Justin Sun has announced that his new "Justin Sun Prize" is set to begin, offering $1 million to anyone who can solve and verify a proof for each of 66 mathematical problems. If all 66 are solved, the implied payout would total $66 million.
The issue raised by Protos is straightforward: Sun has not shown evidence that the $66 million is actually funded.
Sun compared the prize to the Nobel Prize
According to Protos, Sun announced the competition on X and quickly drew a comparison to the Nobel Prize. He referenced Alfred Nobel’s decision to establish the prize after being labeled "The Merchant of Death" and becoming concerned about how he would be remembered.
Protos said Sun did not explain why he might feel a similar concern about his own reputation. The report also noted that he has recently been caught up in a bitter breakup and surrogacy dispute involving Chinese actress Jing Tian, with mainland Chinese public opinion described as firmly backing Jing.
Public controversy and legal disputes
Protos said Sun’s problems are not limited to public backlash. The outlet wrote that he recently filed a lawsuit against the Trump family related to his personal investment in World Financial. It also noted that he had previously been sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Rules are public, funding address is not
Protos reported that Sun has laid out the rules for the Justin Sun Prize and said winners would receive USDT or USDC instead of US dollars sent by bank wire.
He also said he would only be able to add funds to the prize pool, not remove them, and that the prize pool address would be available for the public to inspect.
But Protos said there is still no publicly available address showing funds that could be used to pay people who solve the 66 unsolved math problems. On that basis, the outlet argued that the prize currently has no verifiable prize pool behind it.
Protos said it received no response
Protos said it contacted The Justin Sun Prize to seek confirmation of a public wallet address that could be independently verified. It said no response had been received by the time of publication.
Without a public address or visible onchain proof of funds, the competition remains announced in principle, but not backed by a prize pool the public can check.