Trustless

The broad term used to describe common properties of blockchain-based systems and Science-based Trust. Since all of the sources of Trust are rooted in known branches of science, can be publicly verified and examined, it is (paradoxically) said to be Trust-less.

Science-based Trust

• Verifiable: What is expected will always happen and will do so correctly, and anyone can verify this.
• Auditable: What has happened in the past, and its correct order is known, and can be re-verified by anyone.
• Accessible or Permissionless: Anyone can participate in the system to the extent that its rules allow.

Link to original

Also see Less Trust, More Truth.

In many blockchain contexts, trustless is simply called “decentralized”.

Confession on Naming

Ultimately, my choice of the word trustless and limiting it to the above 3 properties is an opinionated decision here to keep the content of this book concise. Different people have more broad explanations for the same concept. Some of the most important ones are:

• Vitalik’s named values for Ethereum
  • Open global participation
  • Decentralization
  • Censorship resistance
  • Auditability
  • Credible neutrality
  • Building tools, not empires
  • Cooperative mindset
• Gavin Wood’s 5 pillars of Web3 from the graypaper
  • Resilient
  • General
  • Performant
  • Coherent
  • Accessible
• Pillars of Blockchain by Andreas Antonopoulos
  • Open
  • Public
  • Borderless
  • Neutral
  • Censorship Resistant

I find all of this different rephrasing of what I called Science-based Trust.