LibraryPrivacy2022Design paperCorpus record
Fedimint: federated Chaumian ecash
Fedimint. Fedimint.
Fedimint publishes Chaumian ecash run by a federation: a threshold of guardians must sign, so custody is a threshold rather than a single mint.
A reading of the project's public design document. Not a copy, not a benchmark, and not an offer.
Fedimint publishes Chaumian ecash run by a federation: a threshold of guardians must sign, so custody is a threshold rather than a single mint.
- Evidence
- Primary paper
- Re-measured
- No
- Assumptions
- 3
- Records linked
- 3
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.
Claim 01 · Paper model
The defect
A federation is still custody. Threshold changes how many guardians must misbehave. It does not turn the notes into Bitcoin outputs.
Claim 02 · Paper model
The proposal
Fedimint publishes Chaumian ecash run by a federation: a threshold of guardians must sign, so custody is a threshold rather than a single mint.
Claim 03 · Paper model
The mechanism
Guardians hold shares of the mint key. A threshold signs notes and controls the on-chain bitcoin the docs say backs them.
Claim 04 · Paper model
The bound
No guardian count is stated here.
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.
01 The defect
02 The proposal
Observation
What the study says
Fedimint publishes Chaumian ecash run by a federation: a threshold of guardians must sign, so custody is a threshold rather than a single mint.
Model
What has to hold
You are reading the Fedimint repository. A community's guardians are a deployment.
03 The mechanism
Observation
What the study says
Guardians hold shares of the mint key. A threshold signs notes and controls the on-chain bitcoin the docs say backs them.
Model
What has to hold
You are reading the Fedimint repository. A community's guardians are a deployment.
04 The bound
Observation
What the study says
No guardian count is stated here.
Model
What has to hold
You are reading the Fedimint repository. A community's guardians are a deployment.
03 Sequence
One action, as an operating tape
- 01Guardians hold shares of the mint key. A threshold signs notes and controls the on-chain bitcoin the docs say backs them.
- 02Users transact in notes. Bitcoin transactions happen when the federation moves the backing, not when two users pay.
- 03A module system can add other functions. Each module is a separate trust discussion.
04 Load-bearing
The argument, and where a pitch drops it
What the name has to mean
The cut
Fedimint publishes Chaumian ecash run by a federation: a threshold of guardians must sign, so custody is a threshold rather than a single mint.
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
Privacy against the federation is limited by what the blind signatures cover. Metadata outside the protocol is out of scope.
What actually moves
The cut
Users transact in notes. Bitcoin transactions happen when the federation moves the backing, not when two users pay.
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
Privacy against the federation is limited by what the blind signatures cover. Metadata outside the protocol is out of scope.
What a later deployment may change
The cut
A module system can add other functions. Each module is a separate trust discussion.
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.
05 Register
What has to be true
Model · Not re-measured
You are reading the Fedimint repository. A community's guardians are a deployment.
Model · Not re-measured
The document is the one at the source URL. A marketing page with the same brand is not this text.
Model · Not re-measured
No price, supply, yield, or adoption figure is added by this desk.
06 Divergence
What happened after the paper
This is not the Lightning BOLTs.
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
- 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
A federation is still custody. Threshold changes how many guardians must misbehave. It does not turn the notes into Bitcoin outputs.
What the design proposes
- Guardians hold shares of the mint key. A threshold signs notes and controls the on-chain bitcoin the docs say backs them.
- Users transact in notes. Bitcoin transactions happen when the federation moves the backing, not when two users pay.
- A module system can add other functions. Each module is a separate trust discussion.
How the mechanism is specified
- Guardians hold shares of the mint key. A threshold signs notes and controls the on-chain bitcoin the docs say backs them.
- Users transact in notes. Bitcoin transactions happen when the federation moves the backing, not when two users pay.
- A module system can add other functions. Each module is a separate trust discussion.
What this page does not treat as proven
- No guardian count is stated here.
- Privacy against the federation is limited by what the blind signatures cover. Metadata outside the protocol is out of scope.
- This is not the Lightning BOLTs.
Why the desk still reads it
Fedimint publishes Chaumian ecash run by a federation: a threshold of guardians must sign, so custody is a threshold rather than a single mint.
09 Lexicon
Terms, opened into the record
- Guardian
- A member of the federation that custodied the backing and signs notes.
- Threshold custody
- A rule that more than one guardian must act. The number is a parameter.
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.
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.