Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), one of Indonesia’s oldest and largest public universities, will begin issuing verifiable academic records on-chain to tens of thousands of its students, a move that positions the school as a regional leader in digital credentialing. The initiative, announced Tuesday, will initially focus on English proficiency courses before expanding to other programs and will cover an estimated 60,000 students.
Under the program, students who complete coursework will have their achievements permanently recorded on the Space and Time network, a decentralized database platform backed by Microsoft. The records are cryptographically secured and can be instantly shared with prospective employers, other universities, or international agencies without relying on paper transcripts or siloed digital systems. Scott Dykstra, Space and Time’s co-founder and CTO, told Decrypt that the model is designed to widen educational access, particularly for students who may not have traditional bank accounts or easy access to official documentation. “This gives students a way to prove their academic accomplishments anywhere in the world,” he said.
The rollout also introduces an on-chain financial component. Each student will receive a digital wallet preloaded with Space and Time’s native token, SXT, which can be used to pay tuition or course fees directly. According to Space and Time, students will not incur additional costs for participating in the program. By embedding both credentials and payments into a single blockchain-based system, the university and its partners aim to reduce intermediaries, cut administrative delays, and make education more accessible for those outside the formal banking system.
UGM’s announcement coincides with the launch of a new on-campus AI laboratory built with Dreamspace, a tool created on the Space and Time network. The lab will offer hands-on training in artificial intelligence development and deployment, further integrating advanced digital skills into the university’s curriculum.
The initiative stems from a partnership between UGM, the Space and Time Foundation, and Indonesia’s Indomobil Group, one of the country’s largest conglomerates. Space and Time’s custom blockchain aggregates data from multiple chains and distributes it across a validator network, with each query backed by cryptographic proofs. This architecture allows applications to confirm the authenticity of results without relying on a single centralized database.
While blockchain credentials are widely viewed as a promising way to streamline cross-border recognition of academic qualifications, experts caution that such systems come with challenges. A 2025 ASEAN report on higher-education mobility found that digital credentials could help students transfer credits internationally but warned that uneven digital infrastructure might deepen disparities for institutions and learners with fewer resources.
For now, UGM’s pilot represents one of the largest real-world deployments of blockchain credentials in Southeast Asia. If successful, it could serve as a template for other universities in the region looking to modernize how academic records are stored and shared.
