This week, we spoke with Rob Viglione, Co-founder and CEO of Horizen Labs, to explore the groundbreaking potential of Zero Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) in safeguarding digital privacy, bridging TradFi and DeFi, and creating income streams for consumers that empower them through the ownership of their own digital data.

From balancing transparency and onchain privacy to the intersection of AI and Web3, Rob dives into the critical role cryptography will play in reshaping how we share and protect data. Learn how ZKPs can combat data misuse, empower individuals to monetize their information, and reimagine compliance as we step into a world where privacy is a fundamental human right.

Key Highlights:

1. How ZKPs protect medical records and financial history

2. Will banks adapt, or become irrelevant?

3. The role of cryptography in privacy-centric AI systems

Don’t miss this thought-provoking discussion packed with insights on the future of data, privacy, and decentralized innovation.

Chapters:

00:00 Defiant Intro

00:07 Podcast Teaser

00:52 Hero Quote

00:59 Introduction to Rob Viglione

01:34 The beauty of ZKPs

02:40 How to balance transparency and privacy onchain

04:00 Why it’s so easy to overshare data

04:50 Living in an age of constant data leaks

06:34 The concept of wealth is fundamentally different now

07:33 Google adopts ZKP to verify age

09:00 A world of a trillion proofs

09:30 How can Web3 handle growing volumes of proofs?

10:09 Will Web2 relinquish their chokehold on our data?

11:52 Monetizing data as an incentive to online privacy

12:45 New opportunities for earning a living by monetizing your data

14:14 The intersection of crypto and AI

16:17 ZKPs and data protection

18:00 ZKPs and AI in medical records and financial history

20:18 How can ZKPs act as a safeguard against misuse in AI

22:15 Hackers and scammers are a certainty; how do we fight them?

22:36 Cryptography, ZKPs, and privacy-centric AI systems?

25:13 Why is privacy a human right?

26:25 Institutions, privacy, and Web3

26:45 Institutions coming onchain

28:30 Better communicating privacy as a human right in the context of Web3

30:30 Will ZKPs change the way people interact with the internet?

32:11 Marketing in the age of AI

33:24 ZKPs and KYC

35:40 Why ZKPs are bad for bad actors

37:38 Government regulation vs. Web3 companies regulating the industry themselves

39:00 It doesn’t make sense for politicians to be anti-crypto anymore

41:53 Can ZKPs redefine compliance and how it’s enforced?

43:13 How can ZKP tech support institutional privacy and consumer data?

44:45 TradFi onchain as a stepping stone to DeFi

46:39 Lightning round! Favorite existing use case for ZKP

46:54 Lightning round! Favorite potential use case for ZKP

48:04 Lightning round! Best advice for keeping your data safe online

48:49 Closing statements and where to follow Rob

Zero Knowledge Proofs: The Game-Changer for Digital Privacy You Need to Know, Featuring Rob Viglione

The Defiant - DeFi Podcast