Term

Yellow Paper

A formal, technical specification of a protocol (famously Ethereum’s Yellow Paper) detailing state transitions and execution rules.

Type:

documentation

ethereum

definition

Unlike a marketing-focused whitepaper, a yellow paper provides rigorous mathematical and formal definitions of a protocol’s mechanics.

Example 1.1

"Researchers referenced the Ethereum Yellow Paper to implement precise EVM gas accounting."

A document describing a project’s purpose, design, and economics—often high level and promotional compared to a yellow paper.

An execution environment that runs smart contract code deterministically across nodes (e.g., EVM).

Programmatic rules executed by the blockchain to enforce agreements without intermediaries.

All terms and definitions may update as the Cryptionary improves.