The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has become one of the first universities to issue recipient-owned virtual credentials, using Bitcoin's (Bitcoin) blockchain technology, the Institute announced on its official website.
As part of a pilot program, a cohort of 111 graduates received their diplomas on their smartphones via an app, in addition to the traditional format.
The Blockcerts Wallet app was developed by Learning Machine in conjunction with the MIT Registrar’s Office. It uses blockchain technology to give graduates easy access to verifiable, tamper-proof version of their diploma that they can share with potential employers.
“MIT has issued official records in a format that can exist even if the institution goes away, even if we go away as a vendor,” said Chris Jagers, co-founder and CEO of Learning Machine. “People can own and use their official records, which is a fundamental shift.”
“We believe it’s still the right choice for official records that need to last a lifetime and work anywhere in the world,” he says.
After the student downloads the app, it generates the public-private key pair and sends the public key to MIT, where it is written into the digital record. Next, a one-way hash (a string of numbers that can be used for verification later) is added to the blockchain.
The diploma information itself doesn’t go onto the blockchain, just the timestamped transaction indicating that MIT created the digital record.
Finally, MIT emails the digital diploma (a JavaScript Object Notation file, or JSON) with the student’s public key inscribed into it. Because the mobile app on the student’s phone has their unique private key, the student can prove ownership of the diploma.