Cypherpunk Score Explained
The Cypherpunk Score (CP Score) is an editorial rating from 1 to 10 that measures how relevant a resource is to privacy, sovereignty, and cryptography education.
It is not a quality rating. A well-produced trading course might score 2. A dense academic paper might score 9.
Score scale
| Score | Label | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Foundational | Core cypherpunk philosophy or essential privacy tooling | Cypherpunk Manifesto, Tor docs |
| 9 | Essential | Critical technical education or hands-on guides | Mastering Bitcoin, Full Node guide |
| 8 | Strong | High-quality courses with clear cypherpunk alignment | Princeton Bitcoin course, Moneropedia |
| 7 | Good | Useful education with solid relevance | Getting Started with Bitcoin, EFF SSD |
| 6 | Moderate | Relevant but not core — good supplementary material | General crypto podcasts |
| 5 | Mixed | Some useful content alongside less relevant material | Broad educational aggregators |
| 4 | Low-moderate | Tangentially related to cypherpunk mission | General blockchain explainers |
| 3 | Low | Mostly trading/speculation with minor educational value | Trading-focused course directories |
| 2 | Minimal | Barely relevant to privacy/sovereignty education | Price analysis tools |
| 1 | None | No relevance to cypherpunk mission | Pure trading signals |
What increases a score
| Factor | Impact |
|---|---|
| Teaches privacy techniques | +2–3 |
| Covers cryptography fundamentals | +2 |
| Promotes self-sovereignty (nodes, keys) | +2 |
| Cypherpunk philosophy or history | +3 |
| Hands-on, practical exercises | +1 |
| Open source and freely available | +1 |
| Created by recognized privacy advocates | +1 |
What decreases a score
| Factor | Impact |
|---|---|
| Focuses on trading or price speculation | -3–4 |
| Requires KYC or personal data | -2 |
| Promotes specific altcoins for investment | -2 |
| Paid with aggressive upselling | -1 |
| Outdated or broken content | -1 |
| Centralized platform dependency | -1 |
How to use the filter
In the catalog (/catalog):
- Set Min CP Score slider to your threshold
- 7+ — recommended starting point (cuts most noise)
- 8+ — high-signal only
- 9+ — foundational and essential resources only
Recommended thresholds by goal
| Your goal | Min CP Score |
|---|---|
| General exploration | 5 |
| Focused learning | 7 |
| Deep cypherpunk study | 8 |
| Foundational philosophy only | 9 |
How scores are assigned
Scores are assigned by the curator through editorial review:
- Read or review the resource
- Evaluate against cypherpunk mission criteria
- Assign a score based on the scale above
- Revisit periodically as content changes
Community suggestions for score adjustments are welcome via @CHxmrBrother.
CP Score vs. other ratings
| Rating type | What it measures | Who assigns it |
|---|---|---|
| CP Score | Cypherpunk relevance | Curator (editorial) |
| Course reviews | General quality | Users on external platforms |
| Difficulty | Technical depth | Curator |
| Popularity | View counts, enrollments | External platforms |
CP Score is the only rating unique to Cypherpunk Code. Use it to filter for mission-aligned content.