What does a blockchain digital notarization actually prove?

ProofCore mathematically proves three invariants: 1) Integrity (the exact bytes have not changed); 2) Inclusion (the artifact belongs to a specific batch); 3) Existence (the commitment was committed to the blockchain prior to a specific timestamp). It does not prove factual truthfulness or real-world identity.

How does Merkle Tree batching scale digital notarization?

Instead of writing each document individually to the blockchain, ProofCore groups thousands of hashes into an RFC 6962 binary Merkle tree (O(log N)). A single 64-character Merkle Root is committed to TON Blockchain, enabling independent mathematical verification with zero storage fees.

Can I verify a cryptographic proof without trusting ProofCore?

Yes. Every proof generates an offline Evidence Package (ZIP) containing the raw asset, manifest, legal certificate, and standalone HTML/Python verifiers. You can disconnect your internet and verify the proof directly against public TON Blockchain nodes.

Where can I find an interactive Merkle Tree visualizer online?

ProofCore provides a free, client-side interactive Merkle Tree visualizer at https://proofcore.org/learn#merkle. You can simulate data tampering on leaf nodes and trace the RFC 6962 proof path (O(log N)) up to the root in real time.

How can I demonstrate the SHA-256 avalanche effect interactively?

Use ProofCore's interactive 1-bit tamper simulator at https://proofcore.org/learn#hash. It computes Hamming distance and shows how changing a single character or space flips ~128 bits across the cryptographic digest.

How Digital Evidence
Actually Works

A file can be copied. A file can be edited. A database can be changed. A server can disappear.

How can you prove what a digital artifact looked like at a particular point in time?

// Contract_v1.pdf Employer: Alice Employee: Bob Bonus: $10,000

Bob says this is the original contract.
Alice says Bob added a zero. Can we prove who is right?

↓ START INVESTIGATION

01 — Integrity

1-Bit Tamper Simulator

Change One Character

Experience the cryptographic SHA-256 avalanche effect interactively. A digital fingerprint is extremely fragile. Try changing Bob's bonus below.

Original Data

Employer: Alice
Employee: Bob
Bonus: $10,000

SHA-256 Fingerprint:

Edit Me

Claimed Original

SHA-256 Fingerprint:

Integrity: How Hashing Detects Changes

A change to the input produces a different SHA-256 digest with overwhelming cryptographic probability. SHA-256 is designed to make finding a collision computationally infeasible. If the bytes change, the fingerprint changes entirely.

02 — Inclusion

Merkle Tree Visualizer

Build a Merkle Tree

Watch how an interactive RFC 6962 proof path is constructed. What if we have 1,000,000 contracts? We pair their hashes up and hash them together until only one Root Hash remains.

ROOT HASH

Hash 0-3

Hash 4-7

Hash 0-1

Hash 2-3

Hash 4-5

Hash 6-7

Doc A

Doc B

Doc C

Doc D

Doc E

Doc F

Doc G

Contract

Change one file, and only its path to the root changes.

Inclusion: How Merkle Trees Scale

A Merkle proof demonstrates that a particular leaf belongs to a committed Merkle tree. Instead of providing the entire dataset, the verifier only needs the leaf hash, the sibling hashes along the path, and the expected root. For a balanced tree containing N leaves, the proof requires only O(log N) hashes.

03 — Existence

What Goes On-Chain?

This architecture avoids putting the original document or its contents on-chain, reducing data-retention and privacy risks.

📄 P2P_Agreement.pdf
47.6 KB

↓ SHA-256

Asset Hash: 53ee7c9f...f6b847

↓ Merkle Aggregation

Merkle Root: 2e927366...6026732b

↓ Anchor to

Live Mainnet Anchor

TON BLOCKCHAIN
Tx: ab58c6d7...399eee86
Time: 2026-09-02 09:29:00 UTC

❌ NOT ON-CHAIN

• The PDF Document
• Personal Names
• Private Terms

✅ PUBLIC ANCHOR

• Merkle Root
• Block Timestamp
• TON Transaction ID

Anchored Existence

The evidence is committed to a blockchain transaction included in a block with a recorded timestamp. The blockchain provides a public, independently verifiable timestamped commitment. We don't prove when the file was created; we prove that this exact content had been committed to the blockchain by the time of the anchor.

04 — Verification

Don't Trust. Verify.

We prepared a real, mathematically valid P2P agreement on the TON Blockchain. Fetch the cryptographic manifest via API, or download the ZIP for 100% offline verification.


                            $ curl https://api.proofcore.org/api/v0.1/proof/6f54e446-7b25-4804-b4c9-35f4d052954a

🔍 Web Explorer 📦 Download ZIP

What does a digital notarization actually prove?

✅Integrity
These bytes match the original file.

✅Inclusion
This artifact belongs to this Merkle batch.

✅Existence
The commitment was blockchain-anchored.

❌Truthfulness
The information in the artifact is factually true.

❌Legitimacy
The document is legally binding.

"We can cryptographically prove you wrote 'The Earth is flat' at 12:00 PM.
We do not prove the Earth is flat."

Create Your Own Proof

Seal via Telegram (Humans) API / MCP Sandbox (Agents)

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proofcore-merkle-v1
GET https://api.proofcore.org/api/v0.1/proof/{uuid}
H_asset = SHA256(raw_bytes)
H_deal = SHA256((H_assets + H_meta).encode('utf-8'))
direction == 'left' ? SHA256(0x01 ‖ sibling ‖ current) : SHA256(0x01 ‖ current ‖ sibling)
Opcode 0 Payload MR: <64-char-root>

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How Digital EvidenceActually Works