Granted Patent B2

US 12,469,026 · App. 17/609,661 · Granted Nov 11, 2025

Inventors: Craig Steven Wright (London, GB); Alexander MacKay (London, GB); Wei Zhang (London, GB); Andrew James Mee (London, GB); Steven Patrick Coughlan (London, GB)

Assignee: nChain Licensing AG

G06Q20/38215G06Q20/065G06Q20/3829G06Q20/4014

Abstract

Claims (59)

1 . A computer-implemented method of registering identity of a mining node on a blockchain in a blockchain network, comprising:

creating a validity-check transaction having a first output controlled by the mining node and containing a miner identifier;

propagating the validity-check transaction on the blockchain network; and

mining, by the mining node, a new block containing a generation transaction, wherein the generation transaction includes an output containing an information field that contains both the miner identifier and a reference to the validity-check transaction, and wherein the generation transaction is a coinbase transaction allocating a block reward to the mining node for mining the new block, the coinbase transaction having no input that references an unspent transaction output.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the miner identifier comprises a first public key for which the mining node holds a corresponding private key.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the validity-check transaction includes a second output providing an information field, and wherein the first public key is in the information field.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the second output uses an OP_RETURN code.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the generation transaction includes an OP_RETURN output providing the information field.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference to the validity-check transaction includes a transaction identifier.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the information field further includes one or more of an action identifier or a digital signature, wherein the digital signature is generated using a private key corresponding to the miner identifier.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising verifying, by a second node, a validity of the miner identifier by:

receiving the miner identifier;

retrieving a copy of the generation transaction from the blockchain;

retrieving a copy of the validity-check transaction from the blockchain based on the reference contained in the generation transaction;

confirming that the received miner identifier matches the miner identifier in the generation transaction and the miner identifier in the validity-check transaction; and

determining that the first output is within an unspent transaction output set for the blockchain network.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein confirming further includes confirming that an action identifier in the generation transaction indicates registration.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein confirming further includes validating a digital signature within the generation transaction based on the miner identifier.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising revoking the miner identifier by:

creating a revocation transaction having the first output of the validity-check transaction as a transaction input;

digitally signing the revocation transaction; and

propagating the revocation transaction on the blockchain network.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising updating the miner identifier to register a new miner identifier by:

creating a new validity-check transaction having a new first output controlled by the mining node and containing the new miner identifier;

propagating the new validity-check transaction on the blockchain network; and

mining, by the mining node, a new block containing a new generation transaction, wherein the new generation transaction includes another information field that contains the miner identifier, the new miner identifier, a new reference to the new validity-check transaction, and a first digital signature based on the miner identifier and a second digital signature based on the new miner identifier.

13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising revoking the miner identifier by creating and propagating a transaction that includes the first output of the validity-check transaction as a transaction input.

14 . A computing device configured to manage a public key infrastructure using a blockchain network to register identity of a mining node on a blockchain in the blockchain network, the computing device including:

one or more processors;

memory; and

computer-executable instructions stored in the memory that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to carry out a method of:

creating a validity-check transaction having a first output controlled by the mining node and containing a miner identifier;

propagating the validity-check transaction on the blockchain network; and

mining, by the mining node, a new block containing a generation transaction, wherein the generation transaction includes an output containing an information field that contains both the miner identifier and a reference to the validity-check transaction, and wherein the generation transaction is a coinbase transaction allocating a block reward to the mining node for mining the new block, the coinbase transaction having no input that references an unspent transaction output.

15 . The computing device of claim 14 , wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the step of verifying a validity of the miner identifier by:

receiving the miner identifier;

retrieving a copy of the generation transaction from the blockchain;

retrieving a copy of the validity-check transaction from the blockchain based on the reference contained in the generation transaction;

confirming that the received miner identifier matches the miner identifier in the generation transaction and the miner identifier in the validity-check transaction; and

determining that the first output is within an unspent transaction output set for the blockchain network.

16 . The computing device of claim 14 , wherein the computer- executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the step of updating the miner identifier to register a new miner identifier by:

creating a new validity-check transaction having a new first output controlled by the mining node and containing the new miner identifier;

propagating the new validity-check transaction on the blockchain network; and

mining, by the mining node, a new block containing a new generation transaction, wherein the new generation transaction includes another information field that contains the miner identifier, the new miner identifier, a new reference to the new validity-check transaction, and a first digital signature based on the miner identifier and a second digital signature based on the new miner identifier.

17 . The computing device of claim 16 , wherein the computer- executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the step revoking the miner identifier by creating and propagating a transaction that includes the first output of the validity-check transaction as a transaction input.

18 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing processor-executable instructions for managing a public key infrastructure using a blockchain network to register identity of a mining node on a blockchain in the blockchain network, the processor-executable instructions including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method of:

creating a validity-check transaction having a first output controlled by the mining node and containing a miner identifier;

propagating the validity-check transaction on the blockchain network; and

mining, by the mining node, a new block containing a generation transaction, wherein the generation transaction includes an output containing an information field that contains both the miner identifier and a reference to the validity-check transaction, and wherein the generation transaction is a coinbase transaction allocating a block reward to the mining node for mining the new block, the coinbase transaction having no input.

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the step of verifying a validity of the miner identifier by:

receiving the miner identifier;

retrieving a copy of the generation transaction from the blockchain;

retrieving a copy of the validity-check transaction from the blockchain based on the reference contained in the generation transaction;

confirming that the received miner identifier matches the miner identifier in the generation transaction and the miner identifier in the validity-check transaction; and

determining that the first output is within an unspent transaction output set for the blockchain network.

20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the step of updating the miner identifier to register a new miner identifier by:

creating a new validity-check transaction having a new first output controlled by the mining node and containing the new miner identifier;

propagating the new validity-check transaction on the blockchain network; and

mining, by the mining node, a new block containing a new generation transaction, wherein the new generation transaction includes another information field that contains the miner identifier, the new miner identifier, a new reference to the new validity-check transaction, and a first digital signature based on the miner identifier and a second digital signature based on the new miner identifier.

Assignments (2)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (82)