Zooko, Nate Wilcox, and Sean Bowe: Zcash

My conversation with Zooko, Nate Wilcox, and Sean Bowe about the Zcash protocol.Zooko is a cypherpunk who co-founded Zcash along with his brother, Nate Wilcox, and others. Sean Bowe is a cryptographer and engineer who has played a crucial role in the development of Zcash and has made significant contributions to advancements in zero-knowledge proofs, particularly zk-SNARKs, which underpin Zcash’s privacy features.Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below.Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Follow me on X for updates on future episodes.Click here to support my work.Timestamps0:00 - Zooko Wilcox-O’Hearn0:04 - Writing the first blog post on Bitcoin ever6:21 - Bitcoin’s fundamental privacy flaw9:40 - Unstoppable private money12:19 - Will Zcash compete with Bitcoin as a store of value?14:24 - How many people are using Zcash?16:18 - Good security is good usability20:10 - Social credit systems and ubiquitous surveillance23:43 - Why Monero’s privacy tech can’t work35:21 - Integrating ZKPs into other blockchains39:51 - Privacy comes from money at rest, not from money in flight47:42 - Why did the price of ZEC fall so drastically in the beginning?51:49 - Zcash stablecoins? 55:50 - Quantum threats to Zcash1:02:50 - Encrypted love notes in the blockchain'1:07:07 - Privacy enabled cultural trends1:12:43 - Nate Wilcox1:14:38 - Why do you need privacy if you have nothing to hide? 1:16:16 - A brief history of Zcash1:22:42 - Why does Zcash have opt-in privacy?1:26:55 - Does Zcash still rely on a trusted setup?1:30:49 - Upgrading the Zcash protocol to Hybrid PoW/PoS1:40:50 - A bug that almost killed Zcash1:52:40 - Zcash’s funding model2:09:09 - Why can’t privacy be added as an L2?2:14:35 - Scaling Zcash and making it more interoperable2:23:16 - Shielded Labs2:24:39 - Nate’s vision for Zcash2:27:53 - Sean Bowe2:32:53 - Censorship resistance is a spectrum2:35:26 - Will privacy coins be banned?2:37:49 - Privacy and scalability2:41:47 - Programmable money2:43:31 - Summary of Sean’s contributions to the field of cryptography2:55:17 - Zcash might get privacy against quantum adversaries for free3:00:14 - Halo3:05:34 - What Sean’s working on right now3:11:54 - What has influenced Sean’s thinking in cryptography the most?3:13:36 - Being a high school dropout working in crypto3:15:08 - Zcash is just getting startedFollow me on X.Follow Zooko on X.Follow Nate on X.Follow Sean on X. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.arjunkhemani.com