Overview
UVerify is a free document certification tool that lets anyone prove a file is authentic and has not been changed. You upload a document, such as a diploma, a lab report, or a contract, and UVerify records a unique fingerprint of it on a public ledger. The file itself never leaves your device, and anyone with a copy of the file can later check it against the record without an account or special software.
UVerify runs on the Cardano blockchain, a public ledger anyone can read but no one can quietly rewrite. The service writes a small piece of data to the chain for each certificate, so the record is permanent and visible to anyone. UVerify is open source and operated by Fabian Bormann, a Cardano ecosystem developer.
Key Features
- Files never leave your device. UVerify only puts a one-way checksum (a short code that changes if the file changes) on the chain, never the document itself, so private contracts and personal records stay private1.
- Anyone can verify a certificate. Each certificate becomes a shareable web page that opens the on-chain record. No login or wallet is needed to check whether a file matches what was originally registered1.
- Works for many kinds of records. Use cases shown on the homepage include academic diplomas, lab and inspection reports, product passports for physical goods, and NFC-tagged items like pet ID tags or connected collectibles1.
- Built-in tools for developers and businesses. A public web interface and ready-made code libraries in TypeScript, Java, and Python let other apps issue and check certificates without rebuilding the system from scratch2.
- Run UVerify yourself if you prefer. A self-hosting guide explains how an organization can install and operate the entire service on its own servers using Docker, a tool for packaging software into easy-to-run containers3.
What to Expect
Visitors to the website land on a quick demo. Drop in a file, connect a Cardano wallet such as Lace or Eternl, and the service stores a fingerprint of the file on the network in a single transaction. The fee is paid to the Cardano network and is small, typically around 0.17 ADA per certificate. A homepage example shows about 4 ADA total for a batch of 500 academic diplomas. UVerify itself does not charge a service fee, and fee sponsorship is offered for some organizations.
The site keeps a live counter of how many certificates have been issued and how much has been spent on network fees, so the scale of real usage is visible before signing up. The source code, the smart contracts (small programs that run automatically on the blockchain) written in Aiken, the user interface, and the developer kits are all published openly on GitHub4. UVerify has been featured by the Cardano Foundation in its Developer Office Hours series, which walks through the project end to end5. For other tools that fit alongside it, see the signing and verification category and the wider DApps section.
