A blockchain-based framework for academic certificate verification using IPFS

The global academic ecosystem is currently besieged by a proliferation of fraudulent credentials, resulting in a systemic drain on the economy estimated at $600 billion annually. Conventional verification methodologies are characterized by manual bottlenecks, administrative opacity, and inherent vulnerabilities associated with centralized Web 2.0 architectures. This research delineates a sophisticated decentralized architecture for the secure distribution and validation of academic records by synergizing Ethereum blockchain protocols with the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). The framework utilizes Solidity-based smart contracts and a React-based decentralized application (dApp) to establish an immutable "source of truth." By anchoring cryptographic Content Identifiers (CIDs) on the Ethereum Sepolia network while delegating document storage to IPFS, the system achieves significant on-chain cost optimization. Empirical evaluations demonstrate that the proposed solution yields a 100% fraud detection rate, with registration and verification latencies of 2.97 seconds and less than 1 second, respectively. This study provides a scalable, user-centric alternative to institutional custodianship, restoring meritocratic integrity through cryptographic certainty.