Skip to content
Blockchain LabTHE VENTURE STUDIO

LibraryConsensus2019Design paperCorpus record

Nervos CKB: a cell model generalisation of the UTXO

Nervos CKB. Nervos.

Nervos CKB generalises Bitcoin's UTXO into a cell: a piece of state with capacity, a lock script, and a type script. The chain verifies the scripts. It does not embed one global virtual machine as the only rule.

A reading of the project's public design document. Not a copy, not a benchmark, and not an offer.

Nervos CKB generalises Bitcoin's UTXO into a cell: a piece of state with capacity, a lock script, and a type script. The chain verifies the scripts. It does not embed one global virtual machine as the only rule.
Evidence
Primary paper
Re-measured
No
Assumptions
3
Records linked
2

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

    A cell is not an account. If you program it like an account without reading the capacity rule, you will mis-specify the fee.

  2. Claim 02 · Paper model

    The proposal

    Nervos CKB generalises Bitcoin's UTXO into a cell: a piece of state with capacity, a lock script, and a type script. The chain verifies the scripts. It does not embed one global virtual machine as the only rule.

  3. Claim 03 · Paper model

    The mechanism

    Every cell has a capacity measured in the chain's units. Storing state costs capacity. That is the economic rule, not a side fee someone can forget.

  4. Claim 04 · Paper model

    The bound

    This note does not quote a capacity price.

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

    A cell is not an account. If you program it like an account without reading the capacity rule, you will mis-specify the fee.

    Model

    What has to hold

    You are reading CKB RFC 0002, not a token sale page.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    What does the lock script authorise?

  2. 02 The proposal

    Observation

    What the study says

    Nervos CKB generalises Bitcoin's UTXO into a cell: a piece of state with capacity, a lock script, and a type script. The chain verifies the scripts. It does not embed one global virtual machine as the only rule.

    Model

    What has to hold

    The document is the one at the source URL. A marketing page with the same brand is not this text.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    What does the lock script authorise?

  3. 03 The mechanism

    Observation

    What the study says

    Every cell has a capacity measured in the chain's units. Storing state costs capacity. That is the economic rule, not a side fee someone can forget.

    Model

    What has to hold

    No price, supply, yield, or adoption figure is added by this desk.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    How does state growth pay for itself in this RFC?

  4. 04 The bound

    Observation

    What the study says

    This note does not quote a capacity price.

    Model

    What has to hold

    No price, supply, yield, or adoption figure is added by this desk.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    What does the lock script authorise?

03 Sequence

One action, as an operating tape

  1. 01Every cell has a capacity measured in the chain's units. Storing state costs capacity. That is the economic rule, not a side fee someone can forget.
  2. 02The lock script says who can spend. The type script says what transformation is legal. They are different programs.
  3. 03A later layer-2 that posts commitments to cells is an application. The RFC is the base verification model.

04 Load-bearing

The argument, and where a pitch drops it

  1. What the name has to mean

    The cut

    Nervos CKB generalises Bitcoin's UTXO into a cell: a piece of state with capacity, a lock script, and a type script. The chain verifies the scripts. It does not embed one global virtual machine as the only rule.

    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

    This note does not quote a capacity price.

  2. What actually moves

    The cut

    The lock script says who can spend. The type script says what transformation is legal. They are different programs.

    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.

  3. What a later deployment may change

    The cut

    A later layer-2 that posts commitments to cells is an application. The RFC is the base verification model.

    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 cell model is not the EVM.

05 Register

What has to be true

  • Model · Not re-measured

    You are reading CKB RFC 0002, not a token sale page.

  • 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

RFC 0002 is not every later Nervos RFC. Cite the number.

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

A cell is not an account. If you program it like an account without reading the capacity rule, you will mis-specify the fee.

What the design proposes

  • Every cell has a capacity measured in the chain's units. Storing state costs capacity. That is the economic rule, not a side fee someone can forget.
  • The lock script says who can spend. The type script says what transformation is legal. They are different programs.
  • A later layer-2 that posts commitments to cells is an application. The RFC is the base verification model.

How the mechanism is specified

  • Every cell has a capacity measured in the chain's units. Storing state costs capacity. That is the economic rule, not a side fee someone can forget.
  • The lock script says who can spend. The type script says what transformation is legal. They are different programs.
  • A later layer-2 that posts commitments to cells is an application. The RFC is the base verification model.

What this page does not treat as proven

  • This note does not quote a capacity price.
  • The cell model is not the EVM.
  • RFC 0002 is not every later Nervos RFC. Cite the number.

Why the desk still reads it

Nervos CKB generalises Bitcoin's UTXO into a cell: a piece of state with capacity, a lock script, and a type script. The chain verifies the scripts. It does not embed one global virtual machine as the only rule.

09 Lexicon

Terms, opened into the record

Cell
A UTXO-like object with capacity and scripts.
Capacity
The right to store bytes. It is the fee model.

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.