OpenAttestation

• Name: OpenAttestation
• URL: https://github.com/Open-Attestation/open-attestation
• Category: verifiable-documents framework / document-attestation-and-notary infrastructure / transferable-record substrate
• Tags: ethereum-ecosystem
• Summary: OpenAttestation is document-trust plumbing, not a credential app. The useful split is integrity, issuer identity, publication, revocation, selective disclosure, and optional transferability. Keep it because those layers stay separate instead of collapsing into certificate UX.
• What it does:
  • Wraps arbitrary JSON documents into verifiable documents with Merkle-root-based integrity proofs
  • Supports batch issuance, where multiple documents share one Merkle root while preserving per-document target hashes and proofs
  • Allows publication either through onchain smart-contract registries or through offchain digital signatures, which separates integrity proof from settlement cost
  • Verifies document signatures and Merkle inclusion proofs locally before any registry lookup
  • Supports data obfuscation so issuers or holders can remove selected fields while keeping the underlying document hash relationship intact
  • Provides Document Store smart contracts for issuance and revocation management of non-transferable documents
  • Provides Transferable Document Store contracts where individual documents become ERC-721-style assets, optionally including soulbound issuance behavior
  • Exposes admin, issuer, and revoker roles as separate smart-contract permissions rather than flattening issuance and revocation into one operator role
• Key claims:
  • The README describes OpenAttestation as attestation and notary infrastructure for arbitrary documents, which is the right cut: reusable document-verification middleware, not a sector-specific app.
  • The main reusable mechanism is the wrapping flow. Merkle-root proofs plus issuer signatures make integrity, publication, and issuer identity separable layers.
  • Support for both smart-contract publication and pure digital signatures matters because document attestation does not collapse into one trust model or fee path.
  • obfuscateDocument is a real control-surface clue: selective disclosure is first-class instead of being bolted on after publication.
  • The Document Store split matters too. Ordinary stores, transferable stores, soulbound issuance, and revocation are all explicit design choices rather than hidden app logic.
  • Keep the note because it makes document trust legible as hashing, issuer proof, publication path, revocation authority, transferability, and disclosure policy.
• Whitepaper: No standalone whitepaper surfaced in this pass. The strongest primary materials were the OpenAttestation framework README and the companion Document Store smart-contract README; see ../whitepapers/openattestation-primary-sources-2026-05-12.md.
• Sources:
  • https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Open-Attestation/open-attestation/master/README.md
  • https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Open-Attestation/document-store/master/README.md

Internal linkages

• Shared attestation rails that separate claim publication from trust judgment differently: ethereum-attestation-service and sign-protocol.

Control surface

• Control sits in issuer keys, publication path, revocation authority, disclosure defaults, and whether the document is transferable or just verifiable.

• That is the point of the note: OpenAttestation keeps document integrity and issuer policy legible instead of hiding them inside generic credential UX.

• Last reviewed: 2026-06-17 UTC