A decentralized academic certificate issuance system using smart contracts on the tron network

Abstract: This paper presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of a decentralized system for issuing and verifying academic certificates based on blockchain technology. The proposed solution addresses common limitations of traditional certification models, such as susceptibility to forgery, reliance on centralized infrastructures, and inefficient verification processes. The system is built on the TRON blockchain and integrates smart contracts written in Solidity, a decentralized web application (dApp) for user interaction, and the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) for decentralized storage of certificate metadata. The methodology comprised architectural design, smart contract development, and the implementation of a web-based interface, followed by functional, security, performance, and usability evaluations. Experimental results show that the system correctly supports certificate issuance and public verification, enforces access control, and resists common misuse scenarios. Performance analysis indicates low confirmation latency and negligible transaction costs, making the solution suitable for large-scale academic environments. Additionally, usability assessment using the System Usability Scale (SUS) resulted in a score of 76.67, indicating good user acceptance. Overall, the results demonstrate the technical feasibility and practical viability of the proposed approach, highlighting the TRON blockchain as an effective and cost-efficient infrastructure for decentralized academic certification systems.