ProofCore
1. Hash 2. Merkle 3. Anchor 4. Verify

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

Change One Character

A cryptographic hash (SHA-256) is a digital fingerprint. Try changing Bob's bonus.

Original Data
SHA-256 Fingerprint:
Edit Me
Claimed Original
SHA-256 Fingerprint:
134 / 256 bits changed

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

Build a Merkle Tree

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.

📄 Contract_v1.pdf
1.8 MB
↓ SHA-256
a1b2...9f8e
↓ Merkle Root
Demo Anchor
TON BLOCKCHAIN
Tx: 0x88f...11a
Time: 2026-08-29 11:21:00
❌ 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 acts as a public, decentralized time-stamping authority. 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.

You don't have to trust ProofCore. Anyone can independently verify the evidence using open-source tools.

Local Execution
$ proofcore verify contract.zip
This calculation never leaves your browser. Nothing uploaded. Nothing stored.

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)

Knowledge Hub & Specifications

What is digital notarization? ▼
Digital notarization is the process of creating an immutable cryptographic record of a digital artifact. ProofCore implements this using a combination of SHA-256 hashing, Merkle trees for scale, and the TON Blockchain for public anchoring and timestamping.
Can I verify a proof without trusting ProofCore? ▼
Yes. The core philosophy is "Don't trust, verify." An evidence package contains the original file, the manifest, and the Merkle path. Using any open-source tool, you can hash the file, reconstruct the Merkle root locally, and compare it directly with the public TON blockchain payload.
Does ProofCore store my files? ▼
ProofCore strictly adheres to a Zero-Storage Architecture on the blockchain. Your original files, images, or documents are never uploaded or stored on the TON blockchain. Only the 64-character cryptographic hash (Merkle Root) is anchored publicly. Your physical files are kept securely in temporary or private off-chain storage.
How large is a Merkle proof? ▼
Thanks to the mathematical properties of a balanced binary tree, a Merkle proof scales logarithmically: O(log N). Even if a batch contains 1,000,000 documents, you only need approximately 20 sibling hashes to mathematically prove that your specific document was included in the batch.
Under the Hood: Cryptographic Specs ▼
  • Algorithm: proofcore-merkle-v1
  • Hashing: H_asset = SHA256(raw_bytes)
  • Deal Hash: H_deal = SHA256((H_assets + H_meta).encode('utf-8'))
  • Traversal: direction == 'left' ? SHA256(sibling + current) : SHA256(current + sibling)
  • TON Anchor: Opcode 0 Payload MR: <64-char-root>
ProofCore in One Paragraph (LLM Chunk) ▼
ProofCore is a digital notarization protocol that creates cryptographic evidence for digital artifacts. It hashes the original bytes, aggregates multiple hashes into a Merkle tree, and anchors the resulting Merkle root to the TON blockchain. The original data does not need to be stored on-chain. A verifier can later recompute the hashes, validate Merkle inclusion, and compare the resulting commitment with the blockchain anchor. ProofCore proves integrity, inclusion and blockchain anchoring; it does not prove that the information in an artifact is factually true or legally valid.
Read the full API Documentation →