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Blockcerts

blockcerts.org

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Spec score 9.0 #2 of 31 in Credentialing Software

What it is

Blockcerts is an open standard and open-source ecosystem for creating, issuing, receiving, and checking blockchain-based credentials and official records. Its intended settings include civic records, education, professional licensing, and workforce development. Recipients can use the Blockcerts app to receive, import, keep, and share credentials; a private passphrase supports ownership and recovery. A universal verifier checks records independently and can be incorporated into other software. Developer resources include Python tools for creating and issuing credentials, a JavaScript verification library for Node.js or browsers, and a standalone web verifier. The issuer library supports Bitcoin and Ethereum, while the standard is designed to work across blockchains. Verification checks issuer signatures and certificate data, including expiry and revocation. Issued certificates cannot be edited, though an issuer can revoke an incorrect one or issue a replacement batch. Blockchain data is a one-way hash of certificate information. Blockcerts is free; Bitcoin batch issuance may incur a variable network transaction fee.

Spec sheet

What it does
Blockcerts is an open standard and software ecosystem for creating, issuing, viewing, holding, sharing and verifying blockchain-based certificates and official records.Read 15 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Purpose
Blockcerts is an open standard and open-source ecosystem for creating, issuing, viewing, and verifying blockchain-based credentials and official records.Read 9 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Privacy
The FAQ says the blockchain stores a one-way hash of certificate data, from which the original data cannot feasibly be recovered.Read 9 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Support
The public community forum is presented as a place to ask technical questions, discuss topics, and share news.Read 9 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
License
Core public repositories such as cert-issuer, cert-verifier-js and blockcerts-verifier are published under the MIT License.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
App privacy
Apple's listing says the developer reports that the iOS wallet collects no data.Read 15 Oct 2026 · apps.apple.com
Blockchain support
The standard began with Bitcoin, expanded to Ethereum and is designed to work across additional public or private blockchains.Read 15 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Community implementation burden
A forum response says adopters must assemble separate components and understand addresses, public keys and wallet funding for a production deployment.Read 15 Oct 2026 · community.blockcerts.org
Credential ownership
Recipients control their credentials through a wallet and can share them without relying on the issuing institution for each verification.Read 15 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Developer libraries
The project provides cert-tools for creating certificates, cert-issuer for issuing them, cert-verifier-js for browser or Node verification, and a standalone verifier component.Read 15 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Developer tools
The project provides Python tools for creating and issuing credentials, a JavaScript verification library for Node.js or browsers, and a standalone web verifier.Read 9 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Documentation depth
The official guide includes introduction, FAQ, quick start, recipient guidance, standards alignment and roadmap sections, supplemented by repository READMEs and examples.Read 15 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Identity limit
Blockcerts verifies claims and cryptographic ownership but does not itself prove that a public key belongs to a particular person or organization.Read 15 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Immutability
Issued certificates cannot be edited; an issuer can revoke an incorrect credential or issue a new batch.Read 9 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Immutability limit
Issued certificates cannot be edited; an issuer must revoke an incorrect certificate and issue another one.Read 15 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Integrity and revocation
Verification checks issuer signatures and certificate data and can check whether a credential has expired or been revoked.Read 9 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Integrity checks
Verification checks the issuer signature, certificate data, blockchain receipt and whether the credential is expired or revoked.Read 15 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Issuance cost
A Bitcoin transaction is used per certificate batch, and the transaction fee varies with network fees; the cert-issuer fee is configurable.Read 15 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Issuing cost
Issuing a Bitcoin batch involves a network transaction fee that varies with the recommended fee and can be configured in cert-issuer.Read 9 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Limit: credential import errors
A Google Play reviewer reported repeated errors when adding school credentials even after receiving a replacement one-time code.Read 15 Oct 2026 · play.google.com
Limit: installation friction
A Google Play reviewer said the app would not download on a phone and required a Chromebook workaround.Read 15 Oct 2026 · play.google.com
Limit: iOS crashes
Apple App Store reviewers reported startup crashes and described the app as unusable for them.Read 15 Oct 2026 · apps.apple.com
Limit: phone migration
A Google Play reviewer reported difficulty moving different degrees between old and new phones.Read 15 Oct 2026 · play.google.com
Maker stewardship
The project says Learning Machine is now Hyland Credentials and that Hyland is its primary ongoing steward.Read 15 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
News: Blockcerts v3
Blockcerts v3 was announced on December 13, 2021 with alignment to W3C Verifiable Credentials and support for issuer decentralized identifiers.Read 15 Oct 2026 · lists.w3.org
