Decentralized credential publication and verification : a method for issuing and verifying academic degrees with smart contracts

In this design research we propose a decentralized system for digital degree issuing and verification. We start by studying the currently available methods for degree issuance and verification in the Netherlands. These methods are checked against the user needs in a universal system for verifiable claims, which constitute the broader use case of verified credentials. The current issue and verification systems fail to comply with all the user needs, as the verification relies heavily on a centralized party, and the data ownership is not transferred to the recipient of the degree. In our design proposal we use the public Ethereum blockchain to our advantage for high data availability, the possibility of verification without the explicit cooperation of the original issuer, and the smart contract functionality. Even in the case an issuer goes out of business, the public blockchain continues to maintain an incentive to host your proof data.