AUTOMATED SETTLEMENT OF A PROVISIONAL PAYMENT FOR A COMMODITY USING A DISTRIBUTED LEDGER
A computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity includes establishing, in a server computer, a provisional price for a commodity on a first date for delivery at a future second date, and establishing, in the server computer, a partial payment price on the first date corresponding to the commodity. The computer method includes receiving, into the server computer, the partial payment price from a purchaser of the commodity, and tracking a value for the commodity as time passes from the first date to the second date. The computer method includes establishing, with the server computer, a settlement price for the commodity on or after the second date, and transferring a net settlement value to or from the purchaser of the commodity
1 . A computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity, comprising:
establishing, in a server computer, a provisional price for a commodity on a first date for delivery at a future second date;
establishing, in the server computer, a partial payment price on the first date corresponding to the commodity;
receiving, into the server computer, the partial payment price from a purchaser of the commodity;
tracking a value for the commodity as time passes from the first date to the second date;
establishing, with the server computer, a settlement price for the commodity on or after the second date; and
transferring a net settlement value to or from the purchaser of the commodity.
2 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 1 , further comprising:
in the server computer, transferring the net settlement value from or to a seller of the commodity.
3 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 1 , further comprising:
establishing, with the server computer, a first margin reserve requirement on the first date; and
receiving verification of the purchaser meeting the first margin reserve requirement.
4 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 3 , wherein the first margin reserve requirement includes requiring that the purchaser maintain, in an account of the purchaser, a reserve fund equal to at least a difference between the provisional price and the partial payment price.
5 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 4 , further comprising:
earmarking the reserve fund for settling purchase of the commodity on or after the second date; and
preventing, between the first date and the second date, expenditure from the account if the expenditure would result in a total reserve fund in the account less than the first margin reserve requirement.
6 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 3 , further comprising:
establishing a third margin reserve requirement on a third date between the first date and the second date different than the first date; and
notifying the purchaser of the third margin reserve requirement.
7 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining the net settlement value as a difference between the settlement price and the partial payment price.
8 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 7 , further comprising:
transferring the net settlement value to the purchaser if the partial payment price is greater than the settlement price.
9 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 8 , wherein transferring the net settlement value to the purchaser includes transferring the net settlement value from a seller of the commodity to the purchaser.
10 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 7 , further comprising:
transferring the net settlement value from the purchaser if the partial payment price is less than the settlement price.
11 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 10 , wherein transferring the net settlement value from the purchaser includes transferring the net settlement value from the purchaser to the seller of the commodity.
12 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 1 , further comprising:
establishing a second price for the commodity based on the value for the commodity on or after the second date.
13 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 12 , further comprising:
providing an option to the purchaser to select either the provisional price or the second price as the settlement price.
14 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 13 , wherein establishing the settlement price includes receiving a selection from the purchaser selecting either the provisional price or the second price as the settlement price.
15 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 12 , wherein establishing the settlement price includes receiving a selection from the seller of the commodity selecting either the provisional price or the second price as the settlement price.
16 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 1 , further comprising establishing the settlement price as a lowest value between the provisional price and a tracked value of the commodity from the first date to the second date.
17 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 1 , wherein the partial payment price is less than the provisional price.
18 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 1 , wherein the partial payment price is equal to the provisional price.
19 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 1 , further comprising:
facilitating the purchase of the commodity by the purchaser by negotiating and recording a smart contract in a distributed ledger.
20 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 19 , wherein negotiating and recording the smart contract in the distributed ledger includes establishing the provisional price.
21 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 19 , wherein negotiating and recording the smart contract in the distributed ledger includes establishing the partial payment price.
22 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 19 , wherein recording the smart contract includes recording the settlement price and the net settlement value in the distributed ledger.
23 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 19 , wherein the distributed ledger is a public blockchain.
24 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 19 , wherein the distributed ledger is a private blockchain.
25 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 19 , wherein the distributed ledger is a permission-based blockchain to which both the purchaser and the seller of the commodity have access.
26 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 1 , wherein the provisional price and the partial payment price are established in a first cryptocurrency.
