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From August 26th to September 1st is Stanford Blockchain Week. Stanford Blockchain Week, which lasts for one week, consists of a series of conferences, summits, and events centered around the 6th Annual Conference on Blockchain Science (SBC). In addition to the main academic conference, numerous other summits were held this year, including the Blockchain Applications at Stanford Summit (BASS) organized by the Stanford Blockchain Club, the Starknet Summit in San Francisco, and academic working groups focused on consensus, MEV, DAOs, and more. In this article, we will explore three key trends that emerged during Stanford Blockchain Week and what they mean for the industry as a whole.
Trend 1: Optimization of Zero-Knowledge Proofs in Theory and Practice
As expected, much of the conferences were centered around Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP). At the Blockchain Science Conference (SBC), the optimization of existing ZKP solutions was a core topic, with one session focusing on breakthroughs in efficient folding schemes like HyperNova and Protostar. Other academic talks also emphasized applying zkSNARKs to more efficient batch Merkle proofs and formal verification of ZK circuits.
Moreover, it's not just the academic community at Stanford that is interested in advancing ZKP research. During this week, several startups from the Stanford Blockchain Accelerator showcased novel applications of zero-knowledge proofs in various domains. For example, Nexus Labs and Modulus Labs use ZKPs for verifiable computation, Ironmill and Succinct offer new development tools and infrastructure use cases, while Nocturne and Hinkal provide applications for privacy transactions.
A key observation is that the ZKP ecosystem is gradually becoming specialized, with different companies focusing on specific aspects of the ZK process, whether it's connecting applications to provers, providing ZK proofs for specific verticals like Modulus's AI, or offering other enhanced integration tools. This specialization suggests that the industry is evolving towards a modular and intricate process, highlighting the increasing maturity of ZKP technology. All of this is happening at a steady pace of academic breakthroughs, such as the new folding schemes presented at SBC, which create new use cases for the technology and establish a symbiotic relationship between ZKP theory and practice.
Trend 2: Achieving "Plug-and-Play" Composability Through Increased Modularity
Modularity has been a hot topic and growing trend over the past few months, with different companies focusing on specific tasks in the blockchain technology stack (such as ordering, execution, data availability, etc.) rather than having one overarching blockchain handle everything. However, modularity itself isn't necessarily the end goal; instead, the goal is to create a more composable technology stack, a "plug-and-play" design space that allows developers to experiment and fine-tune blockchain stacks for any set of requirements.
This "plug-and-play" spirit was very evident during BASS when Professor Ed Felton demonstrated Stylus for Arbitrum, a project aimed at unifying the execution environment of EVM and WASM code so that smart contracts and WASM code can interact seamlessly. This enables the creation of WASM "libraries" where EVM contracts can call functions, achieving a more composable development experience. Other interesting developments in improving composability through modularity include Chainlink's CCIP, which aims to create industry-defined interoperability standards (as covered in a previous Blockchain Network article), and Celestia's discussions on modular blockchain history and future.
It's worth noting that many of the projects driving this trend at Stanford come from larger and more mature companies like Arbitrum, Chainlink, Celestia, and Starkware, which are already industry leaders. While smaller companies like Stanford startup Caldera are also researching this trend, composability seems to be more impacting projects that are trying to establish or solidify their ecosystem leadership and dominance, aiming to attract developers to use their technology stack for building. This is a positive move for the entire blockchain industry, as emphasizing composability through a "plug-and-play" approach lowers the barrier to entry for new developers and allows for more customizable technology stacks to suit a wider range of use cases.
Trend 3: Renewed Focus on the Bitcoin Development Ecosystem
The third interesting trend seen during Stanford Blockchain Week is the new interest in the development and future of the world's oldest blockchain, Bitcoin. During BASS on Saturday afternoon, there was a special emphasis on the Bitcoin ecosystem, both from a developer and technological perspective and from a cultural perspective. Besides Professor David Tse's demonstration of Babylon, a Bitcoin collateral protocol, several roundtable discussions were held with speakers from organizations like Ordinals, Taproot Wizards, Bitcoin Startup Labs, Bitcoin Magazine, and more, discussing the innovative future of the Bitcoin ecosystem, especially post-Ordinals.
One of the most interesting and unique perspectives was defended by Erin Redwing, Chief Operating Officer of Ordinals, regarding Bitcoin Ordinals art pieces like Raresats. She argued that if Bitcoin is "digital gold," then art pieces etched through Ordinals are akin to "digital jewelry," just as most ordinary people interact with gold through intermediaries like art pieces and jewelry rather than physical gold bars. Furthermore, the cultural and technological changes brought by Ordinals and other novel projects seem to have reignited interest from Ethereum developers, who are bringing their expertise in designing Ethereum DApps, token economics, and implementations into Bitcoin, potentially revitalizing the ancient Bitcoin ecosystem.
However, it is still too early to definitively say whether we are experiencing a true "Bitcoin renaissance" or not. The Bitcoin ecosystem has traditionally been considered a stubborn and conservative one, indifferent or even hostile to cultural and technological changes, such as those brought by Ordinals and other innovations. But the potential development of the Bitcoin ecosystem remains noteworthy, even if viewed solely from the perspectives of transaction volume and cultural recognition.
Conclusion
The three trends mentioned above—advancements in ZKPs, achieving composability through modularity, and renewed focus on the Bitcoin development ecosystem—offer a comprehensive overview of the research and innovation taking place at Stanford. From new research laying the groundwork for future L1 or L2 solutions to potentially enhancing analytical tools for transaction and MEV modeling, to new cryptographic primitives, Stanford Blockchain Week reflects the diversity and vitality of this industry. Unlike many other industry summits or academic conferences, SBC and its affiliated events cleverly synchronize and combine the industry with research, creating a dynamic alliance of startups, mature protocols, and academia, all committed to pushing the blockchain space toward a better, more decentralized future. |
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Post time 3-10-2023 09:35:29