Police in India's Uttar Pradesh state are operating a live forensic evidence system that records its activity on the Cardano blockchain. The officers using the platform do not manage cryptocurrency wallets, sign transactions, or hold tokens.
The Forensic Management System, or FMS, was built by TrivolveTech in partnership with Quixy and deployed around October 26, 2026. The system aims to make evidence handling tamper-evident and address chain-of-custody gaps that can weaken criminal cases.
How the System Works
Each evidence container carries a QR code. When someone scans the box or a lab produces a result, the system generates a SHA-256 hash—a digital fingerprint of the underlying data. That fingerprint is then anchored to the Cardano blockchain.
If anyone later alters the record, its fingerprint will no longer match the one stored onchain. The blockchain does not hold the evidence itself, only proof of what the evidence record looked like at a specific moment.
Each person who handles evidence receives a unique identifier, targeting the chain-of-custody risk that occurs when evidence passes between officers, storage rooms, and labs. Officers maintain their usual workflows, scanning boxes and logging results, while blockchain activity happens in the background.
Current Activity and Future Expansion
The FMS has recorded more than 156,000 transactions on the Cardano mainnet, averaging approximately 11,000 transactions per month since deployment.
TrivolveTech previously received 550,000 ADA through Catalyst Fund 12, the community-driven grant program within the Cardano ecosystem. The developer has now proposed a follow-on project called the Police Force Management System, or PFMS, seeking 9.6 million ADA from the Cardano treasury. As of late October 2026, that proposal was under community vote.
The PFMS targets an estimated 1.53 million transactions in its first year—nearly ten times the total recorded by FMS to date, implying an average of more than 127,000 transactions per month.
Broader Implications
Chain of custody has long been a foundational challenge in criminal justice. A piece of evidence is only as credible as the paper trail behind it, and gaps in that trail can weaken an entire case.
Traditional systems rely on signatures, logbooks, and centralized databases. A public blockchain offers a record that exists outside any single department's control.
For other governments considering similar tools, the wallet-free design may be the most transferable lesson. Asking police officers to manage private keys would present significant barriers. Hiding the blockchain behind a QR scanner removes that obstacle.
The Cardano Foundation plans to publish a detailed case study on the initiative.
