This episode of the #citizenweb3 podcast features Zac Williamson from Aztec

Zac Williamson, co‑inventor of the PLONK zero‑knowledge proof system, is a former Oxford particle physicist who calls himself a “physics refugee.” He leads the development of privacy‑focused blockchain tools to make money a form of autonomy and agency, aiming for fairer systems as breakthrough technologies reshape trust and justice.

Aztec Labs is a Layer‑2 network on Ethereum that uses zero‑knowledge proofs to enable private, scalable smart contracts. Its goal is to give users more autonomy and fairness in digital finance through privacy‑preserving technology.

We spoke to Zac Williamson about Aztec and:

• Physics refugees


• Breakthrough technology, it becomes a gold rush. And you get scammers.


• Trust infrastructure technology


• I want things to be more fair


• Software you can run only once


• Quantum computers


• Play to your strengths


• Find people to cover for your weaknesses


• The arc of history always tends towards justice


• Money is autonomy, it's agency

Timestamps

00:00 – 01:17 : Intro

01:17 -- 06:11 : Physics to Web3

06:11 -- 15:20 : Explaining the values of Web3

15:20 -- 17:05 : P2P

17:05 -- 24:24 : What it looks like in five years

24:24 -- 28:40 : Breaking the system

28:40 -- 34:00 : Cryptography

34:00 -- 41:15 : ADHD

41:15 -- 46:30 : Semantics and privacy

46:30 -- 53:19 : Fear

53:19 -- 57:02 : Filling the gaps

57:02 -- 58:30 : The next generation

58:30 -- 01:03:00 : Increasing decentralization

01:03:00 – 01:05:15 : Data centres

01:05:15 – 01:16:20 : The Blitz

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Special Guest: Zac Williamson.

Links:

• AWS
• Bitcoin
• City of London
• Dune Analytics and Boxer
• Ethereum
• Hetzner
• Jens Groth
• London
• Louis de Broglie
• Monero
• Monero and Francisco Cabanas
• Planck relation
• Richard Feynman
• Shakespeare
• The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal M. Mitchell Waldrop
• The Lord of the Rings
• Vitalik Buterin
• William Tyndale
• Zcash