Every batch of picks is sealed minutes before kick-off with two independent timestamp services. Nobody, including us, can change a pick after the result without it showing.
The sealed record starts on 16 October 2026. Picks from before that date were logged before kick-off in our own database, but they were not sealed with an independent timestamp, so they carry no seal.
A SHA-256 fingerprint is a 64-character code calculated from a file. The same file always gives the same code. Change a single character (a pick, a percentage, a team) and the code is completely different. Nobody can make a different file that gives the same code.
How we seal picks
About five minutes before each kick-off time, we write every call for the matches kicking off then into one file, the batch: pick or no pick, the outcome and our probability.
From that moment the picks in the batch are locked. They can't change before kick-off, and the track record judges exactly this version.
We calculate the batch's SHA-256 fingerprint and send only the fingerprint to two independent services: a timestamp authority (FreeTSA, with DigiCert as a second one), which signs the exact time it received it, and OpenTimestamps, which anchors it in the Bitcoin blockchain.
Once the matches are over, the batch file itself is published here, so anyone can check it against its fingerprint.
Why nobody can change a pick afterwards
The timestamp authority's signature shows the fingerprint existed before kick-off. If anyone changed a pick afterwards, the file would give a different fingerprint, and that fingerprint would have no signature from before kick-off. The Bitcoin anchor is confirmed a few hours later; after that nobody can remove it or move its date, the timestamp authority included.
Check it yourself
Choose a batch and download its batch file, its .ots file and its .tsr files. Save them in one folder.
Calculate the batch file's fingerprint and compare it with the fingerprint shown for the batch. They must be identical.macOS or Linux
shasum -a 256 footballedge-picks-20261017T0000Z-2e4b2a3f8f3d.json
Check the Bitcoin anchor: open opentimestamps.org, drop in the .ots file and then the batch file. Until Bitcoin confirms it (a few hours), it shows as pending. opentimestamps.org
Check the timestamp authority's signature with OpenSSL and the authority's public certificates. The second command prints the signed time.FreeTSA
DigiCert: its root certificate is in your system's certificate store.
What it proves, and what it doesn't
It proves
Timing: every pick in a sealed batch existed, exactly as published, before its match kicked off.
Integrity: no sealed pick was changed, added or removed afterwards.
Completeness of each batch: it lists every call for those matches, including the ones marked no pick.
It doesn't prove
That the picks are any good. The hit rates and calibration on the track record show that.
It isn't an audit by an accountant or any other firm. It is a public, mathematical check that anyone can repeat.
Anything about picks from before 16 October 2026: they aren't sealed.
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