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in prizes to prove (or disprove!) Reed-Solomon proximity gaps conjectures.

An initiative by the Ethereum Foundation to advance the foundations of modern zkVMs.

About

Recent progress in succinct non-interactive proof systems (SNARKs) has given rise to important open problems at the intersection of coding theory and cryptography. Modern SNARK systems rely on properties of Reed–Solomon codes—specifically proximity gaps, correlated agreement, and mutual correlated agreement—that are not yet fully understood.

The Proximity Prize offers $1,000,000 in awards to researchers who resolve the grand challenges below. Breakthroughs in these areas will directly enable more efficient SNARK systems and strengthen the cryptographic foundations of zero-knowledge applications.

The Challenges

The prize targets two grand challenges formalised in our companion paper, Open Problems in List Decoding and Correlated Agreement (Arnon, Boneh, Fenzi, 2026).

The grand MCA challenge

We are given a Reed–Solomon code $\mathcal{C} := \mathrm{RS}[\mathbb{F}, \mathcal{L}, k]$ defined over some smooth evaluation domain $\mathcal{L} \subseteq \mathbb{F}$. The code has constant rate, and in particular the rate $\rho(\mathcal{C}) := k / |\mathcal{L}|$ is one of $\{1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16\}$. For a given $\varepsilon^*$, say $\varepsilon^* = 2^{-128}$, determine the largest $\delta^*_{\mathcal{C}} \in [0, 1]$ such that

$$\varepsilon_{\mathrm{mca}}(\mathcal{C},\, \delta^*_{\mathcal{C}}) \leq \varepsilon^*,$$

assuming $|\mathbb{F}|$ is sufficiently large so that such a $\delta^*_{\mathcal{C}}$ exists.

The grand list decoding challenge

We are given a Reed–Solomon code $\mathcal{C}$ as in the grand MCA challenge. For a given $\varepsilon^*$, say $\varepsilon^* = 2^{-128}$, and a constant $m$, determine the largest $\delta^*_{\mathcal{C}} \in [0, 1]$ such that

$$|\Lambda(\mathcal{C}^{\equiv m},\, \delta^*_{\mathcal{C}})| \leq \varepsilon^* \cdot |\mathbb{F}|,$$

assuming $|\mathbb{F}|$ is sufficiently large so that such a $\delta^*_{\mathcal{C}}$ exists.

Read the full paper →

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be sent by email to proximityprize@ethereum.org.
Submissions will only be considered if they have passed scientific peer-review in the form of acceptance to a reputable field-appropriate conference or journal.
Authors are required to make their submission publicly available on an open academic online repository such as IACR ePrint or arXiv. The first public version will serve as the formal timestamp for the submission. If a major revision is made, the timestamp of the relevant revision will be used instead.
We encourage, but do not require, formal verification of proofs using a proof system such as Lean.
Any relevant conflicts of interest should be disclosed during submission.
Anyone is eligible to receive prize money, with the exception of the prize judges. Unless otherwise specified in the submission, any award will be shared equally among the named authors.

The prize judges reserve the right to deviate from these guidelines in exceptional cases, or to change the guidelines in the future.

FAQ

What should the submission include?

Each submission must include a PDF that clearly states the claimed results, explains how they relate to the prize challenge, and situates them with respect to prior work. Any additional material should be clearly labeled and may either be included with the submission or hosted online and linked from the main PDF.

Will prize money be awarded for partial results?

We encourage submissions that make a significant contribution even if it is only partial progress.

What is your AI policy?

AI-aided submissions are allowed, however, we expect all submissions to be human-verified and edited, and to use language and notation that is standard in the field. Human authors are solely responsible for the correctness of their submission.

Can the prize be split among multiple submissions?

Yes. The prize judges and the Ethereum Foundation may split awards among multiple submissions, including in cases of partial, complementary, or independently obtained results.

I want to work on this problem but require funding. Do you have a grant system for work on the prize?

Unfortunately, at this moment we are unable to award grants.

I have additional questions. Who can I contact?

Questions should be sent to proximityprize@ethereum.org.

Prize Judges

proximityprize@ethereum.org

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