Hi everyone,
Join us for another edition of Coffee With Calyptus, where we bring you captivating perspectives on the ever-changing terrain of web3 development. Get ready to engage in Q&A with industry leaders, test your expertise in Solidity, and explore a curated collection of job openings at promising web3 startups.
Web3 Leader Spotlight: Lucas Rodriguez Benitez
This week we interviewed Lucas Rodriguez Benitez, a ZKP specialist who has built blockchain solutions at EY and Web3 startups for over 6 years. In this edition, Lucas delves into why he believes ZKPs will restore the ownership of digital identity, personal freedom and ultimately combat its misuse by corporate & governmental powers.
What's the most compelling reason to become a web3 developer in 2023?
For me, the most compelling reason is decentralised identity. The digital landscape is continuously evolving, and the centralised systems that govern our online identities are vulnerable to breaches and identity thefts. Web3 offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of identity - advocating for privacy, anonymity, and digital freedom.
This industry is also perfect for programming activists who would like to ultimately contribute to a fairer, more secure, and transparent digital world. Lastly, as more industries recognise the potential of decentralised tech, the demand and compensation for web3 developers will only continue to rise.
What are some of the most important open-source zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) projects that a new engineer should familiarise themselves with?
There are several important projects that a new engineer should definitely know about, including:
a. Zcash: It was one of the first cryptocurrencies to utilise ZKPs to enable transaction privacy. It allows users to make shielded transactions, where the sender, recipient, and transaction amount remain confidential.
b. zkSNARKs: An important cryptographic protocol which is used to prove the validity of computations without revealing any underlying data. It has applications in blockchain scalability, privacy, and more.
c. AZTEC Protocol: AZTEC is an open-source privacy protocol for Ethereum that leverages ZKPs to enable private transactions, while still allowing for auditability and composability.
d. ZeroID - My personal favourite since it’s my own attempt at defining an interface for decentralised and private Identities that anyone can integrate into their daily lives.
Which industry do you think ZKP tech & blockchain will disrupt over the next 10 years? And how?
A spectrum of industries will be disrupted in the next 10 years but there are four that really stand out for me:
a. Finance: ZKPs will be hugely impactful on the finance industry’s traditional KYC & AML processes. Customers will be able to prove specific attributes about themselves (such as age or address) without having to reveal their actual data, allowing for selective disclosure and privacy-preserving identity verification.
b. Gig & Creator Economy: Decentralised identity will facilitate trust between gig workers and consumers, enabling frictionless interactions and a more reliable reputation system. Furthermore, in the social media realm, privacy-preserving identity can foster healthier online interactions by reducing the reliance on data collection and targeted advertising, shifting the focus back to UX and content.
c. Healthcare: ZKPs can facilitate the secure exchange of sensitive health data while preserving patient privacy. It will enable interoperability between different healthcare providers, enhance medical research through privacy-preserving data sharing, and improve data security in healthcare systems.
d. Governance and Voting: ZKP-based systems will enhance the security and privacy of voting processes, ensuring transparency, anonymity, and verifiability. Tamper-resistant digital voting systems may even lead to increased voter participation and overall trust in democratic processes.
