Open Campus launches EDU Chain, a layer-3 blockchain revolutionizing onchain education with secure records and rewards - IcoHolder.

On January 17, Open Campus, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) focused on onchain education, unveiled its innovative layer-3 blockchain, EDU Chain, on Arbitrum Orbit. This new blockchain is designed to enhance educational apps and facilitate onchain education, powered by the EDU token.

One of the key features of EDU Chain is its Open Campus (OC) Achievement system, formerly known as Verifiable Credentials. The system allows educational institutions and training centers to issue decentralized, tamper-proof records of learners' qualifications. According to Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, and a council member of the EDU Foundation, the system is currently in private beta and aims to give learners full ownership and control of their academic records. These records are stored in a digital wallet and can only be accessed with the learner's permission, offering a higher level of privacy and security compared to traditional methods.

“By enabling users to selectively share their academic achievements, the system helps educational providers tailor personalized learning experiences,” Siu noted.

The launch of EDU Chain marks a significant milestone as it has already accumulated $150 million in total value locked (TVL), making it the largest layer-3 blockchain by this metric, according to L2Beat. The EDU Chain’s mainnet follows a successful testnet campaign, which saw over 86 million transactions and almost 360,000 unique active wallets. Furthermore, 47 decentralized applications (DApps) that participated in the testnet are now transitioning to the mainnet.

Open Campus is also taking active steps to expand its ecosystem. The organization has introduced a series of initiatives, including a hackathon with a $1 million prize pool and the OC Incubator, a 12-week program designed to support winning projects by offering mentorship, funding, and development assistance.

In addition to developer incentives, EDU Chain’s mainnet users can now take part in a rewards program that offers Yuzu points for engaging with DApps on the platform.

Looking ahead, Siu envisions tokenized educational content as a way for educators to transform their knowledge into valuable assets that can be controlled and monetized. He also anticipates a rise in learn-to-earn models, which incentivize continuous skill development by tying it to real-world value. The intersection of blockchain, AI, and Web3, Siu believes, will fundamentally reshape the future of education.

“The integration of AI-powered platforms for personalized learning and blockchain technology for secure, verifiable credentials is a paradigm shift that will transform global education,” Siu concluded.