{"id":"luca-zanolini","title":"Luca Zanolini","content":"**Luca Zanolini** is a computer scientist and research scientist specializing in distributed systems, cryptography, and blockchain technologies. He is known for his research contributions to the [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum) consensus protocol, particularly in the areas of faster finality and consensus security under asynchronous network conditions. Zanolini holds research positions at the [Ethereum Foundation](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum-foundation-ef) and the University of Cambridge, and has previously been affiliated with the University of Bern and [Chainlink](https://iq.wiki/wiki/chainlink) Labs. [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-ndutHp40RuaXClGM)​\n\n## Education\n\nZanolini pursued his higher education in mathematics, earning both a Bachelor of Science from 2012 to 2015 and a Master of Science from 2015 to 2017 at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Italy. His master's degree work included a specialization in abstract algebra and cryptography. He later attended the University of Bern, where he completed a PhD in Computer Science from 2019 to 2023, graduating with honors. His doctoral research was conducted under the supervision of Prof. Christian Cachin. His thesis, titled “Asymmetric Trust in Distributed Systems,” focused on cryptography, distributed systems, blockchain technology, and consensus protocols. [\\[2\\]](#cite-id-Lm5eSfuwRInVZoWj)​\n\n## Career\n\nZanolini began his professional career as a [Blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) Developer at Interlogica from 2017 to 2019, where he gained experience with [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum) and the [Solidity](https://iq.wiki/wiki/solidity) programming language. In 2018, he received a certification as a ConsenSys Certified [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum) Developer. While pursuing his doctoral studies at the University of Bern from 2019 to 2023, he also served as a Teaching Assistant. In this capacity, he taught courses on Cryptography (Fall 2019), Discrete Mathematics (Fall 2020 and Fall 2022), and Privacy and Data Security (Fall 2021). In the summer of 2021, Zanolini completed a research internship at [Chainlink](https://iq.wiki/wiki/chainlink) Labs, where his work centered on cryptography and distributed systems. In 2022, he joined the [Ethereum Foundation](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum-foundation-ef) as a researcher, focusing on the long-term improvement of [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum)’s consensus protocol, with a particular emphasis on developing faster finality protocols. In 2025, Zanolini became a Visiting Academic at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Computer Science and Technology. [\\[2\\]](#cite-id-Lm5eSfuwRInVZoWj) \n\n## Presentations\n\n### Fast Confirmation\n\nAt Devcon SEA in November 2024, Zanolini and Roberto Saltini presented an overview of their fast confirmation rule for the [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum) consensus protocol, a collaborative project that included contributions from Adia, Francesco, and Chene. They defined a canonical chain as the one followed by honest validators. They explained that their algorithm enables nodes to identify blocks that will remain on the canonical chain under good network conditions. The fast confirmation rule was introduced to address the lengthy finalization time of up to 13 minutes currently experienced within the protocol, which hindered user experience and transaction reliability. This rule offers properties such as safety and monotonicity and aims to provide faster confirmations for small-value transactions, improving wallet reliability and enhancing the user experience. The researchers discussed the technical structure of their confirmation rule, including assumptions about validator behavior and committee weight, and shared preliminary results from experiments that indicated strong security and performance outcomes for the new algorithm. They encouraged interest in further testing and implementation of the confirmation rule during the Q\\&A session. [\\[3\\]](#cite-id-oJTdMZN96QR68tg3) \n\n[YOUTUBE@VID](https://youtube.com/watch?v=p7JPRTELnJc)\n\n### GHOST\n\nAt the [a16z crypto](https://iq.wiki/wiki/a16z-crypto) research seminar in October 2023, Zanolini presented his recent work on a consensus protocol called air lmd ghost, which could replace the existing lmd ghost protocol in [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum). Following his PhD at the University of Bern, Zanolini collaborated with Franchesco Damato to develop this dynamically adaptable consensus protocol that addresses the challenges posed by asynchronous network conditions. He discussed the trade-offs between