Why ETcH exists

ETcH was born from a personal need. In January 2026, I was finishing L'Or des felures, a book I had been working on for several months. Before sending it to anyone — publisher, beta reader, agent — I wanted dated proof that this text existed in this exact form at that precise moment.

The available options didn't work for me. The Soleau envelope costs EUR 15, lasts five years, and goes through postal mail. A notary deposit is solid but costs EUR 50-150 per work. Existing online services lacked transparency about what they actually anchor.

I built ETcH, and on January 17, 2026, I anchored my own manuscript on Ethereum mainnet — the very first use of the service. If I hadn't trusted the tool, I wouldn't have used it on my own book.

ETcH proves that a document existed at a given date, in an exact form. Your file's cryptographic fingerprint is anchored on the Ethereum blockchain with an unfalsifiable timestamp. The proof is verifiable indefinitely, by anyone, without depending on us.

ETcH does not create intellectual property rights. It is not a patent, a trademark registration, or any kind of title. It is a dated piece of evidence — one among others, but one that cannot be altered, deleted, or disputed on its date.