Last resort access to digital wallet or blockchain assets with smart contracts
Access to digital assets when a private key is lost or unavailable is disclosed. A digital wallet may store a digital asset and a smart contract. When conditions of the smart contract are satisfied, the digital asset is automatically transferred to a new digital wallet that is associated with a new digital key. A user may acquire the new digital key and access the digital assets now stored in the new digital wallet.
1 . A method comprising:
storing an immutable smart contract in a blockchain network, wherein the smart contract includes an encrypted hash of a value defined by an owner of a first digital wallet and of a second digital wallet, wherein the smart contract specifies transfer conditions;
storing the digital asset in the first digital wallet implemented in the blockchain network, wherein the digital wallet is associated with a private key and the smart contract is configured to protect the digital asset against loss of the private key, wherein the smart contract identifies the second digital wallet and the transfer conditions; and
ensuring access to the digital asset when the private key required to access the digital asset is lost or unavailable by:
receiving a recovery value from a user without receiving any user identification associated with the first digital wallet, wherein the recovery value comprises a series of deposits;
generating, by the smart contract, an encrypted hash of the series of deposits;
determining that the transfer conditions of the smart contract associated with the digital asset are satisfied when the encrypted hash of the series of deposits matches the encrypted hash of the value in the smart contract;
executing the smart contract after determining that the transfer conditions are satisfied automatically by transferring the digital asset from the first digital wallet to the second digital wallet;
acquiring a second private key of the second digital wallet from a cloud storage or by reconstructing shares of the second private key; and
accessing the digital asset stored in the second digital wallet using the second private key.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second digital wallet includes a second smart contract associated with the second digital wallet.
3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising acquiring the second private key from a cloud storage.
4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising acquiring the second private key by reconstructing shares of the second private key.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the shares are located in one or more of cloud storage, an email, a message, and/or another user.
6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising dividing the second private key into the shares.
7 . A non-transitory storage medium having stored therein instructions that are executable by one or more hardware processors to perform operations comprising:
storing an immutable smart contract in a blockchain network, wherein the smart contract includes an encrypted hash of a value defined by an owner of a first digital wallet and of a second digital wallet, wherein the smart contract specifies transfer conditions;
storing the digital asset in the first digital wallet implemented in the blockchain network, wherein the digital wallet is associated with a private key and the smart contract is configured to protect the digital asset against loss of the private key, wherein the smart contract identifies the second digital wallet and the transfer conditions; and
ensuring access to the digital asset when the private key required to access the digital asset is lost or unavailable by:
receiving a recovery value from a user without receiving any user identification associated with the first digital wallet, wherein the recovery value comprises a series of deposits;
generating, by the smart contract, an encrypted hash of the series of deposits;
determining that the transfer conditions of the smart contract associated with the digital asset are satisfied when the encrypted hash of the series of deposits matches the encrypted hash of the value in the smart contract;
executing the smart contract after determining that the transfer conditions are satisfied automatically by transferring the digital asset from the first digital wallet to the second digital wallet;
acquiring a second private key of the second digital wallet from a cloud storage or by reconstructing shares of the second private key; and
accessing the digital asset stored in the second digital wallet using the second private key.
8 . The non-transitory storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the second digital wallet includes a second smart contract associated with the second digital wallet.
9 . The non-transitory storage medium of claim 7 , further comprising acquiring the second private key from a cloud storage.
10 . The non-transitory storage medium of claim 7 , further comprising acquiring the second private key by reconstructing shares of the second private key.
11 . The non-transitory storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the shares are located in one or more of cloud storage, an email, a message, and/or another user.
12 . The non-transitory storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising dividing the second private key into the shares.