dynamical availability and asynchrony resilience, describing how air lmd ghost builds upon concepts from the sleepy model and integrates a generalized vote expiry mechanism to enhance security against adversarial attacks. Through this work, they aimed to improve safety and liveness in distributed systems while exploring the implications of different voting strategies and potential integrations with partially synchronous protocols. Ultimately, the findings contributed to an evolving understanding of [consensus mechanisms](https://iq.wiki/wiki/consensus-mechanism) in [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) technology, highlighting the complexities involved in balancing asynchronous resilience and dynamic participation. [\\[4\\]](#cite-id-J6MnKjf6dsqwrZfs) \n\n[YOUTUBE@VID](https://youtube.com/watch?v=F2olypDSVnA)","summary":"Luca Zanolini, a computer scientist and researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, uses his expertise in distributed systems and cryptography to enhance Ethereum's consensus mechanism, focusing on faster finality and protocol security.","images":[{"id":"QmVJnBZUC1gg5HJW6eVaWJjosuL3dxjfxavCReBAzdsqi4","type":"image/jpeg, image/png"}],"categories":[{"id":"people","title":"people"}],"tags":[{"id":"PeopleInDeFi"},{"id":"Ethereum"},{"id":"Developers"},{"id":"Speakers"}],"media":[{"id":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7JPRTELnJc","size":"0","name":"p7JPRTELnJc","type":null,"source":"YOUTUBE"},{"id":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2olypDSVnA","size":"0","name":"F2olypDSVnA","type":null,"source":"YOUTUBE"}],"metadata":[{"id":"references","value":"[\n  {\n    \"id\": \"ndutHp40RuaXClGM\",\n    \"url\": \"https://lucazanolini.github.io/\",\n    \"description\": \"Luca Zanolini personal website\",\n    \"timestamp\": 1773839884476\n  },\n  {\n    \"id\": \"Lm5eSfuwRInVZoWj\",\n    \"url\": \"https://www.linkedin.com/in/luca-zanolini/?originalSubdomain=kr\",\n    \"description\": \"Luca Zanolini LinkedIn Profile\",\n    \"timestamp\": 1773839884476\n  },\n  {\n    \"id\": \"oJTdMZN96QR68tg3\",\n    \"url\": \"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7JPRTELnJc\",\n    \"description\": \"Devcon SEA Presentation on Fast Confirmation Rule\",\n    \"timestamp\": 1773839884476\n  },\n  {\n    \"id\": \"J6MnKjf6dsqwrZfs\",\n    \"url\": \"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2olypDSVnA\",\n    \"description\": \"a16z crypto research seminar on air lmd ghost\",\n    \"timestamp\": 1773839884476\n  }\n]"},{"id":"linkedin_profile","value":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/luca-zanolini/"},{"id":"twitter_profile","value":"https://x.com/luca_zanolini"},{"id":"website","value":"https://ethereum.foundation/"},{"id":"commit-message","value":"\"Added Luca Zanolini page\""}],"events":[{"id":"6de2628c-9788-48b1-b23a-be5250e2a1b4","date":"2023-12","title":"Graduated PhD in Computer Science","type":"DEFAULT","description":"Graduated with honors from the University of Bern. His doctoral thesis was titled “Asymmetric Trust in Distributed Systems,” focusing on cryptography, distributed systems, blockchain, and consensus protocols.","link":null,"multiDateStart":null,"multiDateEnd":null,"continent":null,"country":null},{"id":"04b92bbe-db7f-42be-a2d6-6fd3cf106709","date":"2022-01","title":"Joined Ethereum Foundation as a Researcher","type":"DEFAULT","description":"Began working as a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, with a focus on mathematics and long-term improvements to Ethereum’s consensus protocol, such as faster finality.","link":null,"multiDateStart":null,"multiDateEnd":null,"continent":null,"country":null},{"id":"eeb36ea1-9b4f-4017-a34c-fcfedef0f75c","date":"2024-11","title":"Presented on Fast Confirmation Rule","type":"DEFAULT","description":"Co-presented an overview of a fast confirmation rule for the Ethereum consensus protocol at Devcon SEA, aiming to address lengthy finalization times and improve user experience.","link":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7JPRTELnJc","multiDateStart":null,"multiDateEnd":null,"continent":null,"country":null},{"id":"b98fc193-3876-4ef2-bad5-bf6f6b6fbc87","date":"2023-10","title":"Presented on 'air lmd ghost' Protocol","type":"DEFAULT","description":"Presented his work on 'air lmd ghost', a dynamically adaptable consensus protocol designed to improve security and liveness, at the a16z crypto research seminar.","link":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2olypDSVnA","multiDateStart":null,"multiDateEnd":null,"continent":null,"country":null}],"user":{"id":"0x8af7a19a26d8fbc48defb35aefb15ec8c407f889"},"author":{"id":"0x8af7a19a26d8fbc48defb35aefb15ec8c407f889"},"operator":{"id":"0xacb6c5AD52b8f605299B0d774CE97F26e3DB80c2"},"language":"en","version":1,"linkedWikis":{"blockchains":["ethereum-foundation-ef"],"founders":[],"speakers":[]}}