Etherdoc: Ensuring Security & Integrity for Digital Certificates using Blockchain

Abstract

A decentralised system, blockchain technology guarantees strong data security, dependability, and transparency. Etherdoc: Ensuring Security and Integrity for Digital Certificates Using Blockchain is a study that builds on these advantages. This platform assesses the effectiveness of several consensus algorithms, including Proof of Stake (PoS) and Proof of Authority (PoA), using the Sepolia testnet of Ethereum and the VeChain testnet. These chains were selected for testing due to their cost-effective implementation and compatibility with mainnet capabilities. PoS-based Sepolia provides a decentralised method with enhanced scalability and energy efficiency, producing blocks roughly every 15 seconds. However, VeChain's PoA requires faith in the validators and leverages a pre-approved set of authority nodes to achieve faster block times (10 seconds) with lower network overhead. Etherdoc illustrates the benefits of each mechanism through experimentation, emphasising PoS for its decentralisation and security and PoA for its speed and effectiveness. By combining the advantages of blockchain technology's transparency, efficiency, and dependability, this comparison study offers insightful information for future deployments of scalable and secure digital certificate management systems.