In the crypto industry, a white paper or whitepaper is a document detailing a crypto project's concept, technical information, roadmap, and tokenomics. The white paper introduces the project to potential investors and users, discussing how the founders plan to develop it and ensure its success.
A white paper is one of the beginning blocks that can be checked to ensure a project's legitimacy. Investors analyze the crypto white paper to understand what makes the project better than its competitors and if it is worth investing in its token.
To date, the most iconic cryptocurrency white paper has to be the Bitcoin whitepaper titled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System and authored by Satoshi Nakamoto. Its release in 2008 spearheaded the crypto revolution and set the ball rolling for blockchain technology to revolutionize almost all sectors.
Every crypto startup aiming to raise funds via ICO or other means needs a detailed and accurate white paper outlining the problem it wishes to tackle and how its technology will solve the issue. In addition, other critical elements of a good cryptocurrency white paper include its architecture, how users can interact with the project, the team behind the project, and its roadmap.