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Cosmos Brasil

Tokenized Academic Network (T.A.N.), A new approach to tokenizing the future of education.

Cosmos Brasil

• 2 min read
Tokenized Academic Network (T.A.N.), A new approach to tokenizing the future of education.

Team: Prof. Dr. Carlos Frederico Cavalcanti & Bianca Marcelino
Program: Cosmos Brasil Builders Program / May 2025

As part of the Cosmos ecosystem acceleration program, the Tokenized Academic Network (TAN) was developed to build a Web3-based academic infrastructure. The goal is to enable global student mobility, automated credit recognition across institutions, and transparent, verifiable certification through blockchain.

Project Objective

TAN proposes an interconnected academic network in which each course is tokenized as an NFT, operating on blockchain technologies such as Cosmos SDK, CosmWasm, and interchain protocols. The core vision is to allow students to complete courses across multiple institutions—national or international—and have their academic credits recognized instantly, securely, and reliably.

Problem Statement

The team identified several recurring challenges in the traditional academic system:

  • Difficulty in transferring and recognizing academic credits between institutions and countries.
  • Manual, error-prone processes dependent on bureaucracy and physical documents.
  • No standardized or trustworthy infrastructure for academic data integration.
  • Lack of portable and verifiable academic credentials.
  • Barriers to academic mobility and the creation of flexible learning paths.

Proposed Solution

TAN is structured around four main components:

  1. Course Tokenization:
    Each academic course is represented as a standardized NFT (ERC-721/CW721), including structured metadata and institutional validation.
  2. Web3 Academic Passport:
    A student’s academic history is linked to a Web3 wallet, enabling institutions to read and verify completed courses automatically.
  3. Interoperable Institutional Consortium:
    Participating institutions form a permissioned consortium responsible for validating and exchanging academic data securely.
  4. Smart Contracts:
    Smart contracts automate the equivalency process and student progression using clear, auditable rules.

Target Users

The system is designed for a wide range of stakeholders:

  • Students: to build personalized academic paths across multiple institutions and countries.
  • Universities and Accredited Institutions: to simplify the credit recognition process and participate in a trusted global education network.
  • DAOs, Innovation Hubs, and Web3 Communities: to issue certifications for practical learning experiences.
  • Governments and NGOs: to scale educational certification initiatives with transparency and cost-efficiency.

Deliverables from the Acceleration Program

The team delivered the following outcomes during the acceleration:

  • Full design of the course tokenization model, including NFT metadata structure using CW721 (Cosmos standard).
  • Architecture for a permissioned institutional consortium, with governance proposal and validation mechanisms.
  • Technical flow of the "Web3 Academic Passport", integrating wallets with decentralized identity (DID) support.
  • Smart contract proposal for automating course equivalency and academic recognition.
  • Implementation roadmap, divided into four stages: MVP, institutional pilots, academic passport launch, and integration with DAOs and Web3 hubs.

Technical Stack

  • Blockchain: Cosmos SDK (with planned interoperability with Ethereum L2 and Substrate).
  • NFT Standards: ERC-721 and CW721 for course representation.
  • Wallets: DID-compatible Web3 wallets for decentralized identity management.
  • Oracles: to verify institutional legitimacy and validate off-chain data.

Roadmap and Next Steps

  1. Development of a tokenization protocol (MVP).
  2. Pilot program with 3–5 international academic partners.
  3. Launch of the Web3 Academic Passport.
  4. Integration with DAOs, educational events, and innovation hubs.

Final Remarks

The TAN project introduces a new model for global academic integration, grounded in decentralized infrastructure. By leveraging Cosmos technologies like CosmWasm and Interchain standards, TAN offers an innovative, impactful solution for improving student mobility, decentralized validation of learning, and academic cooperation on a global scale.

🔍 Check out TAN’s submission on DoraHacks:
👉 https://dorahacks.io/buidl/26638

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