Bitcoin Custody Standard — Research
Publications on custody architecture, failure modes, and long-horizon operational resilience.
Primary research is published on Substack. Short-form commentary, updates, and discussion are posted on X. All research publications are archived on this page.
Analytical essays and commentary applying the Bitcoin Custody Standard lens to current custody models, institutional structures, and emerging failure modes.
Structural analysis of custody design patterns, trade-offs between resilience and complexity, and architecture-specific failure mode mapping.
How custody systems degrade over time through documentation decay, knowledge loss, software evolution, and coordination fragility.
Methodological research supporting the development and refinement of the BCRI scoring model and its component metrics.
Research notes, working papers, and analytical commentary are published on an ongoing basis at the BCS Substack. All research publications are indexed on this page.
Most custody analysis focuses on components: hardware wallets, multisignature setups, service providers, or isolated security features. This is necessary but incomplete.
It does not adequately evaluate:
As a result, systems that appear secure at deployment may still fail under real-world conditions. The Bitcoin Custody Standard addresses this gap by evaluating custody as a structural system.