Key Points
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum (ETH), has issued a call for researchers.
He’s urging them to join the Poseidon cryptographic analysis program.
The invitation is part of Ethereum’s exploration of the potential switch to the Poseidon hash function.
This switch could boost Ethereum’s zk-proof capabilities.
Buterin made his call for researchers in a recent post on X.
The goal is to enhance Ethereum’s interaction with zk-provers, tools used for private transaction verification.
To make an informed decision about the switch, Ethereum needs more data on Poseidon’s security.
The application deadline for the funding program has been extended to March 15.
In November 2022, Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 5988 was proposed.
The proposal suggests adding a precompiled contract to the Ethereum Virtual Machine.
This would implement the Poseidon hash function.
The aim is to improve interoperability between the EVM and zero-knowledge rollups.
Implementation of Poseidon
Since the proposal’s introduction, there haven’t been any major updates to EIP 5988.
However, Ethereum is still seriously considering the implementation of Poseidon.
The Poseidon hash function, introduced in 2019, is relatively new.
It’s not as established as hash functions like SHA-256 and Keccak.
These have been around for decades and have gone through extensive testing.
Unlike SHA-256 or Keccak, Poseidon is designed specifically for zero-knowledge proofs.
While it hasn’t been tested as thoroughly as SHA-256 and Keccak, Poseidon is already being used.
It’s in production within layer-2 systems on the Ethereum network and other blockchain projects.
Ethereum’s investigation into the Poseidon hash function is a small part of larger efforts.
These efforts aim to enhance the network’s performance.
The Pectra upgrade, launching on April 8, is one of the most notable efforts.
It aims to enhance Ethereum’s scalability, improve account abstraction, boost layer-2 efficiency, and increase validator rewards.
This upgrade follows the recent Dencun hard fork.
The fork, which rolled out in March 2024, significantly reduced transaction fees for layer-2 networks.
