When does ZPrize start?

We will be opening up applications after ZK Summit, April 21st. Over the last two weeks, we’ve been finalizing sponsors for over $6 million worth of prizes. Some of these sponsors include Polygon, AMD, Mina, etc. In the next couple of weeks, we will be specifying the prizes in detail on Discord. As a rule of thumb, as long as you participate and record a submission that meets the benchmark, you will get paid for inputting your time. We want to make ensure that whoever competes gets something for their contribution. For those who win, there will be a significant prize, in the amount of money in cash and tokens.

Note: There will be an updated website where you can apply. All the prizes will be specified. The progress in defining the ZPrize details is still ongoing.

What is the progress on defining the ZPrize details?

All of the details will be specified by the time we open up the applications (April 21st). What we’re trying to think right now is how to break down the prizes for the FPGA category. The prize is a low level cryptographic that proving and verifying are made at. There are also separate prizes specific to Aleo about constructing a Merkel tree (PoSW).

How will prizes be specified? Who is sponsoring them?

We currently have 20 teams now that have submitted sponsorship to the tune of $6 million. The way the ZPrize is going to function is each team is going to sponsor a specific prize, or each sponsor is going to have a specific prize associated with them, or the biggest sponsor for a specific category will be the prize sponsor. Then, they will define either themselves or collectively with the other sponsors all the details of how the submissions will be evaluated and benchmarked. The prize money is going to be allocated and distributed in the following way. We are, for each prize there will be basically tiers. Wherein, at the bottom it's based on the level of accomplishment of the competitor. So if you beat the benchmark by some factor, let's say by 1.5x, you'll get you know a 1/3 of the total prize available. If you beat it by 3x, you'll get 2/3. If you beat it by 5x, you'll get the full amount. These aren't the real numbers, but this is the general structure we're thinking of utilizing. We really want to encourage competitors to try and go for these really great solutions as opposed to beating the benchmark by 10%.

Are the benchmarks already defined?

No, they are not. That's actually ongoing, but we’re collaborating with a few different folks, including the ZK standards folks. They run a standards body for ZK. They, alongside the team at Consensus, are going to help us with benchmarks and help us come up with benchmarks for these prizes as well.