EternaVault

Where Identity meets Eternity

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Inspiration

As more of our lives move online, our most important memories, documents, and identity-linked data exist only in digital form. Yet there is still no reliable, privacy-preserving way to ensure this information reaches the right people after we’re gone.

Most existing solutions rely on passwords, inactivity timers, or centralized platforms that can fail, lock accounts, or override user intent. Families are often left with no access at all.

EternaVault was inspired by a simple question:
How can we guarantee post-death access to private digital information without trusting a company, custodian, or policy?

The answer led us to build a system where inheritance is enforced cryptographically, not administratively.

What it does

EternaVault is a decentralized, identity-governed digital inheritance vault.

It allows users to:

  • Encrypt personal files and documents entirely in the browser
  • Assign heirs and validators on-chain
  • Keep all data private for their entire lifetime
  • Release access only after a validator-confirmed event

There are:

  • No passwords
  • No inactivity timers
  • No admins or recovery backdoors

Files remain encrypted by default and can only be decrypted locally by the verified heir after smart-contract authorization. Early access is technically impossible — even for us.

How we built it

Frontend

  • React + Vite
  • Role-based dashboards (Owner, Heir, Validator)
  • Client-side AES-GCM encryption & decryption

Backend

  • Node.js + Express
  • Handles encrypted uploads and metadata only
  • Zero plaintext processing

Storage

  • Supabase Storage for encrypted blobs
  • Supabase Postgres for non-sensitive metadata (IV, salt, state)

Blockchain

  • Solidity smart contract deployed on QIE Mainnet
  • Enforces identity roles, validator approval, and access checks

AI Layer

  • AI-generated legacy summaries after decryption (optional)
  • AI never touches encrypted data or access logic

Architecture Flow Client encrypts → backend stores ciphertext → smart contract governs access → heir decrypts locally

Challenges we ran into

  • Designing an AI-enhanced system without compromising privacy
  • Preventing any access before cryptographic authorization
  • Ensuring the backend has zero trust and zero override capability
  • Balancing strong security guarantees with a simple user experience
  • Modeling real-world events without unsafe automation

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Built a complete end-to-end working dApp
  • Achieved full client-side encryption with zero plaintext custody
  • Deployed and interacted with a

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