Traditional blockchains reward developers for minor computations, such as performing the correct DeFi transaction or signing up for an airdrop. But what if you could be rewarded for significant computations that have a substantial impact? From climate modeling to deep learning, your Proofs of Useful Work (conducting large-scale computations) could contribute to real-world change.
If helping people solve significant, verifiable mathematical problems or physical simulations using zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) and receiving instant rewards for it sounds appealing, we encourage you to apply for a Proof of Useful Work Blueprint grant proposal (RFP).
Problems You Can Assist in Solving with ZKPs
Computer scientists often categorize problems based on their theoretical complexity; for example, simple problems like navigating a supermarket aisle to find the cheapest bread and complex problems like finding the shortest route through a list of cities.
Many institutions and organizations are already working diligently to find solutions to complex problems. Scientific projects like the University of California, Berkeley's BOINC use collaborative computing to study and research diseases, climate change, pulsars, and many other types of scientific research.
Another initiative is folding@home, where developers can contribute their computing capabilities to help combat global health threats such as COVID-19, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer.
There are even more issues awaiting computational solutions:
Enhancing our understanding of celestial objects and physics.
Deep learning.
Climate modeling.
Medical and biological modeling, such as protein folding.
Even SAT competitions are full of computational problems.
The greater the challenge, the more computations are needed to solve it. You can verify large calculations—very large ones—with LEO, Aleo's programming language, and utilizing ZKPs. The amount of computational power required for some problems is limitless, making it more advantageous to outsource them to trusted and untrusted parties (ZKPs allow quick and secure verification of the latter).
While they drive important work, systems like BOINC and folding@home do not provide financial rewards to workers for their solutions. Additionally, many previous attempts to reward Proofs of Useful Work focused on niche problems (see Primecoin).
Aleo's Proof of Useful Work Blueprint Grant offers a different approach. Aleo already rewards developers for creating ZKPs. Now, you can enable others to offer rewards for solving computational problems that make a difference.