Abdel is one of the most prolific developers in the Zero Knowledge space. Since our conversation in September, he was able to accomplish so much that he requested another interview to talk about it. So what happened with ZK STARKs that is so important?

Time stamps:

00:01:04 Podcast Introduction & Sponsor Acknowledgments

00:02:15 Vlad's Rant on Bitcoin Media & Podcast Landscape

00:03:24 Bitcoin Takeover Podcast Mission & Seven-Year Anniversary

00:04:39 Transition to Abdel’s Updates & ZK-STARKS

00:05:44 Abdel’s Zcash & Bitcoin Proposals

00:07:00 Comparing Bitcoin and Zcash Community Reactions

00:08:36 Altcoins as Experimentation Grounds

00:11:23 Scaling, Rollups, and Drivechains

00:13:10 Abdel’s Proposal for Native STARK Verification

00:17:19 Zcash’s TDE and Layer 2 Possibilities

00:19:22 ZK-Rollups, Privacy, and Regulatory Pressures

00:21:02 Government Surveillance & KYC Concerns

00:24:26 Cultural Stigma Around Bitcoin Privacy

00:25:34 Zcash’s SEC Presentation & Institutional Acceptance

00:28:58 Debate on Privacy, Transparency, and Backdoors

00:30:00 Bitcoin’s Social Layer & Governance

00:32:47 Critique of Bitcoin Perfectionism & Altcoin Dismissal

00:35:49 Bitcoin’s Mission: P2P Cash vs. Store of Value

00:36:49 Learning from Ethereum & Second-Layer Innovations

00:37:24 Sponsor Plugs & BTCfi Introduction

00:40:14 BTCfi: Bitcoin Staking & Yield Mechanisms

00:46:15 Bridging BTC to StarkNet & Atomic Swaps

00:48:36 BTCfi: KYC, Permissionless DeFi, and Institutional Offerings

00:50:59 DeFi Risks & Bitcoin Staking Security

00:51:40 ZK-STARK Verifiers on Bitcoin Cash

00:53:10 Bitcoin Cash, Zcash, and Social Layer Value

00:58:54 Bitcoin Cash’s Technical Innovations & Community Dynamics

01:00:04 Quantum Resistance: Investor Fears & Satoshi’s Coins

01:02:29 Quantum Threat Timeline & Migration Planning

01:10:25 Quantum-Resistant Signatures & Scalability Trade-offs

01:11:20 Hard Fork vs. Soft Fork for Quantum Resistance

01:13:08 Consensus, Confiscation Proposals, and Social Risks

01:17:56 Stagnation in Bitcoin Development & Altcoin Innovation

01:23:12 Ethereum’s Role in Crypto Ecosystem

01:25:24 Zcash’s Dual Incentives & Institutional Recognition

01:28:08 Zcash’s Future: Innovation vs. Ossification

01:30:39 Sponsor Plugs: Noones & SideShift

01:33:42 Quantum Resistance Migration: Hard Fork Efficiency

01:37:11 Bitcoin’s Future: Security, Consensus, and Upgrades

01:43:09 Bull Markets, Technological Breakthroughs, and Lightning

01:45:18 Lightning’s Shift to B2B & Retail Challenges

01:47:02 Bitcoin Treasury Companies & Business Models

01:49:18 Seinfeld Analogy & Bitcoin’s Societal Impact

01:52:11 Magic Wand: Abdel’s One Change for Bitcoin

01:54:03 Legitimate Altcoins & Project Criteria

01:57:16 Monero, Kaspa, Litecoin, and Altcoin Usefulness

02:02:06 ZK-STARKs: Complementary or Standard?

02:06:21 ZK-STARKs for Fast Bitcoin Syncing

02:10:27 Call for Wallet Integration & User Experience

02:14:08 Bull Bitcoin Wallet & Open Source Security

02:22:02 Freedom Tech, Nostr, and ZK for Sovereignty

02:26:02 ZK-STARKs: Career Opportunities & Verification

02:28:41 Outro & Listener Easter Egg