Japanese company LasTrust Inc. has introduced a service that offers digital graduation certificates on the blockchain. The service digitizes traditional graduation certificates utilizing CloudCerts, a platform created to issue certificates on the blockchain. The service is designed to decrease face-to-face contact when getting certificates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

CloudCerts is the name of a Software as a Service (SaaS) produced by the company. Certificates issued utilizing CloudCerts are designed to include the electronic signature of an individual educational institution. CloudCerts can securely digitize certificates while assuring the authenticity of the original. Students can submit their graduation certificates to online recruitment agencies.

Because CloudCerts is a completely online service, it can be started immediately at no cost. Getting a request to issue a certificate from a student until the certificate is issued is said to take five days. Because the contents of digital graduation letters are shielded from fraud by a blockchain, they can be utilized as an original copy, notwithstanding their digital format.

Blockchain certificates issued by the company adhere to the global Blockcerts standard. Blockcerts-compatible blockchain certificates have been introduced by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. It’s suspected that digitized graduation certificates will be the standard in the years to come.

Gift certificates on the blockchain

In the meantime, Japan has also noticed an improvement in gift certificates issued on the blockchain. On June 18, SBI Holdings declared that it had commenced giving services for digitizing FY2020 premium local gift certificates issued by the Ukiha City Society of Commerce and Industry, Fukuoka Prefecture. When digitizing premium gift certificates, Kyushu Electric Power offers a system platform to Chikuho Bank to digitize gift certificates issued by the Ukiha City Society of Commerce and Industry. Using blockchain technology, SBI electronically issues a portion of the number of premium gift certificates issued in paper.

SBI Holdings stated that it would revitalize regional economies as they adapt to a post-coronavirus society and increase user convenience. It also announced that it intends to decrease burdens related to the issuance of paper-based local gift certificates, stimulate the association of member stores based on usage data, and visualize the economy’s circular flow.

SBI is stated that it will engage in regional revitalization utilizing blockchain technology in partnership with individual companies. This type of activity utilizing tokens directed at revitalizing regional economies has been tried throughout Japan. Gifu Prefecture has issued Sarubobo Coin, a cryptocurrency named after the prefecture’s popular mascot. In contrast, Kamakura, a popular tourist destination, has issued the community currency “Machi no Coin” to facilitate activities related to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These activities could accelerate in local cities in Japan after the coronavirus pandemic.