27 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 26 , wherein the settlement price and the net settlement value are determined in the first cryptocurrency.
28 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 27 , wherein the first cryptocurrency includes Bitcoin.
29 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 27 , wherein the first cryptocurrency includes Ethereum.
30 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 27 , wherein the first cryptocurrency includes XRP.
31 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 27 , wherein transferring the net settlement value includes transferring the net settlement value in the first cryptocurrency.
32 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 26 , wherein the settlement price and the net settlement value are determined in a second cryptocurrency different from the first cryptocurrency.
33 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 32 , wherein transferring the net settlement value includes transferring the net settlement value in the second cryptocurrency.
34 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 1 , wherein the provisional price and the partial payment price are established in a fiat currency.
35 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 34 , wherein the fiat currency includes the U.S. dollar.
36 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 1 , wherein receiving the partial payment price includes receiving commodity tokens based on the commodity.
37 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 36 , wherein the net settlement value is established in the commodity tokens.
38 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 1 , wherein tracking the value for the commodity includes tracking the value in a server-based program.
39 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 1 , wherein the commodity includes one or more of a product, a natural resource, a fuel, a mining extraction, and a service.
40 . A computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity, comprising:
establishing, in a server computer, an identity of an instance of a commodity;
establishing, in the server computer, a provisional price for the instance of the commodity on a first date for delivery at a future second date;
establishing, in the server computer, a partial payment price on the first date corresponding to the instance of the commodity;
recording, with the server computer, the identity of the instance of the commodity, the provisional price, and the partial payment price onto one or more computer storage media using a distributed ledger;
receiving, into the server computer, data corresponding to receipt of the partial payment from a purchaser of the commodity including a network transfer of value from a purchaser wallet;
recording, with the server computer, the data corresponding to the receipt of the partial payment onto the one or more computer storage media using the distributed ledger;
periodically tracking a value of the commodity as time passes from the first date to the second date;
recording the tracked value using the distributed ledger;
establishing, with the server computer, a settlement price for the commodity on or after the second date as a function of the tracked commodity value; and
transferring a net settlement value to or from a purchaser wallet corresponding to the purchaser of the commodity instance.
41 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 40 , wherein recording data with the server computer includes transacting the data onto the distributed ledger.
42 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 40 , wherein recording data with the server computer includes saving the data onto an address of a referenced storage service and transacting the address of the reference storage service onto the distributed ledger.
43 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 40 , wherein the distributed ledger includes an Etherium blockchain; and
wherein periodically tracking the value of the commodity as time passes from the first date to the second date includes, in a Solidity environment, periodically and automatically triggering events based on a timer.
44 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 40 , wherein periodically tracking the value of the commodity as time passes from the first date to the second date includes executing a “set interval( )” command as a JavaScript function.
45 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 40 , further comprising:
in the server computer, performing a network transfer of the net settlement value from or to a seller wallet corresponding to a seller of the identified commodity instance.
46 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 40 , further comprising:
determining the net settlement value as a difference between the settlement price and the partial payment price.
47 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 46 , further comprising:
transferring the net settlement value to the purchaser if the partial payment price is greater than the settlement price.
48 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 47 , wherein transferring the net settlement value to the purchaser includes transferring the net settlement value from a seller of the commodity instance to the purchaser.
49 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 46 , further comprising:
transferring the net settlement value from the purchaser if the partial payment price is less than the settlement price.
50 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 49 , wherein transferring the net settlement value from the purchaser includes transferring the net settlement value from the purchaser to the seller of the commodity instance.
51 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 40 , further comprising:
establishing a second price for the instance of the commodity based on a tracked value of the commodity on or after the second date.
52 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 40 , wherein receiving the partial payment price includes receiving commodity tokens based on the commodity.
53 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 52 , wherein the net settlement value is established in the commodity tokens.
54 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 40 , wherein tracking the value of the commodity includes tracking the value in a server-based program.
55 . The computer method for making a smart contract for a commodity of claim 40 , wherein the commodity includes one or more of a product, a natural resource, a fuel, a mining extraction, and a service.