Verifying this paper's Bitcoin timestamp

A hash, frozen in the blockchain

Every tagged release of this dossier is packaged into an archive, and that archive's cryptographic hash is submitted to OpenTimestamps, which anchors it in the Bitcoin blockchain. Because the hash is embedded in a block that the entire Bitcoin network agrees on, anyone can later prove that this exact content existed at or before that block's timestamp — without trusting GitHub, Zenodo, the author, or any other institution. If even one byte of the archive had been altered afterward, its hash would no longer match the anchored proof. The proof is the receipt; the blockchain is the notary that cannot be bribed or back-dated.

Download the .ots receipts

Each .ots file is the OpenTimestamps proof for one release archive. Download the one matching the release you want to check:

• timestamps/dossier-001-1.0.0.tar.ots proof for release v1.0.0 (publication of record)
• timestamps/v1.0.1.tar.gz.ots proof for release v1.0.1 (first living amendment)

Step by step

1. Install the OpenTimestamps client A small, open-source Python tool. With Python 3 installed:

   pip install opentimestamps-client

2. Get the matching release archive From the GitHub releases page, download the "Source code (tar.gz)" for the same release the proof belongs to — e.g. v1.0.1.tar.gz for the v1.0.1 proof. The archive and its .ots file must be the pair.
3. Verify the proof against the archive Run the client against the proof file; it checks the archive's hash and looks up the anchoring Bitcoin block:

   ots verify v1.0.1.tar.gz.ots

   A successful run reports the Bitcoin block height and the UTC time the content was provably anchored. (If the proof is still fresh, run ots upgrade v1.0.1.tar.gz.ots first to pull in the confirmed block attestation.)
4. Prefer no command line? Use the website. Go to opentimestamps.org, drop in the .ots proof file alongside the matching release archive, and it verifies in the browser — same blockchain, no install.