This episode was recorded live at zkSummit14 in Rome. In it, Anna and Nico Mohnblatt hosted the live ‘Quantum Question’ panel which began as an interview, but became something harder to categorize: part seminar, part group therapy, part improv theater, and — depending on the timeline you expect for viable quantum computers — part emergency briefing. The logistics of the panel were really unusual. The guests were meant to be Justin Drake and Dan Boneh, but Dan’s flight was delayed. And so the panel began with just Justin Drake and the hosts — what someone in the room jokingly described as the highest moderator-to-panelist ratio in zkSummit history. To compensate, the format broke open: researchers from the audience, including Daira-Emma Hopwood from the Zcash team and Jens Groth (author of Groth16), joined the conversation. A park bench materialized in real time. The conversation veered into the history of quantum computing research, why Shor’s algorithm threatens today’s public-key cryptography and pairing-based SNARKs, fault-tolerant ‘logical qubits’, physical qubit fidelities, and why neutral-atom machines—despite slower cycle times—may be the most practical path to ‘Q-Day.’ The group also debates the rush-to-post-quantum pitfalls, the benefits of lattice-based post-quantum schemes versus hash-based ones, and how hybrid transitions are unfolding in practice. This was a truly chaotic, spontaneous, informative and fun session at zk14 with some great contributors from attendees and community members, we hope you enjoy it! Related Links

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