Standard-Compliant Blockchain Anchoring for Timestamp Tokens

Abstract

Traditional Time-Stamping Authorities provide reliable temporal evidence. However, they operate as single points of trust and do not supply a tamper-evident record of event ordering. This paper presents a standards-compliant extension that anchors each issued timestamp token to a blockchain ledger while preserving full compatibility with existing TSA clients. Our proposal is compliant with RFC 3161. The implementation uses an identifier in the token that is also included in the distributed ledger. Experiments were conducted on the Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric networks. Our design allows for external verification of the existence and relative ordering of tokens without modifying the RFC-defined validation process. Experimental evaluation compares issuance latency, anchoring time, and transaction cost across both networks. Our work presents a practical and viable approach to enhancing trust in digital signature infrastructures by combining the regulatory reliability of qualified TSAs with the auditability and persistence of distributed ledgers.