Build evidence to protect your software
Certify your source code and every new version, and build a verifiable record of what you developed and when. Without publishing a single line.
Code is easy to copy. Your development history matters.
Software can be copied in seconds. A repository can be cloned, a commit history rewritten. Showing what your team built, and when, takes a record nobody can quietly edit, especially when employees, contractors and collaborators all touch the same codebase.
Bernstein adds that record alongside your repository. Each certification gives you a Bitcoin blockchain certificate. On Scale and Enterprise plans, you also get separate timestamps from an EU qualified and a Chinese trusted timestamp authority. Your code, documentation and know-how stay in encrypted, versioned storage, never made public.
Use this history when your rights are challenged, to pin down the software a contract covers, and to share certified versions securely with partners or licensees.
Why software needs independent evidence
Editable histories
Commit dates and author fields can be rewritten. Your repository tracks development. An independent certificate gives you a fixed reference to check it against.
Competing claims
Contractors, employees and contributors all touch the same files. When ownership is contested, don't let it come down to your word against theirs.
Proof without disclosure
Publishing your code to date it gives away your know-how. Certify it and keep the files private.
Missing earlier versions
The latest release may no longer contain the code at the heart of a dispute. Keep certified versions so the evidence is still there.
Put your software evidence to work
IP disputes and patent preparation
Certified code and development records back your position if copying, authorship or ownership is disputed. They also document your technical work ahead of a patent filing.
Confidential software and know-how
Certify proprietary code, algorithms and technical documentation without publishing them. Share them through Secure Sharing under your confidentiality terms.
Software contracts and licensing
Reference specific certified versions in development contracts, handovers, assignments and licences. Everyone knows exactly which software is covered.
Open-source contributions
Certify your code before release. Back attribution and licence-enforcement claims with evidence anyone can verify.
What you can certify
Any part of your software, and the record of how it was built.
How it works
Add your software
Upload a code snapshot, a release or supporting files. They're encrypted in your browser before upload.
Certify it
Certify your files in one click and get your certificates.
Build your certified history
Certify new versions at each milestone. Each version gets its own certificates, and on Bitcoin each one builds on the previous one, so you build a chained, dated record of how your code develops.
Put your evidence to work
Reference certified versions in contracts, share them through Secure Sharing, or hand over the files and certificates for independent validation.
Automate certification in your development workflow
Make certification part of your pipeline. Certify a release when you tag it, a build when it completes or a milestone when you reach it, without repeating the process by hand.
Our API, SDK, CLI and MCP integration are in closed beta. You can script them from your CI/CD jobs or Git hooks. Talk to our team to get access.
Evidence you can use to support your rights
Courts increasingly accept blockchain evidence and trusted timestamps. Your certificates give you independently verifiable evidence for your software claims. How much weight they carry depends on the jurisdiction and the case.
Frequently asked questions
It's useful, but not on its own. Commit dates and author fields can be edited by anyone with the history. Bernstein adds an independent, verifiable record alongside your repository.
No. Your files are encrypted in your browser before upload. We store them encrypted and can't read them. Only a cryptographic fingerprint goes on the Bitcoin blockchain or to the timestamp authorities.
No. Certification shows what existed, and when. It complements copyright registration and patent filings. It doesn't grant IP rights or patent priority.
Keep the certificate, the certified files (including the project cover file) and the validation data. With them, anyone can check that the files match the record, without Bernstein.