Self-custody of algorithms is a critical component of an organization’s autonomy, ensuring that the organization can fully control, deploy, and verify the software that runs its operations. At its core, self-custody of algorithms involves deploying an execution environment within a machine that guarantees the algorithm performs as intended. This is not just about writing code but about creating a verifiable environment where the execution of that code can be trusted. The execution environment must ensure that, once deployed, the algorithm consistently delivers the expected results without external interference.

To maintain scalability, this execution environment must also be deployable across millions of machines, allowing for widespread and reliable performance. Each deployment of the algorithm must be independently verifiable, ensuring that the organization retains full custody over how its software behaves, regardless of scale. This mass-scale deployment, coupled with verification, is essential for organizations that seek to operate with trust and transparency, ensuring the integrity of their operations even as they grow.

Self-custody of algorithms has already seen successful large-scale implementations in blockchain technologies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Both platforms have demonstrated the ability to deploy virtual machines at scale, creating environments where computations can be verified to perform as expected. Bitcoin, though limited in computational generality, has built a secure and robust execution model based on a subset of Turing-complete operations. This ensures security and predictability in its execution environment, driven by the decentralized network of miners who validate transactions and maintain the system.

Ethereum, on the other hand, expands the scope of self-custody by enabling a fully Turing-complete virtual machine. This allows for a broader range of computations to be deployed and executed at scale, supporting virtually any kind of algorithm an organization may need. Ethereum’s network relies on stakers to run and maintain these execution environments, providing a decentralized yet flexible approach to algorithm custody. In both cases, whether through Bitcoin’s miner-driven topology or Ethereum’s staking model, the underlying principle remains the same: the organization retains full control over the algorithms it deploys, ensuring they perform exactly as intended.

By adopting these models or similar decentralized technologies, organizations can achieve self-custody over their algorithms, allowing them to operate securely, transparently, and at scale. This level of control is crucial for any organization looking to maintain its autonomy and ensure its operations are resilient, trusted, and verifiable.