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Verifiable Delay Functions (VDFs) Meaning

A Verifiable Delay Function (VDF) is a cryptographic primitive that requires a specified number of sequential steps to compute, making it impossible to accelerate with parallel hardware, while allowing anyone to verify the result quickly. VDFs are useful in contexts where time-based randomness or fairness is required: for example, generating unbiased random numbers in decentralised lottery systems or delaying the release of encrypted data.

Because the computation is inherently sequential, VDFs serve as a time lock; the result cannot be obtained faster even with powerful hardware. Once computed, the output can be verified in a fraction of the time using a separate proof, ensuring correctness.

Projects like the Ethereum 2.0 beacon chain use VDFs in the randomness beacon to select validators in a fair and tamper-resistant manner.

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