Zero Knowledge, Infinite Trust
The co-inventor of STARKs and the journalist who makes them make sense tell the story of blockchain, zero-knowledge proofs, and the coming Integrity Web.
In the history books of the future, the rise of the internet won’t merit a chapter of its own. True, the world changed entirely when technology suddenly connected billions of people. But the story of the internet will be so intertwined with that of another innovation—blockchain—that they’ll be told together as one.
Welcome to the
Integrity Web
Everyone’s obsessing about AI right now, but something just as important is quietly re-shaping our future. Blockchain. It’s the backbone of the crypto system, and of a financial revolution that means we no longer need banks to securely move our money.
This is your guide to understanding blockchain, through the personal story of one man, an unassuming professor of computer science.
His obscure area of research proved to be the key that unlocked blockchain’s unimaginable potential, and the foundation to what is now an $8 billion company. Through his journey from lecture halls to global infrastructure, you’ll discover what blockchain really is, why it matters, and how it is transforming finance, ownership, and the internet itself.
Read the First Chapter FreeThe Three Pillars of Blockchain Impact
Money
The primary function of blockchain today
Documents
Redefining the “source of truth”
Human Society
Coordination at scale with integrity
As introduced in Chapter 1
The Inventor’s Account
Not a journalist looking in from the outside. The co-inventor of STARKs telling his own story, from a kibbutz in Israel to the frontlines of blockchain infrastructure securing billions in transactions.
Accessible to Everyone
From IntegrityLand thought experiments to credit card bill analogies, complex ideas explained with clarity. No computer science degree required. No jargon left unexplained.
A Vision for Trust
Beyond the hype: blockchain as the trust layer of the internet, for finance, identity, AI verification, governance, and human dignity. This is a story about integrity, not just tech.
Chapter Guide:
Native vs Normie
“Give Me a Slow, Weak, but Trusted Blockchain, and We’ll Enforce Integrity on All Computations on Earth.”
From Eureka
to $8 Billion
The Eureka Moment
At a Bitcoin conference, Eli realizes that the mathematical proofs he’s been developing could solve blockchain’s fundamental scaling problem without sacrificing security or decentralization.
From Theory to Team
Uri Kolodny, a serial entrepreneur, joins as co-founder. A conference at the Technion expecting 150 attendees draws over 900. Standing room only. Something is happening.
“Err, Hmm” = $6 Million
Vitalik Buterin prices StarkWare’s seed round in a Shenzhen fish market. In Prague, Avihu Levy generates the first STARK proof on an iPhone browser, live, onstage.
StarkEx Goes Live
dYdX migrates to StarkEx. Daily trading volume jumps from hundreds of thousands to billions of dollars. Sorare saves $1M per week in gas fees.
Starknet & $2 Billion
Series B led by Paradigm ($75M). Series C led by Sequoia Capital reaches a $2B valuation. Starknet, the public, permissionless network, launches. The Cairo programming language matures.
$8 Billion Valuation
Series D: $100M led by Greenoaks and Coatue at an $8 billion valuation. The team decides: no patents, open-source code, a public network for everyone.
The Book
Zero Knowledge, Infinite Trust brings the full story: the math, the mission, and the vision for the Integrity Web. Published by Wiley.
Who Wrote This
A mathematician who co-invented STARKs and built an $8 billion company, and the journalist who tells the story from the inside. Together, they make blockchain make sense.
Meet the Authors
Eli Ben-Sasson
Co-inventor of STARKs · Co-founder, CEO & Chairman, StarkWareEli Ben-Sasson is a mathematician and blockchain innovator. He developed the mathematical theory that enables blockchain to serve a mass audience and was among the first to demonstrate that Zero Knowledge cryptography brings scale and privacy to blockchains. Eli is co-inventor of several foundational cryptographic protocols: STARK, FRI, and Zerocash.
He was a co-founder and founding scientist of Zcash, and is co-founder, CEO, and Chairman of StarkWare. He sits on the board of the Starknet Foundation, the nonprofit driving adoption of Starknet, a permissionless blockchain aiming to expand the Bitcoin economy.
Eli has published dozens of peer-reviewed academic papers in the field of theoretical computer science, held research positions at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, Harvard, MIT, and Technion, where he was a Professor of Computer Science. He is a married father of five.
Nathan Jeffay
Journalist · Head of Media, StarkWareNathan Jeffay is a journalist who fell into blockchain. He has covered geopolitics, wars, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Today Nathan works alongside Eli, telling the unfolding story of blockchain from the inside.
As head of StarkWare’s media desk, he focuses on explaining complex ideas clearly, honestly, and without hype. He is active in a range of projects for blockchain education, including podcasts, short movies, and news. Nathan is a married father of four.
What People Are Saying
It’s become consensus that privacy and scalability have become the two key unlocks for blockchains to become global infrastructure for money, and zero-knowledge tech is at the core of both. Eli not only explains ZK for non-cryptographers, he also reframes the entire blockchain narrative around integrity. The book makes a powerful case that crypto is about upgrading the internet into what he calls the “Integrity Web.” If you care about the future of finance and trust online, this is essential reading.
Camila Russo Author of The Infinite Machine, Founder of The DefiantVery few people can bridge deep cryptography and real-world impact the way Eli can. This book takes concepts like STARKs and zero-knowledge from abstract math to something profoundly human: power, privacy, and who controls the ledger of our lives. It’s rare to see technical brilliance explained with this much clarity and urgency. Fully recommend.
Order the Book
ISBN 978-1-394-37382-6 · John Wiley & SonsRead the First Chapter Free
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Unlock More
Want to share Zero Knowledge, Infinite Trust with your team, clients, or community? Bulk orders come with escalating bonuses. All tiers are cumulative.
Book Club
All standard bonuses plus a downloadable Book Club Discussion Guide with chapter-by-chapter questions and talking points.
Team Package
All below plus a 30-minute private video Q&A session with Nathan Jeffay for your team or reading group.
Organization
All below plus a 45-minute private video session with Eli Ben-Sasson, with Q&A tailored to your organization.
Corporate
All below plus a custom keynote presentation (virtual) by Eli or Nathan for your event or all-hands meeting.
Enterprise
All below plus an in-person keynote by Eli Ben-Sasson at your event, plus a half-day blockchain workshop.
All tiers include bonuses from lower tiers. Limited availability for author events.
Questions? Email book@starkware.co
Invite the Authors to Speak
Eli Ben-Sasson and Nathan Jeffay are available for keynotes, panels, fireside chats, and workshops on blockchain, zero-knowledge proofs, the Integrity Web, and the future of digital trust.
From corporate events and university lectures to industry conferences and media appearances, they bring the same clarity and storytelling that defines the book.
Redpill Your Friends & Family
You already believe. But every time you try to explain crypto to your spouse, your parents, your friends, it goes nowhere.
This book does the explaining for you. No jargon. No manifestos. Just a compelling story that makes blockchain make sense to normal humans.
“So that you
own your life.”