FAQ

Home / FAQ

Be your own Notary

Prove timestamped existence of a document without trusted third parties.

What?

Historically, governments acted as trusted third parties by issuing important life documents (like property titles, drivers licenses, and birth certificates).

Pre-bitcoin document proof was characterized by Greco-Roman columns, long lines, unpleasant demeanors, ceremonial vestments, and poor building maintenance.

Today, these roles can be automated.

How?

With Notary, you can create your own universal timestamped proof of a document's existence.

A cryptographic digest of your document will be stored in the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) blockchain, linking it to the time of submission.

Your document could be anything, from an input-constrained form like conventional government documents to a full-resolution movie or location-stamped image.

Why?

Trustlessly backing up important documents allows you to prove existence even when an official version goes missing.

You control your own information — your document's contents are not stored in the blockchain or ever exposed.

Prove your document existed by comparing the blockchain entry of your document's cryptographic digest to your actual document (if and when the need arises).

Prove data ownership

In most jurisdictions, applying for a patent or proving ownership of copyrighted material involves unpleasant (and wildly expensive) third parties. With Notary, you can prove ownership of information at a given time without revealing the actual information.

Example 1: United States Patent Office versus personal use of Notary
FeaturesU.S. Patent OfficeNotary
Costs more than $10,000 USD and takes more than a year to process
Can only be upheld by expensive third parties in robes
Immediate, inexpensive confirmation
Trivially upheld by supra-legal mathematical postulates
Participation is voluntary

Prove data integrity

Some documents, like property titles, have important consequences linked to changes in the document over time. You can use Notary to prove that a document has existed in an unchanged form. Prove your document did not change by matching your file's cryptographic digest at some future date to the one you stored in the blockchain with Notary.

Example 2: Conventional Title Insurance versus personal use of Notary
FeaturesTitle InsuranceNotary
Costs about $5,000
Mostly exists to promote illusion of ownership
Ultimately subject to political climate
May be violently over-ruled, but never deleted or disproven
Participation is voluntary

Prove data existed at a certain time

The Bitcoin Cash (BCH) blockchain is globally distributed and requires proof of work to update. Your submission forever proves the existence of your document in its current state at the time of your submission.

Example 3: Government-issued Birth Certificate versus selfie with infant, added to Notary
FeaturesBirth CertificateNotary
Physically degrades with time
Can only be accessed by calling parents, waiting, and hoping
Validity depends on trusted issuer
Immutable; permanently and privately accessible from your phone
Participation is voluntary

Practical considerations

In most of the world, humans are still required to participate in multiple forms of conventional document proof. As reputation and identity become key components of the digital world, the existence of a voluntary alternative will support information privacy and ownership.