The Boundless House of ZK took over the stage at the recent @festival_web3 for a full day of Zero-Knowledge talk, speculation, and live debate. Hosted by @RiscZero’s @boundless_xyz initiative and House of ZK, this event brought together some of the biggest names in the industry to hash out the present and future of ZK. The tone was direct, the questions occasionally brutal, and the consensus clear: ZK is quickly becoming the infrastructure layer for next generation of blockchain applications and beyond.
This article briefly recaps the day's talks, with the full recordings available here: https://www.youtube.com/@HouseofZK/playlists
@1HowardWu, Co-founder of @AleoHQ, opened the day with a panoramic overview of where we are in the ZK space. He covered current limitations, emerging breakthroughs, and the philosophical gap between privacy as a feature and privacy as infrastructure. His thesis: ZK is reshaping system design across domains - whether we’re ready or not.
The ZK Road to EnshrinementThis one was lively. The topic was @ethereum's eventual native support for SNARKs, and opinions varied. Some argued we need enshrinement now to stabilize protocol-level verification. Others pushed back, warning against premature assumptions and highlighting the need for L2's in Ethereum's long-term roadmap. Featuring @CKapibara (@serotonin_hq), @sd_eigen (@ProjectZKM), @tomngodefi (@MetisL2), @odesium (@taikoxyz), and @victorJi15 (@MantaNetwork), this discussion made clear that "inevitable" doesn’t mean "simple and straightforward".
Dr. Redouane Elkamhi (@GOATRollup) broke down economic assumptions behind rollups on Bitcoin, including what sustainable security might look like for long-term viability. It was a deep dive into incentive structures and proof costs - highlighting how ZK isn’t just a technical shift but an economic one, too.
A multidisciplinary panel examined the expansion of ZK beyond crypto: zkTLS, zkTEE, privacy-preserving AI models, and more. @tongtongbee (@PANewsCN), @xxiang_xie (@primus_labs), @Joshua_zkp (@zkPass), @deligong (@AutomataNetwork), and the returning @1HowardWu swapped ideas on where ZK can land next. The main takeaway? ZK is going to be essential for a multitude of applications, of which we may still just be scratching the surface.
?RISC Zero’s @0xEverly introduced Boundless: a universal protocol for deploying and verifying ZK-based apps across chains, explaining the combination of performance and flexibility for verifiable compute, and where it fits into a more modular Web3 stack. If you're looking to learn more about the leading ZK stack in the industry, then look no further than Jacob's gripping talk.
This one was messy in the best possible way. @Ismael_H_R (@lagrangedev) and @anuragarjun (@AvailProject) fielded tough questions from moderator @Gink5814 (@zerobasezk). Is ZK overhyped? What are the problems with ZK infra that nobody talks about? Find out all this and more in this exciting new panel format.
Who Owns the ZK Narrative?A marketing-forward discussion about developer mindshare, storytelling, and the challenge of making ZK accessible. @TinaLiu333 (@RiscZero), @no89thkey (@brevis_zk), @sinka2022 (@DelphinusLab), @yq_acc (@alt_layer), and @leofanxiong (@cysic_xyz) compared notes on branding, education, and narrative control.
In this session moderated by @nake13 (@ChainFeedsxyz), @otaliptus (@citrea_xyz) and the returning Jacob Everly dove into the reasons for their collaboration and how Citrea’s Bitcoin-native zkRollup plans to integrate RISC Zero’s proving stack. It was equal parts technical and strategic - framing ZK as the linchpin for Bitcoin programmability.
No slides, just forecasts. A panel of VCs including @gwendolynregina (@HorizenLabs) as the moderator, alongside @momir_amidzic (@IOSGVC), @jennyqcheng (@AnimocaVentures), and Ether Chen (@BingXOfficial), shared where they see ZK going next: new funding verticals, infrastructure abstraction, and AI x ZK intersections.
Last, but certainly not least, @AudreyTang_ (@DRK_Lab) closed the day by reminding the room that ZK isn’t just about crypto. It’s a foundational primitive for digital identity, verified AI, and real-world trust minimization. Our key takeaway from her message: the endgame is not just technical - it’s societal.
Thanks to RISC Zero, the House of ZK team, all speakers, and the Hong Kong Web3 Festival for hosting a serious day of serious ZK. No fluff. Just builders, researchers, and protocol designers working through the hard questions. If you were there, you know: the ZK conversation has officially left the whiteboard.
To stay updated on House of ZK’s upcoming events, visit https://www.hozk.io/events and follow us on X: https://x.com/HouseofZK.
