IP Library Granted Patent US 12,463,837
Granted Patent B2
US 12,463,837 · App. 17/807,173 · Granted Nov 4, 2025

Secret smart operations in blockchain

Inventors: Lei Yu (Sleepy Hollow, NY); Qi Zhang (West Harrison, NY); Petr Novotny (Mount Kisco, NY); Nitin Gaur (Round Rock, TX)
Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
H04L9/50H04L9/0825H04L9/0833H04L9/085H04L9/0894H04L63/065H04L63/0442H04L2209/42H04L2463/062
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,463,837
App. No.
17/807,173
Granted
Nov 4, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A system may enact a process including initiating an operation to transfer a secret, establishing n groups of nodes in a blockchain network, dividing a secret into n secret parts, creating n group keys, encrypting each secret part of the secret with a corresponding group key, and recording encrypted secret parts on the blockchain networks.

Claims (76)

1 . A system comprising:

a memory; and

a processor in communication with the memory, the processor being configured to perform processes comprising:

initiating an operation to transfer a secret;

establishing groups of nodes in at least one blockchain network, wherein the groups are peer nodes configured to share secrets between each other;

dividing the secret into n secret parts, wherein each part of the n secret parts overlaps one or more other parts of the n secret parts;

creating group keys;

encrypting each group key of the group keys with a public key from a peer from a respective group;

encrypting each secret part of the secret with a corresponding group key;

recording encrypted secret parts on the at least one blockchain networks;

validating, by one or more of the groups, a transaction from a recipient;

decrypting each secret part of the secret with the corresponding group key;

re-encrypting each secret part of the secret with a public key of the recipient to form re-encrypted secret parts; collecting, by the recipient, the encrypted secret parts;

decrypting, by the recipient using a private key of the recipient, the re-encrypted secret parts;

identifying, by the recipient a corrupted part of the decrypted secret parts, and reconstructing the corrupted part from one or more other secret parts that overlap the corrupted part; and

forming, by the recipient, the secret from the decrypted secret parts.

2 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

distributing the group keys to the groups such that each group gets a single group key.

3 . The system of claim 2 , further comprising:

receiving a consensus from a group approving the operation.

4 . The system of claim 3 , further comprising:

encoding a secret part with a group key for the group approving the operation.

5 . The system of claim 4 , further comprising:

transferring, by the group and based on the consensus, the secret part to the recipient as encrypted with the recipient's public key.

6 . The system of claim 5 , the forming further comprising:

running, by the recipient, possible combinations of the secret parts; and

choosing a consistent combination as the secret.

7 . A method comprising:

initiating an operation to transfer a secret;

establishing groups of nodes in at least one blockchain network, wherein the groups are peer nodes configured to share secrets between each other;

dividing the secret into n secret parts, wherein each part of the n secret parts overlaps one or more other parts of the n secret parts;

creating group keys from a set of public keys for each group;

encrypting each group key of the group keys with a public key from a peer from a respective group;

encrypting each secret part of the secret with a corresponding group key;

recording encrypted secret parts on the at least one blockchain networks;

validating, by one or more of the groups, a transaction from a recipient;

decrypting each secret part of the secret with the corresponding group key;

re-encrypting each secret part of the secret with a public key of the recipient to form re-encrypted secret parts;

collecting, by the recipient, the encrypted secret parts;

decrypting, by the recipient using a private key of the recipient, the re-encrypted secret parts;

identifying, by the recipient a corrupted part of the decrypted secret parts, and reconstructing the corrupted part from one or more other secret parts that overlap the corrupted part; and

forming, by the recipient, the secret from the decrypted secret parts.

8 . The method of claim, 7 further comprising:

distributing the group keys to the groups such that each group gets a single group key.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

receiving a consensus from a group approving the operation.

10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

encoding a secret part with a group key for the group approving the operation.

11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

transferring, by the group and based on the consensus, the secret part to the recipient as encrypted with the recipient's public key.

12 . The method of claim 11 , the reconstruction further comprising:

running, by the recipient, possible combinations of the secret parts; and

choosing a consistent combination as the secret.

13 . A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processors to perform a method, the method comprising:

initiating an operation to transfer a secret;

establishing groups of nodes in at least one blockchain network, wherein the groups are peer nodes configured to share secrets between each other;

dividing the secret into n secret parts, wherein each part of the n secret parts overlaps one or more other parts of the n secret parts;

creating group keys from a set of public keys for each group;

encrypting each group key of the group keys with a public key from a peer from a respective group;

encrypting each secret part of the secret with a corresponding group key;

recording encrypted secret parts on the at least one blockchain networks;

validating, by one or more of the groups, a transaction from a recipient;

decrypting each secret part of the secret with the corresponding group key;

re-encrypting each secret part of the secret with a public key of the recipient to form re-encrypted secret parts;

collecting, by the recipient, the encrypted secret parts;

decrypting, by the recipient using a private key of the recipient, the re-encrypted secret parts;

identifying, by the recipient a corrupted part of the decrypted secret parts, and reconstructing the corrupted part from one or more other secret parts that overlap the corrupted part; and

forming, by the recipient, the decrypted secret from the secret parts.

14 . The computer program product of claim 13 , further comprising:

distributing the group keys to the groups such that each group gets a single group key.

15 . The computer program product of claim 14 , further comprising:

receiving a consensus from a group approving the operation.

16 . The computer program product of claim 15 , further comprising:

encoding a secret part with a group key for the group approving the operation.

17 . The computer program product of claim 16 , further comprising:

transferring, by the group and based on the consensus, the secret part to the recipient as encrypted with the recipient's public key.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 16, 2022
From: YU, LEI; ZHANG, QI; NOVOTNY, PETR; GAUR, NITIN
To: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 060224/0039 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20230412403A1 · Dec 21, 2023
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