Japan-based LasTrust Inc., an issuer of certificates using blockchain, has started providing a blockchain graduation letter that digitizes paper-based graduation letters using CloudCerts, a platform designed to issue certificates using blockchain technology. The service helps to reduce unnecessary visits to schools and face-to-face contact when receiving certificates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

CloudCerts is the name of a Software as a Service (SaaS) provided by the company. Certificates issued using CloudCerts are designed to incorporate the electronic signature of an individual educational institution, and CloudCerts can safely digitize certificates while ensuring the authenticity of the original. Students can submit the graduation letters they receive to people in charge of recruitment online. Graduation letters can also be issued at convenience stores and other locations using PDF output functions.

Because CloudCerts is a wholly online service, it can be introduced immediately at no initial cost. The process of receiving a request to issue a certificate from a student until the certificate is issued is said to take at least five days. Besides, because the contents of digital graduation letters are ensured using blockchain technology, they can be used as an original copy, despite their digital format.

What’s more, blockchain certificates issued by the company conform to the global Blockcerts standard. Blockcerts-compatible blockchain certificates have been introduced by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. Digitized graduation letters are expected to be in widespread use in Japan in the future.

*This article was written by FISCO.