Posts
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UPEE: composing SPST + PPST + TAB into one framework
F_RP Construction IV. The five-algorithm tuple Setup/Deploy/Invoke/Verify/Finalize plus the simulation-based privacy theorem (3.12) and self-sovereignty theorem (3.13). The composition that makes the whole thing deployable.
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Bayer-Groth verifiable shuffles for network-layer privacy
F_RP Construction III, Approach C. Bayer-Groth verifiable shuffles obscure the input→output permutation of a batch with O(√n) proof size — used to cascade-mix pre-broadcast batches at the network layer.
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TAB: hiding the submitter with ring signatures and FROST
F_RP Construction III. ZK proofs hide the contents but the wrapping Solana tx still leaks the submitter pubkey. TAB closes that gap with a Fujisaki-Suzuki ring signature and a FROST threshold Schnorr over Ed25519.
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On the death of the trusted setup
Universal SRS, transparent FRI, and why Groth16's per-circuit ceremony feels anachronistic in 2026 — even when, as ZERA does, you're still using one. A history of the ceremonies that worked, the ones that didn't, and what comes next.
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WASM-native proving for ZK SDKs: an SDK author's take
Why zera-sdk ships native Rust on Node and snarkjs in the browser — and what it would actually cost to ship a WASM-compiled Rust prover for the browser path. A design post about the dual-target build pipeline.
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Plonky3, the small-fast-cheap revolution
Why plonky3 — small fields, FRI commitments, no trusted setup — is the proof system to watch in 2026. The Mersenne31 / BabyBear / Goldilocks landscape, the FRI folding step, and why your laptop is suddenly a viable prover.
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Recursive proof composition without the abyss: Halo to Nova
The path from Halo's accumulation scheme to Nova's folding scheme, derived from the recurrence relation. Where Halo2, Nova, SuperNova, and HyperNova actually differ, and which one to reach for in 2026.
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PPST: extending SPST to arbitrary private computation
F_RP Construction II. Generalises SPST to private programmable state: arbitrary arithmetic circuits over committed pre/post-state, with R1CS-embedded program execution and atomic PPST-SPST composition.
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Halo2 in 2026: what changed since the Zcash era
A survey of the Halo2 ecosystem six years after the Zcash team published it — what stayed the same (PLONKish, lookups, IPA), what evolved (KZG, gadget libraries, fork landscape), and what we ship today.
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From sailor to CEO in three acts
A short memoir of a strange decade — Navy reactor compartments, a bitcoin mine, ConsenSys-USAA-PMG, and the arc that ended at Zera Labs. The interesting question is not how I got here. It is where everyone else is going.