Granted Patent B2

US 12,505,435 · App. 18/607,288 · Granted Dec 23, 2025

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

Assignee: NCHAIN LICENSING AG

G06Q20/3829G06Q20/02G06Q20/3678G06Q20/3827G06Q20/389H04L9/0637H04L9/0836H04L9/0891H04L9/3066H04L9/321H04L9/3236H04L9/3242H04L9/3247G06Q2220/00G06Q2220/12H04L9/50H04L2209/56

Abstract

Claims (57)

1 . A computer-implemented method of controlling a visibility and/or performance of a contract, the method comprising steps, the steps comprising:

(a) storing a contract on an off-block computer-based repository;

(b) broadcasting a transaction to a blockchain, the transaction comprising:

i) at least one unspent output (UTXO);

ii) metadata comprising an identifier indicative of a location where the contract is stored; and

iii) contract validation data comprising:

a deterministic redeem script address;

a cryptographic hash of the contract; and

a multi-signature script requiring signatures from a contract issuer and an authorized computing agent;

(c) validating the contract by:

i) verifying the cryptographic hash matches a hash of the contract;

ii) confirming the deterministic redeem script address; and

iii) validating the required signatures using the multi-signature script;

(d) interpreting the contract as open or valid until the at least one unspent output (UTXO) is spent on the blockchain;

(e) renewing or rolling the contract on by:

i) detecting that a renewal condition specified in the contract has been met;

ii) deriving a new hierarchical deterministic key using a public key of the contract issuer and a derivation path that includes contract-specific parameters; and

iii) generating a script comprising the new hierarchical deterministic key, the location of the contract and the hash of the contract; and

(f) paying an amount of currency to the script, wherein the amount of currency and the renewal condition are validated according to rules defined in the contract.

2 . The method according to claim 1 wherein the deterministic redeem script address is a pay-to-script-hash (P2SH) address.

3 . The method according to claim 1 and further comprising a step of terminating the contract by broadcasting a further transaction to the blockchain to spend the at least one unspent output (UTXO).

4 . The method according to claim 1 wherein the metadata comprises:

i) an address or representation of an address of where the contract is stored in the off-block computer-based repository; and/or

ii) a hash of the contract.

5 . The method according to claim 1 and comprising a step:

checking whether the contract has been terminated by determining whether the at least one unspent output (UTXO) is in a list of unspent transaction outputs for the blockchain.

6 . The method according to claim 1 and comprising a step of:

broadcasting a transaction to the blockchain comprising an instruction to spend the at least one unspent output (UTXO) at a specified date.

7 . The method according to claim 1 wherein access to some or all of contents of the contract is restricted to at least one designated authorized party.

8 . The method according to claim 1 wherein the contract comprises a Deterministic Finite Automaton (DFA) to implement the contract.

9 . The method according to claim 8 wherein the Deterministic Finite Automaton is defined using a codification scheme.

10 . The method according to claim 8 wherein the Deterministic Finite Automaton is implemented using:

i) at least one blockchain transaction, preferably using a scripting language;

ii) a computing agent arranged to monitor a state of the blockchain; and/or

iii) a set of instructions for a digital wallet.

11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the off-block computer-based repository comprises a distributed hash table.

12 . A system, comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory storing instructions that, as a result of execution by the one or more processors, cause the system to:

(a) store a contract on an off-block computer-based repository;

(b) broadcast a transaction to a blockchain, the transaction comprising:

i) at least one unspent output (UTXO);

ii) metadata comprising an identifier indicative of a location where the contract is stored; and

iii) contract validation data comprising:

a deterministic redeem script address;

a cryptographic hash of the contract; and

a multi-signature script requiring signatures from a contract issuer and an authorized computing agent;

(c) validate the contract by:

i) verifying the cryptographic hash matches a hash of the contract;

ii) confirming the deterministic redeem script address; and

iii) validating the required signatures using the multi-signature script;

(d) interpret the contract as open or valid until the at least one unspent output (UTXO) is spent on the blockchain;

(e) renew or roll the contract on by:

i) detecting that a renewal condition specified in the contract has been met;

ii) deriving a new hierarchical deterministic key using a public key of the contract issuer and a derivation path that includes contract-specific parameters; and

iii) generating a script comprising the new hierarchical deterministic key, the location of the contract and the hash of the contract; and

(f) pay an amount of currency to the script, wherein the amount of currency and the renewal condition are validated according to rules defined in the contract.

Assignments (6)

Priority Claims (6)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (400)