Trust assumptions
Also · Trust model · Trust-minimized
Trust assumptions are what a Bitcoin system asks you to believe about third parties for your funds to be safe. Every layer above Bitcoin adds some.
On the Bitcoin base layer, holding your own keys and running your own node means trusting mathematics and a dispersed set of miners, nothing more. Every convenience built on top adds a hypothesis. A federation must not collude. An operator must stay online and delete old keys. A mint must stay solvent. A bridge’s signers must behave.
Naming these hypotheses is the honest way to compare layers. “Trust-minimized” means the hypotheses are few, public and backed by an exit to Bitcoin. “Custodial” means your recourse is a promise. Our Bitcoin layers map sorts each network along this single axis, how much you must trust something other than Bitcoin itself.
In French · Hypothèses de confiance