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How to verify a coding bootcamp certificate is real

Anyone can claim a bootcamp certificate; almost no one can check one in minutes. Here is how to tell whether a coding bootcamp certificate is real — the limits of PDFs and screenshots, and how a public, wallet-free on-chain proof page settles the question for good.

For Employers, recruiters, and graduates

A coding bootcamp certificate is easy to claim and, historically, hard to check. Employers email the school and wait days; recruiters take the PDF on faith; graduates get passed over while verification drags. This guide shows how to verify a coding bootcamp certificate is real in minutes — what a PDF can and cannot prove, and how an on-chain proof page removes the guesswork.

Where this runs: the proof pages in this guide are part of Stellaroid Earn, an early-access pilot live on Stellar testnet — free to try, no wallet needed to read a proof.

Why a PDF or a screenshot cannot prove a certificate is real

The usual proof of a bootcamp credential is a PDF, an image, or a line on a profile. None of them are verifiable on their own:

  • A PDF can be copied, edited in minutes, or generated from a template — the file itself carries no signature most people can meaningfully check.
  • A screenshot proves even less; it is trivial to fabricate and impossible to trace back to the issuer.
  • There is usually no authoritative source to check against, so verification falls back on emailing the school and waiting for a reply.
  • Third-party background checks add cost and days, and still depend on someone answering that email.
The core problem is not that people lie often — it is that honest credentials are slow and expensive to confirm. That friction is exactly what an on-chain proof removes.

What makes a credential verifiable on-chain

Stellaroid Earn takes a different approach. The issuing school or bootcamp anchors the certificate's SHA-256 hash on Stellar and binds it to the graduate's wallet using the register_certificate function. Duplicate hashes are rejected on-chain, so the same certificate cannot be registered twice. From then on the credential carries a status anyone can read:

  • Issued — registered on-chain, but not yet verified.
  • Verified — an approved issuer or the admin confirmed it with verify_certificate.
  • Suspended — temporarily paused by the issuer or admin.
  • Revoked — invalidated, but kept visible on-chain for auditability.
  • Expired — past its validity window and no longer eligible for verification-based actions.

Because the record and its events live on-chain, verification is public and read-only. You do not need a wallet, an account, or the graduate's permission to look. A wallet is only needed to issue, verify, or pay.

Whether you are an employer screening a candidate, a recruiter confirming a claim, or a graduate checking your own proof, the five-step checklist at the end of this guide walks the whole verification in under a minute — get the hash or proof link, open the public proof page, read the status, check the issuer, and audit the record on stellar.expert.

Match the hash. If a graduate sends you the original PDF, compute its SHA-256 hash with any standard tool and confirm it matches the hash on the proof page. A match means that exact file was the one anchored on-chain; a mismatch means the document was altered.

Red flags that a bootcamp certificate might be fake or unverifiable

  • The only proof offered is a PDF or screenshot with no link to a verifiable record.
  • A proof page exists, but the status is anything other than Verified.
  • The credential was issued by a Pending or Suspended issuer rather than an Approved one.
  • The hash on the proof page does not match the hash of the file you were sent.
  • Searching the hash returns no on-chain record at all.

Beyond verification: verify, then pay

Most credential tools stop at "Is it real?". Stellaroid Earn binds verification to payment in a single on-chain flow: once a credential is verified, an employer calls link_payment to send XLM through the native Stellar Asset Contract straight to the graduate's verified wallet, with testnet settlement typically under five seconds and fees a fraction of a cent. Verification is not just a badge here — it is the gate that unlocks getting paid.

Honest status: Stellaroid Earn is an early-access pilot running live on Stellar testnet, not a mainnet or production financial product. The verification model and public proof pages work today, so employers and graduates can try the model now — join the pilot to put your own credentials through it.

Step-by-step checklist

  1. 1

    Get the certificate's hash or proof link

    Ask the graduate or the issuing bootcamp for the credential's public proof link, or its 64-character SHA-256 hash. On Stellaroid Earn the proof link points to a page under /proof, and the hash is what was anchored on-chain.

  2. 2

    Open the public proof page

    Open the proof link, or paste the 64-character hash at stellaroid.tech/proof. No wallet, login, or account is required to read a proof — verification is public and read-only.

  3. 3

    Read the credential status

    Confirm the status badge reads Verified. A credential can be issued, verified, suspended, revoked, or expired; only Verified means an approved issuer or the admin completed on-chain verification.

  4. 4

    Check the issuer's trust status

    Look at the issued-by line and its issuer badge. An Approved issuer was vetted and approved on-chain by the admin; a Pending or Suspended issuer was not, so treat those credentials with caution.

  5. 5

    Audit the record on stellar.expert

    Use the View on-chain events link to open the contract on stellar.expert and confirm the cert_ver verification event plus the record's owner and issuer wallets. Nothing on-chain can be edited after the fact.

Frequently asked questions

How can I verify a coding bootcamp certificate is real?
Open its public proof page (or paste the 64-character SHA-256 hash at stellaroid.tech/proof), confirm the status badge reads Verified, check that it was issued by an Approved issuer, and audit the on-chain record on stellar.expert. No wallet or login is needed to read a proof.
Is a bootcamp certificate legitimate if it is only a PDF?
A PDF or screenshot proves nothing on its own — it can be copied, edited, or fabricated, and there is rarely an authoritative source to check it against. A credential is verifiable when its SHA-256 hash is anchored on-chain to the issuer and the graduate's wallet, so anyone can confirm it independently.
Do I need a wallet or account to check a certificate?
No. On Stellaroid Earn, verification is public and read-only: anyone can open a proof page and confirm a credential without connecting a wallet or logging in. A wallet is only needed to issue, verify, or pay on-chain.
What does Verified mean on a proof page?
It means an approved issuer or the admin wallet submitted a verify_certificate transaction for that certificate hash, the contract set the status to Verified, and it emitted a cert_ver event that anyone can audit on stellar.expert.
How do I spot a fake certificate?
Be skeptical of a PDF with no verifiable source, a proof page whose status is not Verified, a credential from a Pending or Suspended issuer, or a file whose hash does not match the one on the proof page. A genuine on-chain credential shows a Verified status, an Approved issuer, and a matching hash you can audit on stellar.expert.
Is Stellaroid Earn a production credential system?
Not yet — it is an early-access pilot running live on Stellar testnet, not a mainnet or production financial product. The verification flow and public proof pages are fully functional on testnet, so employers and graduates can try the model today.

See it work on a live testnet proof

Stellaroid Earn is in early access on Stellar testnet — open a public proof page or run the flow yourself.

Verify candidate credentialsOpen a proof page
How to Verify a Coding Bootcamp Certificate Is Real | Stellaroid Earn