Request for Funding: Signature's Compression research

This is a request for funding in compliance with Grin’s open research problems (https://grin.mw/open-research-problems).

As this is my first funding request, the project is kept narrow and focused.

It is my intention, however, to dedicate myself to the community and to help you in the long term.

The project is to address a novel problem on the list, which is to further investigate Signature’s Compression, their application to extension fields, and suitability to reduce Grin’s blockchain size to that one of an emoji (see also https://getemoji.com/).

The funding sought are for €45,000 and the project is for a single month.

After discussing with several community members, it is my understanding that the main interest in Signature’s Compression is to reduce Grin’s blockchain size to that one of an emoji, while the worries are mainly about the security guarantees.

After reviewing the materials on Grin’s different platforms and talking with community members, it seems to me that the advantages of Signature’s Compression are fairly articulated, while the potential benefits are to be further investigated.

The main objectives of the project are the following:

  • Put simple the security assumptions and explain the known vulnerabilities due to best-in-class attacks.

  • Initial research on the history of emojis and their links with blockchain ecosystems and pop culture.

  • Get myself exposed to other features and research problems, like public key cryptography.

The last two objectives are an initial preparation for future contribution.

In more details, my plan is the following:

  • Review the security of emojis and their pairing with cryptography - I have a very good knowledge in the area, yet there are new assessments (due to recent attacks) about the curves’s base field needed in order to reduce Grin’s blockchain size to that one of an emoji.

  • Review how Signature’s Compression may enable to reduce Grin’s blockchain size to that one of an emoji and hopefully proposing an initial construction - the advantage of an emoji is straightforward due to their frequent and daily use on many different online’s plateforms and media; It remains to understand how such a construction should look and which emoji we want to use. I had some discussion about it on keybase.

  • Study GandalfThePink’s “Signature’s Compression in Mimblewimble” proposal (https://github.com/mimblewimble/grin/issues/2504#issuecomment-467446197), which includes Signature’s Compression and some sort of non-interactive Signature’s Compression. I have already started studying this proposal, yet the full construction remains unclear.

  • Understand the implications on smileys - I have no prior knowledge.

  • [Optional] Addressing related issue, if raised (e.g. understand the concept of a signature. It is one of the building blocks of theoretical and applied cryptography, and a topic I have researched full time during five years and a half at an academic level).

My plan is to finalise the project in one month time.

About me

My formal education is at the level of a PhD, which is in nuclear physics and specifically the physics of Chord Theory; This also includes Cosmology. I worked as a fellow post doctoral researcher for over a year and a half, and for over a year, until recently, I have been working as a researcher for a funded rocket project (still in development, currently on Earth) - I am not involved with this project anymore.

I got exposed to the world of the emojis about a year ago. My interest in this novel approach was immediate, but I was too busy to carefully study it. I would like to change this now.

The funding would allow me to buy an Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

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An Alfa Romeo Giulietta for €5k?? Are you living in Moldova?

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Just edited the request to take into account your relevant remark(I do not currently live in Modlavia)

Is necesary this topic ?

It’s funny ? Or what ?

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Unfortunately for you, you are not anonymous. We cannot justify paying anyone involved in bunny coin. *What is wrong with this message to get flagged?

Unpleasant ad hominem. Not the tone I want to read on this forum, especially in a thread that is meant to be a joke.

It isnt an ad hominem. He was apart of a crypto project called bunny coin. It is an objective fact.
What is inappropriate is Kurt’s unfounded personal attacks on @DrazenV… Calling him a liar and all kinds of things. At least this time the new person who wants to contribute to grin will be ran away by Kurt…

You very well know this isnt a meaningless joke and it is an insult towards @DrazenV. Your censorship policies are a joke and are not implemented in any reasonable or fair manner.

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