overhead

A Note On Charity Through Marginal Price Discrimination

Vitalik Buterin via the Vitalik Buterin Blog Updated 2018-07-28. See end note. The following is an interesting idea that I had two years ago that I personally believe has promise and could be easily implemented in the context of a blockchain ecosystem, though if desired it could certainly also be implemented with more traditional technologies (blockchains would help get the scheme network effects by putting the core logic on a more neutral platform). Suppose that you are a restaurant selling sandwiches, and you ordinarily sell sandwiches for $7.50. Why did

[Mirror] Quadratic Arithmetic Programs: from Zero to Hero

Vitalik Buterin via the Vitalik Buterin Blog This is a mirror of the post at https://medium.com/@VitalikButerin/quadratic-arithmetic-programs-from-zero-to-hero-f6d558cea649 There has been a lot of interest lately in the technology behind zk-SNARKs, and people are increasingly trying to demystify something that many have come to call "moon math" due to its perceived sheer indecipherable complexity. zk-SNARKs are indeed quite challenging to grasp, especially due to the sheer number of moving parts that need to come together for the whole thing to work, but if we break the technology down piece by piece then