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In short, a whitepaper is a document that outlines the general plan and project timeline of a product manufacture or business endeavor. Usually, this is done to attract investors and raise awareness of the product among the general public.
White papers are used in all sorts of businesses and market spheres, from advertising to software development and even government sectors. All these white paper use instances share the same goal in mind: spreading knowledge and providing a detailed understanding of a project’s goals.
Crypto projects are no strangers to white paper use. Nowadays, almost every project pitch is followed up with a white paper to introduce possible investors to a new cryptocurrency project.
What Is a Cryptocurrency Whitepaper, and How It Helps a Crypto Project Gain Relevance?
A cryptocurrency whitepaper doesn’t differ greatly from a regular advertising whitepaper. In both instances, the whitepaper is a document released to the public for the sole purpose of capturing the attention of investors. Although, the target audience for a crypto project white paper is a lot wider than that of a regular business advertisement.
A standard crypto project white paper will include vital information about the currency itself alongside a roadmap for the project going forward. The inclusion of crypto whitepapers is necessary if you want to boost the professional look of your crypto projects.
Naturally, the more see-through and understandable a white paper is, the more trustworthy and understandable your project becomes. A well-written white paper can instantly boost the number of investors and spokespeople behind your project.
What Can You Find in a Crypto Whitepaper?
The best white papers include a very similar list of information concerning the project itself. By examining what the best white papers outline in their contents, you can more easily tell unreliable projects from trustworthy projects.
The points that a professional whitepaper outlines are the essence of the project, machinations of the project, relevance, technical specifications, token validity, leaders, and a roadmap.
The Essence of the Project
This, in essence, is a summary of the project’s goals and ideas put forward most understandably and reasonably. As this is usually the first part of a white paper, it needs to convey simple but exciting ideas to get the readers’ and investors’ attention.
Machinations of the Project
This part of the white paper tackles the question of how the team behind the project will reach previously set out goals. This part can be a little more detailed as potential investors would like a closer look at how valid a project is and how likely the project is to skyrocket.
Relevance
The purpose of this entry in the white paper is to convince investors that the project is needed and has the potential to fill a previously unknown niche. This is usually where the most effort will be focused. The quicker you can convince a potential investor, the more immediate traction your project will get.
Technical Aspects
After convincing the investors that your project is needed by users, a white paper needs to convince investors of another thing: the potential of the project to revolutionize the blockchain project space. With the steady development of the blockchain space, a new blockchain project needs to convince investors that it will be the next big thing in that space by somehow utilizing the technical advancements made.
Token Validity
The next part is focused on discussing the validity of the project’s token. Here the writers of the white paper usually go into deep detail about the minting process, how supply and demand will work in the project’s favor, etc.
Project Leaders
Now is the time to talk about the people behind the project. The goal of this section is to ensure the success of the cryptocurrency in the investor’s eyes by detailing the level of experience and professionalism the project team holds. Also, important information might be the advisors and funders of the project.
Roadmap
This section is shared by all cryptocurrency whitepapers as a detailed roadmap for the project’s development is crucial for investors to see. Here it’s important to balance achievable goals that the project can stride towards and grandiose goals that will seal the attention of possible investors.
Why Are Whitepapers Included in All Crypto Projects?
The whitepaper is useful on two fronts: the developer side and the investor side.
When writing whitepapers, developers have an easier time planning out their goals and how the project will grow over time. While having a general concept is easy, once you start putting the ideas for your project into words, everything becomes much clearer, and you can more easily plan out your project.
Additionally, a complete white paper allows investors to guarantee that they are investing in something that has potential. By explaining the machinations behind a project in depth, investors can easily gauge the validity of the said project and more easily decide if they want to invest in it.
Famous Whitepapers That You Should Take Note Of
By examining white papers of projects that have become famous, we can see all the previously talked about aspects of white papers in practice. The more you examine them, the more you understand how crucial a good whitepaper is to a crypto project.
Bitcoin Whitepaper
Being the first on the market, the Bitcoin whitepaper mainly talks about how Bitcoin can be used to revolutionalize the commerce scene with the introduction of cryptocurrency. Although the first of its kind, you can see the main talking points of a whitepaper covered in full. Relevance, technical information, token validity, they’re all there.
The Bitcoin crypto whitepaper outlines the process of acquisition, transfer, and security of the cryptocurrency itself.
Ethereum Whitepaper
The Ethereum crypto whitepaper serves to distinguish Ethereum from Bitcoin. In the crypto white paper, you can see the clear goals of Ethereum to be a decentralized application platform for developers to tap into. It additionally details how the service will work using smart contracts and gives examples of what projects can be developed on it.
Once again, relevance, technical information, and the essence of the projects. These talking points are clearly visible on your first viewing of the document.
On a Final Note
As we’ve discussed in this article, white papers are a tool for advertisers, developers, and marketers to provide clear and solid information about their projects while additionally piquing the interest of investors.
Ideally, a whitepaper should have all the talking points we’ve outlined above, but sadly, there’s no guarantee that every whitepaper will have these included. This means that you need to be especially rigorous when combing through a white paper to spot if any piece of information is missing. The absence of such information should inform your investment decision.
