Blockchains are secured through the economic incentives offered to their validators/miners. The more robust the network effect among validators, the more difficult it is for that blockchain to be compromised. However, building a truly decentralised and reliable validator set is not a trivial task. As a result, hub and spoke ecosystem designs like Cosmos’ (and even Polkadot’s), aim to share the main hub’s validator set and security to their ‘consumer’ chains (parachains in Polkadot’s case). Neutron relies on interchain queries, interchain accounts and interchain (replicated) security to deliver the most secure CosmWasm smart contract platform in the Cosmos ecosystem. We were joined by Avril Dutheil, GM at Neutron, to discuss Neutron’s smart contract platform and how it leverages replicated security (ICS) and interchain accounts (ICA). Topics covered in this episode: Avril’s background and the value prop behind NeutronPractical examplesInterchain accounts and different use casesInterchain securityAtom hub vs. Polkadot relay chain. Onboarding and security modelsOffboarding Cosmos consumer chainsReplicated security vs. Modular blockchainsNeutron’s token utility and governanceEpisode links: Avril DutheilNeutron on TwitterThis episode is hosted by Felix Lutsch & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/504

Layer 2 zero knowledge roll-ups have initially been used for achieving private transactions on blockchains. However, past simple transfers, interacting with a public smart contract posed a serious challenge. As research and technology evolved, proof construction became much more efficient, enabling zk-powered scalability. There is a variety of pros and cons for each type of proof system, but given the impending rise of qunatum computers, we have witnessed a recent migration from SNARKs to STARKs. While the former relies on trusted setups, zk-STARKs are quantum-resistant. We were joined by Eli Ben-Sasson, co-founder of Starkware, to discuss Starknet's layer 2 architecture, as well as the upcoming update to Cairo 1.0 and how it will impact scalability performances for STARKs. Topics covered in this episode: Shifting from privacy to scalabilityZK roll-up taxonomy and main differences between SNARKs and STARKsWhy scalability is easier to implement than privacy solutionsConstructing proofs efficiently in CairoStarknet’s layer 2 architectureBuilt-in account abstractionVolition, data availability and trust assumptionsSequencer decentralisation and crypto regulationsStorage proofsCairo upgrades & TPSCouncil-based vs. DAO governanceFuture developmentsEpisode links: Eli Ben-Sasson on TwitterStarknet on TwitterThis episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/502