Whitepaper

A whitepaper sets out what a project intends to build and how. It typically describes the problem, the proposed architecture, the consensus or smart contract design and, for projects with a token, its supply, distribution and role. The best-known example is Satoshi Nakamoto's nine-page Bitcoin whitepaper, published on 31 October 2008.

During the 2017 ICO boom, whitepapers became the main fundraising document, and many were vague or copied from other projects. Today they are usually complemented by technical documentation, shorter litepapers and audits. In the EU, MiCA requires issuers of many crypto-assets to publish a crypto-asset white paper containing set information and to notify it to the regulator.

A whitepaper describes intentions, not results. Claims about performance or adoption are usually unverified, token allocations can change after publication, and polished writing says little about whether the team will deliver. Comparing the paper with the code, the token unlock schedule and what has actually shipped is a better test.