1/ We're excited to share the initial release of Jolt, a new approach to zkVM design. Early benchmarks indicate it outperforms RISC Zero by ~6x and SP1 by up to 2x. Major optimizations are still in the pipeline.

Major update to the paper with Maryam Bahrani Pranav Garimidi on transaction fee mechanism design in a post-MEV world (i.e., with active block producers), now with searchers (Sections 2.5+4) and tight welfare guarantees (Section 5). Full paper at timroughgarden.org/papers/eobp3.p…

New Bell Curve is with Sam Hart and Pranav Garimidi is LIVE.

The topic of our discussion: the past, present and future of fee markets.

Full episode and shownotes below, enjoy!

(0:00) Introduction

(2:58) What are Fee Markets?

(11:53) The Fee Debate

(22:44) EIP-1559 UX Upgrades…

Join us a16z crypto research for summer '24! Intern applications due in a month, see replies for more details