The FACT0RN Blockchain development was funded by Coinbase though their 2022 Crypto Community Fund competitive call for innovative crypto projects (See: https://www.coinbase.com/blog/fact0rn-blockchain-integer-factorization-as-proof-of-work-pow). The project seeks to replace hashing as PoW by integer factorization; said another way, it seeks to replace a non-research operation like forward hashing by a heavily researched area like breaking RSA or integer factorization.

The project will make available in 2023 the ability to place bounties on the blockchain on any integer of interest, including RSA numbers, by placing FACT coins on a transaction that will only unlock for those who have proven they have a solution. The details of how this mechanism works are rather technical, but will be made available in a whitepaper. It is a cryptographically safe way to prove a solution has been found without revealing the solution, and then to claim the rewards some blocks later by revealing the solution. Details to be explained in the whitepaper.

This project, as stated in the whitepaper as well, seeks to accelerate research and hardware development in the space of integer factorization. The goal being to accelerate advance mathematics and the computational areas associated with it.