LibraryConsensus2015Design paperCorpus record
Research Perspectives and Challenges for Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin SoK. Joseph Bonneau, Andrew Miller, Jeremy Clark, Arvind Narayanan, Joshua A. Kroll and Edward W. Felten.
This systematisation names the stability and consensus questions, the client problems, and the open research problems as of its date. It is a map, not a new protocol.
A reading of the public paper. Not a copy, not a benchmark, and not a claim about any later network.
When a pitch invents a new problem name, see whether this map already had it.
The five-minute read
The defect
By 2015 the bitcoin literature was already a pile of blog posts and papers that did not share definitions.
The proposal
This systematisation names the stability and consensus questions, the client problems, and the open research problems as of its date. It is a map, not a new protocol.
A SoK is allowed to expire.
The value is the decomposition: consensus, mining, clients, anonymity, extensions.
The bound
It proves no new theorem about a coin you can buy.
One action, walked through
- Use it to see which problem a new paper claims to close.
- Check whether the problem is still open.
- Do not treat the 2015 threat list as a 2026 audit.
- Which section is the claim from?
The argument, unpacked
What the paper is for
When a pitch invents a new problem name, see whether this map already had it.
What happened after
Many of the open problems it lists were later papers in this library: selfish mining, clients, anonymity, proof of stake.
What has to be true
- It proves no new theorem about a coin you can buy.
- Anonymity claims inside it are about the systems of that year.
- It is not the bitcoin white paper.
What happened after the paper
Many of the open problems it lists were later papers in this library: selfish mining, clients, anonymity, proof of stake.
What to check before you use the idea
- Is the citation being used as a map or as a proof?
- Which section is the claim from?
- Has a later paper in the library closed that item?
Terms
- SoK
- A systematisation of knowledge. A map of a field, not a protocol.
- Stability
- The informal property that a payment stops being reversible.
The problem the paper names
By 2015 the bitcoin literature was already a pile of blog posts and papers that did not share definitions.
What the design proposes
- A SoK is allowed to expire.
- The value is the decomposition: consensus, mining, clients, anonymity, extensions.
- Citing it as proof of a modern chain is a mistake.
How the mechanism is specified
- Use it to see which problem a new paper claims to close.
- Check whether the problem is still open.
- Do not treat the 2015 threat list as a 2026 audit.
What this page does not treat as proven
- It proves no new theorem about a coin you can buy.
- Anonymity claims inside it are about the systems of that year.
- It is not the bitcoin white paper.
Why a venture studio still reads it
When a pitch invents a new problem name, see whether this map already had it.
This is Blockchain Lab's reading of a public design paper. It is not the paper, not a copy of it, and not an offer of tokens, equity, custody or a partnership. Later network behaviour can diverge from the text. Nothing here is investment, legal or technical advice.
Research status: Design paper. Last reviewed: 1 October 2026. This is a reading of a public paper, not investment, legal or security advice.