Diego Kingston - Affiliation: co-founder of Aligned Digital Security
Date: - Location: Eurecom
Abstract: Diego Kingston will explore the intersection of cryptographic theory and real-world infrastructure through the lens of zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) and ZK rollups. Drawing from his work at Aligned Layer, he will present a scalable, decentralized architecture for proof verification on Ethereum, emphasizing how parallelized validation pipelines can dramatically reduce costs while preserving trustlessness. The session will also touch on the mathematical underpinnings of proof systems and how modern ZK protocols are bridging gaps between theoretical cryptography and modular blockchain design. Building on his background in applied research and academic teaching, Kingston will also provide insight into emerging cryptographic primitives, such as polynomial commitment schemes and recursive SNARKs, and their role in enabling secure, composable, and efficient rollup environments. The talk aims to foster dialogue with researchers and graduate students interested in formal methods, verifiable computation, and the future of cryptographic infrastructure. Short bio: Diego Kingston is the Co Founder and Head of Research at Aligned Layer, a decentralized network focused on scalable, low cost verification of zero knowledge proofs on Ethereum. He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering and is also a professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). Before founding Aligned Layer, he led research at Lambda Class, where he played a key role in the development of lambdaworks, an open source cryptography library in Rust. At Aligned Layer, Diego leads research and innovation in proof verification, building systems capable of validating thousands of ZK proofs per second in parallel and at low cost. In addition to his technical leadership, he regularly speaks at conferences around the world on topics related to cryptography, decentralized infrastructure, and Ethereum scalability.
