The ZPrize, an industry-sponsored contest offering $7 million in prizes to promote zero-knowledge cryptography, has been launched by a coalition of 32 leading companies, foundations, and funds.
ZPrize will see teams compete for rewards by developing new algorithms and strategies to enhance current zero-knowledge systems, similar to the well-known XPrize contests that leveraged private contributions to fund advances in spaceflight and ocean health.
Alex Pruden, the COO of Aleo and the founder of the ZPrize Initiative, said that the contest would provide the industry with the foundation it needs to scale into the mainstream. Algorand, Celo, Consensys, Ethereum Foundation, Harmony One, Matter Labs, Polychain Capital, and Polygon are among the almost two dozen firms that have signed on as sponsors.
Teams will compete in a variety of categories defined by sponsors as critical for practical implementations of zero-knowledge systems. Submissions will be reviewed against established technical benchmarks, with the most substantial improvements receiving the most favourable treatment. According to the ZPrize Initiative, the competition’s winners will open-source their challenge solutions so that the entire community can access them.
The implications of zero-knowledge technology extend well beyond the Web3 sector. Legacy technology companies have realised the value of systems like this and are taking a more active role in supporting and expanding the industry. One such legacy firm is AMD, the world’s largest chip producer, which will supply hardware for the contest.
