/
Objectives

Anna studied Mathematics and Politics & Technology at the Technical University of Munich and specialised in algebra, cryptography, and privacy. She worked for IBM Research Zurich and the Zcash Foundation on understanding the theory and practice of cryptographic protocols containing zero-knowledge proofs before joining Least Authority as a cryptography researcher, engineer, and trainer.