Open-source licensing in crypto
- Author
- CRYPTO PORT Editorial
- Published
- Updated
- Reading time
- 4 min
In short
Crypto software is usually published, but the licence terms vary widely. Some allow anyone to copy and modify freely; others restrict commercial use for a set period. Published code and freely usable code are different things, and whether a fork is permitted is decided here.
Key points
- Published is not the same as freely usable
- Some licences require derivative work to be published too
- Others restrict commercial use for a limited period
- Whether forking is allowed follows from the licence
Definition
The terms stating who may use, modify and redistribute published source code and on what conditions. Crypto protocols and clients each carry their own.
In crypto, publishing the code is treated as a precondition for trust: you can check the behaviour yourself and others can verify it independently. But publication serves verification, and whether copying is permitted is a separate matter set by the licence.
The most common terms allow free modification and redistribution — MIT-style licences, which is the family the Bitcoin client belongs to. Others oblige you to publish your modifications, aiming to keep improvements flowing back to everyone.
More recently some projects publish the code while restricting commercial use for a period, after which the terms convert to fully open ones. The intent is to avoid an immediate copy competing with the original while still promising future freedom. Anyone reusing the code should check both the terms and the conversion date.
Watch out for
- · Published code is not automatically free to copy or use commercially
- · Projects calling themselves forks sometimes fail to meet the original terms
- · A licence says nothing about quality or safety