lean Ethereum Part 1: Introduction with Justin Drake

About this episode

In this episode, Nico Mohnblatt interviews Justin Drake about the lean Ethereum initiative and its implications for the future of blockchain technology.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dad2UonQ9Ag&feature=youtu.be In this episode, Nico Mohnblatt sits down with Justin Drake from the Ethereum Foundation to kick off a miniseries on lean Ethereum, a bold vision to rethink Ethereum’s consensus, data, and execution layers. Justin outlines how post-quantum cryptography, faster finality, and enshrined zkEVMs fit together into a cohesive redesign. At the heart of it is leanVM, an ultra-minimal zkVM built to aggregate hash-based signatures and recursively verify proofs, potentially turning post-quantum migration into a scalability win. They also explore formal verification efforts, the shift from conjectured to provable proximity gaps, Poseidon2 as a hash candidate, and how this work could set a post-quantum standard not just for Ethereum, but for other blockchains as well. This episode sets the stage for deeper dives in coming episodes. Related Links Ethproofs lean Ethereum Lean Consensus R&D Progress Poseidon2: A Faster Version of the Poseidon Hash Function github.com/leanEthereum/leanSpec github.com/leanEthereum/leanMultisig     Applications to speak at zkSummit14 on May 7 in Rome, Italy are now open! This edition will…

People in this episode

Host: Nico Mohnblatt

Guest: Justin Drake

Topics covered

• Ethereum
• cryptography
• blockchain
• scalability
• formal verification
• zkEVM

Keywords

• Ethereum
• lean Ethereum
• post-quantum cryptography
• zkEVM
• scalability
• formal verification
• Poseidon2

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Ethereum Foundation

Books & works: lean Ethereum, zkEVMs, Poseidon2

Places: Rome, Italy

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