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LibraryConsensus2015Design paperCorpus record

SpaceMint: A Cryptocurrency Based on Proofs of Space

SpaceMint. Sunoo Park, Albert Kwon, Georg Fuchsbauer, Peter Gaži, Joël Alwen and Krzysztof Pietrzak.

SpaceMint elects a leader from plots of stored data. The quality of the stored answer, not a hash grind at block time, decides who may extend the chain.

A reading of the public paper. Not a copy, not a benchmark, and not a claim about any later network.

A 'green mining' pitch should say whether the scarce object is space, time, or stake, and what the lookup proves.
Evidence
Primary paper
Re-measured
No
Assumptions
3
Records linked
4

Code

Source, repository, and what is actually hosted

  • ePrint 2015/528https://eprint.iacr.org/2015/528
  • 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

    Proof of work burns energy in the moment of the puzzle. A proof of space asks whether the scarce resource can be disk that was filled in advance.

  2. Claim 02 · Paper model

    The proposal

    SpaceMint elects a leader from plots of stored data. The quality of the stored answer, not a hash grind at block time, decides who may extend the chain.

  3. Claim 03 · Paper model

    Initialisation fills the disk. Mining then looks up.

    A proof of space still needs a rule against grinding and against replotting attacks the paper discusses.

  4. Claim 04 · Paper model

    The bound

    The paper is not Chia. Chia is a later construction with a different plot and a time delay.

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

    Proof of work burns energy in the moment of the puzzle. A proof of space asks whether the scarce resource can be disk that was filled in advance.

    Model

    What has to hold

    The paper is not Chia. Chia is a later construction with a different plot and a time delay.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    What is stored?

  2. 02 The proposal

    Observation

    What the study says

    SpaceMint elects a leader from plots of stored data. The quality of the stored answer, not a hash grind at block time, decides who may extend the chain.

    Model

    What has to hold

    Stored data can be outsourced. The paper's model of the miner is part of the claim.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    What is stored?

  3. 03 Initialisation fills the disk. Mining then looks up.

    Observation

    What the study says

    A proof of space still needs a rule against grinding and against replotting attacks the paper discusses.

    Model

    What has to hold

    The paper is not Chia. Chia is a later construction with a different plot and a time delay.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    How does the leader election use the challenge?

  4. 04 The bound

    Observation

    What the study says

    The paper is not Chia. Chia is a later construction with a different plot and a time delay.

    Model

    What has to hold

    The paper is not Chia. Chia is a later construction with a different plot and a time delay.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    What is stored?

03 Sequence

One action, as an operating tape

  1. 01A miner commits to a large table.
  2. 02At challenge time they open the entries the challenge names.
  3. 03The best opening wins the slot.
  4. 04Can the plot be generated on the fly instead of stored?

04 Load-bearing

The argument, and where a pitch drops it

  1. What the paper is for

    The cut

    A 'green mining' pitch should say whether the scarce object is space, time, or stake, and what the lookup proves.

    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. What happened after

    The cut

    Chia and later proofs of space-time cite this line and then change the plot format. Do not collapse them.

    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 paper is not Chia. Chia is a later construction with a different plot and a time delay.

05 Register

What has to be true

  • Network · Not re-measured

    The paper is not Chia. Chia is a later construction with a different plot and a time delay.

  • Data · Not re-measured

    Stored data can be outsourced. The paper's model of the miner is part of the claim.

  • Model · Not re-measured

    It does not measure a carbon cost.

06 Divergence

What happened after the paper

Chia and later proofs of space-time cite this line and then change the plot format. Do not collapse them.

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

Proof of work burns energy in the moment of the puzzle. A proof of space asks whether the scarce resource can be disk that was filled in advance.

What the design proposes

  • Initialisation fills the disk. Mining then looks up.
  • A proof of space still needs a rule against grinding and against replotting attacks the paper discusses.
  • It is not proof of stake.

How the mechanism is specified

  • A miner commits to a large table.
  • At challenge time they open the entries the challenge names.
  • The best opening wins the slot.

What this page does not treat as proven

  • The paper is not Chia. Chia is a later construction with a different plot and a time delay.
  • Stored data can be outsourced. The paper's model of the miner is part of the claim.
  • It does not measure a carbon cost.

Why the desk still reads it

A 'green mining' pitch should say whether the scarce object is space, time, or stake, and what the lookup proves.

09 Lexicon

Terms, opened into the record

Proof of space
A proof that a large amount of data was stored.
Plot
The stored table the challenge queries.

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.