News: Hyland acquisition
Hyland acquired Learning Machine effective February 1, 2020 and continued its blockchain credentialing work.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hyland.com
Notable deployment
MIT's 2017 pilot gave 111 graduates the option to receive Blockcerts Wallet digital diplomas alongside traditional credentials.Read 15 Oct 2026 · news.mit.edu
Origin
MIT Media Lab and Learning Machine developed the open-source Blockcerts toolkit during 2016.Read 15 Oct 2026 · news.mit.edu
Praise: immediate credential access
A Google Play reviewer liked having legitimate diplomas on a phone immediately instead of waiting for paper documents.Read 15 Oct 2026 · play.google.com
Privacy design
Only a one-way hash is recorded on-chain, so the original certificate data cannot feasibly be reconstructed from the blockchain record.Read 15 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Public API
cert-issuer documents a VC API-compliant issuing server and web-resource documentation for request-based development.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Rating on Apple App Store
3.6 out of 5 from 19 reviewsRead 15 Oct 2026 · apps.apple.com
Rating on Google Play
3.0 out of 5 from 152 reviewsRead 15 Oct 2026 · play.google.com
Recipient wallet
The Blockcerts app lets recipients receive, hold, import, and share credentials, and uses a private passphrase to support ownership and recovery.Read 9 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Revocation
The standard supports issuer revocation, including Open Badges-style HTTP revocation lists and other schema-dependent methods.Read 15 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Roadmap
The roadmap calls for more blockchains, richer revocation, decentralized-identifier integration, verifiable-claims schemas and fewer issuer-hosted-data dependencies.Read 15 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
SDK languages
Public repositories include Python issuing and verification libraries, JavaScript or TypeScript verifier libraries, Swift iOS wallet code and Android wallet code.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Security criticism
A 2019 security analysis reported that relying on an unauthenticated issuer profile could enable forged issuer profiles and certificates indistinguishable under the analyzed validation procedure.Read 15 Oct 2026 · arxiv.org
Selective disclosure
The FAQ says selective disclosure can currently be handled by issuing separate certificates for high-level and detailed information; single-certificate selective disclosure may be addressed in future releases.Read 9 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Selective disclosure limit
Single-certificate selective disclosure is described as a future possibility; the current workaround is issuing separate high-level and detailed certificates.Read 15 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Self-hosting
Developers can run the verifier locally and build the cert-issuer Docker image for experimentation or deployment.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Standards
The community aligns with W3C Verifiable Credentials, W3C Data Integrity, and W3C Controlled Identifiers, including Decentralized Identifiers.Read 9 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Stewardship
Hyland is identified as the project's primary steward, and the project invites other collaborators to contribute.Read 9 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Supported record types
The project targets civic records, academic credentials, professional licenses, workforce-development records and similar official claims.Read 15 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
System requirements
The iOS wallet requires iOS 13 or later; Apple lists macOS 11 or later with an Apple M1 chip for Mac compatibility.Read 15 Oct 2026 · apps.apple.com
Universal verifier
The browser-based Universal Verifier independently checks Blockcert records and can be embedded into other software.Read 15 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Use cases
The standard is intended for civic records, academic credentials, professional licenses, and workforce development.Read 9 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Verification
The universal verifier checks records independently and can be built into existing software systems.Read 9 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Version incompatibility
cert-issuer v3 is not backward compatible with Blockcerts v2, and the repository says v2 receives little or no maintenance.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Wallet feature
The free wallet lets recipients add issuers, receive credentials, hold them and share them when needed.Read 15 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org

Plans and prices

Blockcerts Free Free app; issuing certificates may incur blockchain transaction fees Read 9 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org
Blockcerts App Free Free recipient wallet · credential import and sharing · independent verification Read 15 Oct 2026 · blockcerts.org

Every Blockcerts plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Free plan is available.
  • Recipient app supports receiving, importing, holding, and sharing.
  • Verifier checks signatures, data, expiry, and revocation.
  • Developer tools include Python and JavaScript resources.
  • Supports issuing on Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Limits

  • Bitcoin batch issuance may incur variable transaction fees.
  • Issued certificates cannot be edited.
  • Single-certificate selective disclosure is not currently available.

Who it suits

Blockcerts suits organizations issuing credentials or records and recipients who need to keep and share them. Developers can use its issuing tools, verification library, or standalone verifier.

Verdict

Blockcerts offers issuance and verification tools alongside a recipient wallet, with support for several credential use cases. Consider the issuer workflow and possible Bitcoin transaction fees before choosing it.

Where Specifiction places it

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