Proof of Useful Work (PoUW)

Proof of Useful Work is a variant of proof of work, used by Pearl. Instead of a throwaway hash, every share performs a real matrix computation (a NoisyGEMM), the same kind of maths behind AI, then proves it was done correctly with a zero-knowledge proof.

Generating the proof is heavy GPU work, but checking it is cheap, which lets the pool re-verify every share natively while the energy goes into useful computation.