Blockchain-based timestamping

Establish signers' accountability publicly with Zoho Sign's blockchain-based timestamping feature.

How does it work?

  •   For each document signed using Zoho Sign, a public Ethereum transaction will take place in the background.
  •   The transaction will contain the hash of the signed document in the transaction notes.
  •   This transaction is then appended to the blockchain along with the timestamp.

Publicly verifiable

Anyone can access the Ethereum's public blockchain at any time to check the existence of the signed business document and verify whether the document was signed at the given time.

Simple and easy to use

Sign your business documents as usual—Zoho Sign will take care of the blockchain-based timestamping in the background without any additional steps.

Two-level verification

Zoho Sign already uses the public key infrastructure (PKI) to ensure non-repudiation and integrity. With the blockchain-based timestamping, you get an additional measure of document verification leveraging the Ethereum public blockchain.

Some frequently asked questions

  What is a blockchain?

A blockchain is a growing list of records called "blocks" that are linked using cryptography. Each block will contain: an encrypted hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and data corresponding to a transaction. Blockchains are generally used as an open digital ledger that records online transactions. Records in a blockchain cannot be altered retroactively without leading to a change in all the subsequent blocks.

  What is a hash?

Hash algorithms are what keeps blockchain secure. A hash algorithm takes data of any size and converts it into a fixed alphanumeric string based on the hash function (64-bit/128-bit/256-bit) used. This fixed size output is called a hash.

The same hash can be generated from the same input data. Any small change to the data will completely change the hash output. 

  Is the feature available right now?

Yes.

  Are there any pre-requisites for this feature to work?

No.

  Will my document be exposed to the public with blockchain timestamping?

No. Only the hash of the signed document will be added to the public blockchain, not the document itself.