Failure atlas
Designs fail in specific ways. Name the way.
A mechanism of the break, not an adjective. Primary sources outrank these pages. This is not a scandal sheet and not a price history.
Failure case
Terra and the UST peg
A peg that depended on arbitrage against the system's own token.
Historical document
Diem
A proposed currency and wallet system that did not launch as designed.
Failure case
Bridge and key failures
When the thing that fails is the set of keys between two chains.
Failure case
Oracle failures
A correct contract on a false price is a false result.
Failure case
Governance capture
A vote is a mechanism. It is not a guarantee of a good decision.
Failure case
Incentive designs that pay for a proxy
A reward for a measurable stand-in, not for the service a customer wanted.
Failure case
Under-collateralised designs
A liability that is larger than the assets that can actually be sold.
Failure case
Smart-contract failures
The code did what it was written to do, including the bug.
Failure case
Privacy tools that did not hide what users thought
Hiding one field and leaking another.
Historical document
Abandoned enterprise pilots
A pilot that proved a demo and not an operating system.