Overview
EchoCert is a web app that lets organizations issue digital certificates backed by an on-chain record that cannot be quietly edited later. It is designed for schools, course providers, employers, and event organizers that want to give people a credential they fully own and that anyone can verify in seconds. Each certificate is permanently recorded on the Cardano blockchain and lives in the recipient's own Cardano wallet.1
EchoCert is made by EchoForge, a one-person company founded by Charles Tao that builds everyday tools on Cardano. It shares an identity layer, EchoID, with EchoForge's other apps: EchoUploader for file proofs, EchoDash for viewing your profile and tier, and the planned EchoVote for governance.2 The site offers five ready-made certificate designs (Classic, Formal, CERTN, Bold, and Seal), so issuers do not have to design their own.1
Key Features
- Permanent record on Cardano. Every certificate is saved to the Cardano network as an NFT, the same kind of digital token used for collectibles, so the record cannot be swapped or quietly changed later.2 The on-chain rules do allow a certificate's token to be burned, which revokes it, but only with the issuer's signature.3
- Public lookup page. Anyone can confirm a certificate is genuine by pasting its ID into a search box on the EchoCert site, with no account needed. The result reads straight from Cardano through Blockfrost, a service that pulls live data from the network.4
- Tampering is easy to catch. Each certificate's token name is a unique digital fingerprint (a SHA-256 hash) of the recipient name, issue date and issuer. Change any of those details and the fingerprint no longer matches the on-chain record.2,3
- Open-source on-chain logic. The minting policy, the on-chain code that issues and revokes certificates, is written in the Aiken programming language and published on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 license.3
- Five design templates. Issuers pick a layout, fill in the recipient name, the issue date, and the organization name, then click to mint. No graphic design or PDF tooling needed.1
- Works with five Cardano wallets. Both issuers and recipients can use Eternl, Nami, Flint, Vespr, or Lace.2
What to Expect
For an issuer, the flow takes minutes. The site asks for four pieces of information (recipient name, issue date, issuing organization, and template style), then opens a connected Cardano wallet to confirm payment. Issuing a certificate is priced at $1, paid in ADA at the current ADA-to-dollar exchange rate, but the on-chain contract requires at least 5 ADA per certificate, so the charge never drops below 5 ADA, whatever the issuer's ForgeCard tier discount. The network fee is extra.3 Organizations that want to drop the Unverified Issuer watermark can add domain verification for $50 a year.5 Once the wallet approves, EchoCert mints the certificate and produces a PDF receipt with the full transaction details.2
For a recipient, the certificate arrives in their own Cardano wallet, the same place they hold any other digital assets. They can share its ID with an employer or registrar, who can verify it on the public lookup page in seconds, with no login.4
EchoCert runs on the live Cardano network, which means every certificate is a real on-chain record from the start. The interface is available in English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Japanese.
