SHA-4 Initiative

Toward a standard for arithmetisation-oriented hash functions.

A community effort supporting the opening of a standardisation process for arithmetisation-oriented (AO) hash functions. The work is open and deliberative, drawing on input from cryptographers, standards bodies, and practitioners building systems that rely on circuit-efficient hashing. It does not advocate for any specific candidate construction.

Current work

• Open letter — a call for NIST and the community to begin a pre-competition phase on AO hash standardisation. Add your name.
• Discussion note — the longer technical argument behind the letter.
• GitHub repository — drafts, data, and issues.

References

• New Design Techniques for Efficient Arithmetization-Oriented Hash Functions: Anemoi Permutations and Jive Compression Mode
• Poseidon: A New Hash Function for Zero-Knowledge Proof Systems
• NIST Privacy-Enhancing Cryptography project
• Ethereum Foundation Poseidon Cryptanalysis Initiative

Contact

Open a GitHub issue or email want@sha4.info.