Evolving ZK Identity from Iden3 to Privado & Billions

Zero Knowledge

In this episode, Anna Rose chats with David Z and Oleksandr (Sasha) from Privado ID and Billions Network about the evolution of ZK-based identity systems, tracing their roots back to iden3 in 2018, one of the earliest projects to pioneer ZK for on-chain identity. They discuss their origin as the iden3, their creation of the influential Circom DSL, the move into Polygon ID, the spin-out as Privado ID with a focus on B2B privacy tools and verifiable credentials, and the recent launch of Billions Network, which aims to build a scalable network of humans and AI agents with mobile-first verification and progressive proofs. They compare their broad, composable approach to projects like Self, Rarimo, and ZK Email, while highlighting future plans for reputation layers, on-chain economies, and AI agent identities to enable accountable interactions in a decentralised world. Related links:

• Privado ID introduces Billions: The First Global Human & AI Network
• Billions Launches Mobile App for Digital Identity Verification in the Age of AI
• DEEPTRUST: VERIFIABLE IDENTITIES AND REPUTATION FOR AI AGENTS
• Iden3 Protocol Specifications (Version 0)
• W3C: Verifiable Credentials Overview
• Poseidon: ZK-Friendly Hashing
• European Digital Identity
• ZK HACK - Introducing Circom 2.0 - Iden3
• Iden3: Sparse Merkle Trees
• Billions App Transforms ID Verification with Privacy-First Liveness Checks

---

ZK Whiteboard Season 3 Module 2 High-Performance Engineering for SNARKs, w/ Jim Posen has just landed! See all Whiteboard Sessions including previous seasons here.

---

**If you like what we do:** * Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree * Subscribe to our podcast newsletter * Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm * Join us on Telegram * Catch us on YouTube **Support the show:** * Patreon * ETH - Donation address * BTC - Donation address * SOL - Donation address Read transcript