Vitalik Buterin Calls for Researchers in Poseidon Cryptographic Analysis

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum (ETH), has urged researchers to participate in the Poseidon cryptographic analysis program. The Ethereum team is contemplating a switch to the Poseidon hash function for improved zk-proof capabilities.

In a recent post on X, Vitalik encouraged more researchers to get involved, highlighting the need for better information on Poseidon’s security. The deadline for applying for funding has been extended to March 15.

> Highly encourage researchers to participate in the Poseidon cryptanalysis program.
> We are seriously considering migrating Ethereum to the Poseidon hash to optimize zk-prover friendliness, so having more information about its security properties is extremely high value. Link to post
> — vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) February 26, 2025

In November 2022, Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 5988 was introduced, proposing the addition of a precompiled contract to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to implement Poseidon and enhance interoperability with zero-knowledge rollups.

Although there has been no official implementation of EIP 5988 since its proposal, Ethereum appears to be seriously considering the Poseidon hash function.

About Poseidon Hash Function

Introduced in 2019, the Poseidon hash function differs from traditional hashes like SHA-256 and Keccak, which are older and extensively tested but not optimized for zero-knowledge proofs. Poseidon, while newer and not as thoroughly vetted, is designed specifically for zero-knowledge proofs and is already in use in production on layer-2 systems and other blockchain projects.

Ethereum’s exploration of Poseidon is part of its broader upgrades aimed at enhancing network performance. The upcoming Pectra upgrade on April 8 will significantly improve Ethereum’s scalability, account abstraction, layer-2 efficiency, and validator rewards, following the successful Dencun hard fork in March 2024 which reduced transaction fees for layer-2 networks.