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LibraryConsensus2013Design paperCorpus record

Information Propagation in the Bitcoin Network

Bitcoin network. Christian Decker and Roger Wattenhofer.

Measure how Bitcoin announcements travel. The median time and the long tail are what set a safe block interval.

A reading of the public document. Not a copy of it, and not a claim about a later network that reused the name.

A throughput claim that ignores propagation is not about Bitcoin. Ask for the delay distribution the design assumes.
Evidence
Primary paper
Re-measured
No
Assumptions
3
Records linked
1

Code

Source, repository, and what is actually hosted

  • IEEE P2P 2013https://www.gsd.inesc-id.pt/~ler/docencia/rcs1314/papers/P2P2013_041.pdf
  • The source URL is not a GitHub repository. No code remote is invented.
  • Full text is not mirrored. Public availability is not a licence to copy the file onto this site.
  • Add to a reading list

01 Claim ledger

What the paper is allowed to say

Each row is a sentence already in the study. The status is the same on every row: a model claim, not a live measurement.

  1. Claim 01 · Paper model

    The defect

    Block interval and block size are arguments about forks only if you know how long a block actually takes to reach the network.

  2. Claim 02 · Paper model

    The rule

    Measure how Bitcoin announcements travel. The median time and the long tail are what set a safe block interval.

  3. Claim 03 · Paper model

    How it is put together

    Inventory messages announce a block before the body. The diameter of the network is an empirical fact, not a parameter in the white paper. A larger block moves the distribution.

  4. Claim 04 · Paper model

    Where the claim stops

    The 2013 measurement is not the 2026 relay network.

02 Three cuts

Observation, model, falsifier

A desk does not stop at the summary. Each claim is cut three ways, using only this study's own assumptions and checks. Nothing here is a new figure.

  1. 01 The defect

    Observation

    What the study says

    Block interval and block size are arguments about forks only if you know how long a block actually takes to reach the network.

    Model

    What has to hold

    The 2013 measurement is not the 2026 relay network.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    What is the block interval relative to the propagation tail?

  2. 02 The rule

    Observation

    What the study says

    Measure how Bitcoin announcements travel. The median time and the long tail are what set a safe block interval.

    Model

    What has to hold

    It does not justify a particular block size by itself.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    What is the block interval relative to the propagation tail?

  3. 03 How it is put together

    Observation

    What the study says

    Inventory messages announce a block before the body. The diameter of the network is an empirical fact, not a parameter in the white paper. A larger block moves the distribution.

    Model

    What has to hold

    The 2013 measurement is not the 2026 relay network.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    What is the block interval relative to the propagation tail?

  4. 04 Where the claim stops

    Observation

    What the study says

    The 2013 measurement is not the 2026 relay network.

    Model

    What has to hold

    The 2013 measurement is not the 2026 relay network.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    Which year's network was measured?

03 Sequence

One action, as an operating tape

  1. 01Collect announcement times from many vantage points.
  2. 02Record the delay from first announcement to last honest node.
  3. 03Compare that delay with the block interval.
  4. 04What is the block interval relative to the propagation tail?

04 Load-bearing

The argument, and where a pitch drops it

  1. Why it is still on the desk

    The cut

    A throughput claim that ignores propagation is not about Bitcoin. Ask for the delay distribution the design assumes.

    Why it carries weight

    If this cut is skipped, the paper's name is being used without the mechanism that makes the name mean anything.

    Where it is dropped

    A later client, parameter or reward formula is a different object from this paragraph.

  2. After the text

    The cut

    Later relay networks exist because this measurement showed the gossip tail. Cite the paper for the method, not for a current median.

    Why it carries weight

    If this cut is skipped, the paper's name is being used without the mechanism that makes the name mean anything.

    Where it is dropped

    The 2013 measurement is not the 2026 relay network.

05 Register

What has to be true

  • Network · Not re-measured

    The 2013 measurement is not the 2026 relay network.

  • Model · Not re-measured

    It does not justify a particular block size by itself.

  • Model · Not re-measured

    Compact blocks and FIBRE changed the tail.

06 Divergence

What happened after the paper

Later relay networks exist because this measurement showed the gossip tail. Cite the paper for the method, not for a current median.

A later client, parameter set, or reward formula is a different object. Cite this paper for the mechanism. Cite a primary release for the network. This desk has not re-run the proof.

07 Pre-mortem

What to check before you use the idea

  4. 0 of 3 marked on this browser. A mark is a reading note, not a pass, a rating, or a recommendation.

08 Anatomy

The paper, in the order a builder needs

The problem it names

Block interval and block size are arguments about forks only if you know how long a block actually takes to reach the network.

What the design proposes

  • Inventory messages announce a block before the body.
  • The diameter of the network is an empirical fact, not a parameter in the white paper.
  • A larger block moves the distribution.

How the mechanism is specified

  • Collect announcement times from many vantage points.
  • Record the delay from first announcement to last honest node.
  • Compare that delay with the block interval.

What this page does not treat as proven

  • The 2013 measurement is not the 2026 relay network.
  • It does not justify a particular block size by itself.
  • Compact blocks and FIBRE changed the tail.

Why the desk still reads it

A throughput claim that ignores propagation is not about Bitcoin. Ask for the delay distribution the design assumes.

09 Lexicon

Terms, opened into the record

Inventory
A short announcement that a block exists.
Diameter
The time for an announcement to reach the last honest node.

10 Repository

Every linked record on this page

Underlined words open a page that already exists: a concept, a protocol profile, a failure record, or another paper. If a word is not underlined, this desk does not have a record for it.

Protocols

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.