Zero Knowledge lean Ethereum Part 1: Introduction with Justin Drake
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Feb 18, 2026 
Justin Drake, Ethereum Foundation researcher focused on protocol design and post‑quantum readiness. He unveils Lean Ethereum and LeanVM, explaining how zk aggregation, hash-based post‑quantum signatures, and recursive SNARKs could shrink signature bloat. Short takes cover LeanVM’s ultra‑minimal ISA, enshrined vs off‑chain ZK proofs, formal verification efforts, and Poseidon2 as a snark‑friendly hash candidate.
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Holistic CDE Redesign
- Lean Ethereum redesigns consensus, data, and execution layers (C, D, E) to be harmonious and future-proof.
- Combining invasive upgrades like post-quantum and faster finality in one fork creates synergies and clears technical debt.
SNARKs Solve Post‑Quantum Bloat
- Post-quantum signatures are much larger than BLS, forcing new aggregation methods to preserve bandwidth and verification time.
- SNARKs become the practical route to aggregate and recursively combine large post-quantum signatures.
Aggregate Signatures Off‑Chain
- Use SNARKs to put signatures in private witnesses so individual signatures need not be published on chain.
- This approach can make moving to post-quantum cryptography a net scalability win because blocks keep a fixed data footprint.