Did Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin Just Create a New Form of Math?

• Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently left a head-scratcher for crypto industry participants.
• Grasping at straws, several crypto community members responded with witty jokes.
• Buterin’s puzzle is linked to a new proving system that promises to revolutionize proof generation.

Huh?

That’s most likely the initial reaction of the 2.5 million or so persons (bots included?) that have viewed Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin ‘s equation-riddled X post from Sunday, April 28, about new maths making cryptographic proofing easier. The source of the confusion? None of the equations appeared to agree with any of the widely known laws of mathematics.

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Buterin’s Puzzle

“2+2 = 0,” “2*6=11.” Those are some of the equations Buterin shared on Sunday, adding, “If you use it, it becomes much easier to make proofs of things. If you know, you know.” 

But nobody seemed to know, leaving some to opt for witty and comic responses to the mathematical puzzle.

Crypto Twitter after seeing Buterin’s post.

Sharing a screenshot of an attempt to get the answer from ChatGPT 4 DeGods NFT creator Rohun “Frank” Vora commented , “bruh even gpt don’t know.”

Chiming in, “0xWatchmen” asserted , “I have zero knowledge on what this is trying to prove.”

So, did Buterin create new maths, or was he just trolling his followers? The answer to both questions is no. So, what are all those weird equations about?

Buterin Talks up Binius: A Game Changer for ZK Proofs?

It turns out Buterin’s Sunday tweet was a layup for a new addition to his blog. On Monday, April 29, Buterin released the blog post “Binius: highly efficient proofs over binary fields.” The Ethereum co-founder tipped the concept to create more efficient cryptographic proofs.

Like most other proving techniques, Binius uses a specialized mathematical structure called binary fields to explain the counterintuitive-looking equations shared by Buterin. With binary fields, Buterin explains that Binius tries to bring the evolution of proving technology “to its logical conclusion, building proof systems that run even faster by operating directly over zeroes and ones.”

The Binius concept has its roots in a December 2023 paper by Benjamin E. Diamond and Jim Posen. Diamond is a cryptographer at Irreducible (formerly Ulvetanna), a startup focused on accelerating the ZK evolution. Posen is the chief technology officer and co-founder of the firm.

On the Flipside

• While Buterin has encouraged others to explore Binius, he also let slip that it was a complex concept that took him some time to grasp.

Why This Matters 

Leading experts in the crypto space tip ZK implementations to unlock new frontiers for the industry, but early adopters face cost and efficiency challenges. Binius is the latest proving system promising to tackle these challenges. The success and adoption of the system would also lead to carryover effects in terms of cost and speed for users of ZK chains.

Read this for more on ZK developments:
Here’s How New Polygon (MATIC) Node Improves zkEVM Scaling

Learn about the reasons behind Ethereum’s recent price dip:
Why Ethereum Is Shedding Weekend Gains Sparked by ETF Hopes