Granted Patent B2

US 12,367,468 · App. 17/882,433 · Granted Jul 22, 2025

Inventors: Craig Steven Wright (London, GB); Stephane Savanah (London, GB)

Assignee: NCHAIN LICENSING AG

G06Q20/1235G06Q20/0658G06Q20/3829G06Q20/389H04L9/0643H04L9/14H04L9/3073G06Q2220/00H04L9/50H04L2209/56H04L2209/603

Abstract

Claims (34)

1. A computer-implemented method of receiving and distributing digital content between two nodes of a blockchain network using a cryptocurrency transaction, the method comprising:

determining, by a first blockchain node ( 15 ), a common address by:

determining a first public key (P 1 ) corresponding to a first private key (V 1 ) of a first user ( 5 ), the first user ( 5 ) known to the first blockchain node ( 5 ), wherein the first user ( 5 ) is associated with a deposit quantity of cryptocurrency (B1) at the common address ( 23 ), and wherein to spend from the common address requires signatures of both the first private key (V 1 ) of the first user ( 5 ) and a second private key (V 2 ) of a second user ( 7 ); and

determining a second public key (P 2 ) of the second user ( 5 ) by receiving the second public key (P 2 ) from a second blockchain node ( 17 ), a third party, or from a data store, wherein the second public key (P 2 ) is encrypted with a shared symmetric encryption key(S); and

the method further comprising:

(A) sending, over a communications network ( 8 ), a request to the second blockchain node ( 17 ) to provide an episode of digital content (i) from a series of digital content;

(B) determining a payment transaction (E i ) to transfer from the common address ( 23 ) a payment quantity of cryptocurrency (B2) to the second user ( 7 ), wherein the payment quantity of cryptocurrency (B2) is based on a quantity of episodes of digital content in the series of digital content requested by the first user ( 5 );

(C) signing, with the first private key (V 1 ), the payment transaction (E i ) and subsequently sending the payment transaction (E i ) to the second blockchain node ( 17 ) to cause the second blockchain node ( 17 ) to verify the payment transaction;

(D) based on the second blockchain node ( 17 ) having verified the payment transaction (E i ), includes the payment quantity of cryptocurrency (B2), and determining that a time is close to a specified time to refund a deposit of a second transaction ( 25 ), co-signing and sending the payment transaction (Tx) to a blockchain ( 9 );

(E) receiving, by the first blockchain node ( 15 ) associated with the first user ( 5 ), the digital content by accessing, over the communications network ( 8 ), an encrypted concatenation comprising the requested episode and a next episode-specific key (S i+1 ) in return for providing the payment quantity to the second user ( 7 ) associated with the second blockchain node ( 17 );

(F) decrypting, by the first blockchain node ( 15 ) associated with the first user ( 5 ) the encrypted concatenation using the shared symmetric encryption key(S) to reveal the requested episode and the next episode-specific key (S i+1 );

(G) hashing, by the first blockchain node ( 15 ), the next episode-specific key (S i+1 ) to determine a next episode-specific hash (H i+1 );

(H) sending, over the communications network ( 8 ), a next request to provide the next episode of the digital content (i);

(I) determining a next payment transaction (E i+1 ) to transfer from the common address ( 23 ) a next payment quantity of cryptocurrency (B2) to the second user ( 7 ), the next payment transaction having a respective specified time that is earlier than the specified time of a preceding payment transaction and the next payment transaction (E i+1 ) includes a next payment redeem script (RS2) based on the next episode-specific hash (H i+1 );

(J) signing, with the first private key (V1), the next payment transaction (E i+1 ) and subsequently sending the next payment transaction (E i+1 ) to the second blockchain node ( 17 ) to cause the second blockchain node ( 17 ) to verify the next payment transaction (E i+1 ); and

(K) based on the second blockchain node ( 17 ) having verified that the next payment transaction (E i+1 ) includes the subsequent payment quantity of cryptocurrency and the next payment redeem script (RS2), co-signing, and sending the next payment transaction (E i+1 ) to the blockchain ( 9 ).

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising sending, by the second blockchain node ( 17 ), the payment transaction (E i ) to other intermediate nodes that in turn send it to other nodes and/or the blockchain ( 9 ).

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising refunding, after the specified time without a transaction of the deposit quantity of cryptocurrency from the common address ( 23 ), the deposit quantity of cryptocurrency (B1), by:

causing a first processing device to co-sign, with a first private key (V 1 ) of the first user ( 5 ), a second transaction to transfer the deposit quantity of cryptocurrency (B1) from the common address ( 23 ) to the first user ( 5 ); and

causing a second processing device to co-sign, with the second private key (V 2 ), the second transaction, wherein the co-signed second transaction with both the first private key (V 1 ) and the second private key (V 2 ) is sent to the blockchain ( 9 ) and is valid after the specified time to refund the deposit quantity of cryptocurrency (B1); and

sending the co-signed transaction to the blockchain ( 9 ) before the specified time.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , in step (E), providing by the second blockchain node ( 17 ) the access to the digital content by sending digital content from a first data store ( 18 ) to the first blockchain node ( 15 ).

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising in step (E), providing by the second blockchain node ( 17 ) access to the digital content by making digital content at a second data store ( 11 ) associated with a content server ( 3 ) available, via the communication network ( 8 ), to the first blockchain node ( 15 ).

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , further comprising receiving at the first blockchain node ( 15 ) an encrypted episode from the data store ( 11 ) at a time defined by the first blockchain node ( 15 ).

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising determining that the second user ( 7 ) has failed to meet their obligation, and exposing the first user to a price of one episode of digital content as a result.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , determining that the deposit quantity of cryptocurrency is equivalent to a cost of the maximum amount of episodes of digital content in the series of digital content that can be received.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining at each of the nodes a common secret to encrypt information for secure transmission based on second private keys and second public keys, at the first blockchain node, the common secret (CS) is based on:

(i) a first blockchain node second private key (V 2P ) based on a first blockchain node master private key (V 1P ) and a generator value (GV); and

(ii) a second blockchain node second public key (P 2E ) based on a second blockchain node master public key (P 1E ) and the generator value (GV), and

at the second blockchain node, the same common secret (CS) can be determined based on:

(iii) a first blockchain node second public key (P 2P ) based on a first blockchain node master public key (P 1P ) and the generator value (GV); and

(iv) a second blockchain node second private key (V 2E ) based on a second blockchain node master private key (V 1E ) and the generator value (GV).

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , further comprising encrypting and decrypting information between the first blockchain node and the second blockchain node using a symmetric key based on the common secret.

Assignments (3)

Priority Claims (3)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (400)