Summary
- Tron founder Justin Sun said he will establish the mathematics prize "Justin Sun Prize," which will offer awards of up to $1 million.
- He said the Justin Sun Prize will award prize money to provers and formalizers who contribute to solving difficult mathematical problems, without distinguishing between humans and AI.
- Sun said the prize funds will be deposited on a blockchain, records of proofs and payments will be disclosed, and he will decide only the problem list and the size of the prizes.
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Tron founder Justin Sun is launching the "Justin Sun Prize," a mathematics award with prizes of up to $1 million.
Sun announced on X on Sept. 16 that he would create a mathematics prize that rewards problem-solving itself rather than a winner's reputation or age.
He said his wealth was built on mathematics. Because blockchain rests on cryptographic and mathematical foundations, he said he wants to return some of that wealth to the mathematics community.
The Justin Sun Prize will choose winners in two categories: "prover" and "formalizer." The prover is the person who presents a solution to a difficult mathematical problem. The formalizer is the person who converts that proof into code that a computer can verify.
Sun said the prize would not distinguish between humans and AI. When a proof is accepted by the mathematics community, the prover's name will be registered first and the problem's status will change to "proof completed, awaiting formalization." After the formalized proof is verified by a machine without errors, the prize payment process will begin.
The top-tier "Pinnacle" problems will carry awards of $1 million each. Sun said he would decide only the list of problems and the size of the prizes, and would not be involved in proof verification, winner selection or payment.
He also said the prize funds would be deposited on a blockchain and that records of proofs and payments would be disclosed publicly.
JOON HYOUNG LEE
gilson@bloomingbit.ioCrypto Journalist based in Seoul