Granted Patent B1

US 12,572,905 · App. 17/985,103 · Granted Mar 10, 2026

Inventor: Michael Duane (San Francisco, CA)

Assignee: Block, Inc.

G06Q20/10

Abstract

Claims (83)

1 . A method implemented by at least one computing device of an asset transfer service, the method comprising:

receiving, by the at least one computing device and from a local application on at least one user device, a customized request to set up an automated transfer associated with a condition based on a pending outcome of an event occurring in a geographical area, wherein the automated transfer includes instructions to trigger a transfer of an amount of an asset between a first account associated with a first user and a second account associated with a second user, and wherein the instructions indicate a direction of transfer of the amount of the asset based on a settled outcome satisfying the condition;

generating, by the at least one computing device and based on the customized request, a customized record to be stored in a distributed ledger, the customized record identifying at least the condition, the automated transfer, the amount of the asset, a first identifier associated with the first account, a second identifier associated with the second account, and the event;

identifying, by the at least one computing device and based on the customized request, one or more sensors that capture sensor data associated with the geographical area during the event;

analyzing, by the at least one computing device and based on one or more event rules of the event, the sensor data using an object recognition algorithm to detect one or more representations in the sensor data of an object in the geographical area crossing a geographical threshold within the geographical area during the event to indicate a status change in the event, wherein the object crossing the geographical threshold is indicative of the status change in the event based on the one or more event rules of the event;

analyzing the sensor data by the at least one computing device and based on the one or more event rules to validate the status change in the event;

updating a status record of the event dynamically based on the status change in the event as indicated by the sensor data;

determining, by the at least one computing device and based on updating the status record of the event, the settled outcome of the event;

validating, through a quorum of computing devices associated with the distributed ledger and based on the sensor data and the one or more event rules, that the settled outcome satisfies the condition associated with the customized request, the quorum of computing devices including the at least one computing device, the quorum of computing devices being nodes of a distributed system associated with the distributed ledger; and

in response to validating that the settled outcome satisfies the condition:

automatically transmitting, from the at least one computing device to the at least one user device, an alert indicating the settled outcome of the event and the direction of transfer of the amount of the asset;

causing the at least one user device to surface the alert within the local application on the at least one user device; and

automatically facilitating, using at least one of the quorum of computing devices and via execution of the instructions and based on the direction of transfer of the asset, the transfer of the amount of the asset between the first account and the second account.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the customized record is at least part of a payload of a block in the distributed ledger, wherein the customized record and the instructions are associated with a smart contract, and wherein determining the settled outcome of the event and facilitating the transfer is associated with execution of the instructions via the smart contract.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by the at least one computing device, contextual information associated with at least one of the first user or the second user;

identifying, by the at least one computing device and based on the contextual information, the event as being relevant to at least one of the first user or the second user; and

recommending, by the at least one computing device, the event to at least one of the first user or the second user.

4 . A method implemented by at least one computing device of an asset transfer service, the method comprising:

receiving, by the at least one computing device and from a local application on at least one user device, a customized request to set up an automated transfer associated with a condition based on a pending outcome of an event occurring in a geographical area, wherein the automated transfer includes instructions to trigger a transfer of an amount of an asset between a first account associated with a user and a second account;

generating, by the at least one computing device and based on the customized request, a customized record to be stored in a distributed ledger that is stored across a plurality of devices, the customized record identifying at least the condition, the automated transfer, the amount of the asset, a first identifier associated with the first account, and the event;

identifying, by the at least one computing device and based on the customized request, one or more sensors that capture sensor data associated with the geographical area during the event;

analyzing, by the at least one computing device and based on one or more event rules of the event, the sensor data using an object recognition algorithm to detect one or more representations in the sensor data of an object in the geographical area crossing a geographical threshold within the geographical area during the event to indicate a status change in the event, wherein the object crossing the geographical threshold is indicative of the status change in the event based on the one or more event rules of the event;

analyzing the sensor data by the at least one computing device and based on the one or more event rules to validate the status change in the event;

updating a status record of the event dynamically based on the status change in the event as indicated by the sensor data;

determining, by the at least one computing device and based on updating the status record of the event, a settled outcome of the event, wherein the instructions indicate a direction of transfer of the amount of the asset is based on the settled outcome of the event;

validating, through a quorum of computing devices associated with the distributed ledger and based on the sensor data and the one or more event rules, that the settled outcome satisfies the condition associated with the customized request, the quorum of computing devices including the at least one computing device, the quorum of computing devices being nodes of a distributed system associated with the distributed ledger; and

in response to validating that the settled outcome satisfies the condition:

automatically transmitting, from the at least one computing device to the at least one user device, an alert indicating the settled outcome of the event and the direction of transfer of the amount of the asset;

causing the at least one user device to surface the alert within the local application on the at least one user device; and

automatically facilitating, using at least one of the quorum of computing devices and based on the direction of transfer of the amount of the asset, the transfer of the amount of the asset between the first account and the second account.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

receiving, by the at least one computing device and from a first user device associated with the user, agreement upon the direction of transfer of the amount of the asset based on the settled outcome of the event; and

receiving, by the at least one computing device and from a second user device associated with a second user, agreement upon the direction of transfer of the amount of the asset based on the settled outcome of the event.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the customized record is at least part of a payload of a block in the distributed ledger, wherein the customized record and the instructions are associated with a smart contract, and wherein determining the settled outcome of the event and facilitating the transfer is associated with execution of the instructions via the smart contract.

7 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

receiving, by the at least one computing device, contextual information associated with the user;

identifying, by the at least one computing device, the event as being relevant to the user based on the contextual information; and

causing, based at least in part on the identifying, an indication of the event to surface at the at least one user device at least one of a time relevant to the event or a location relevant to the event.

8 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

transmitting, by the at least one computing device to a first account system, a first request for the first account system to earmark the amount of the asset in the first account to prevent a balance of the first account from falling below the amount of the asset before the transfer of the amount of the asset; and

transmitting, by the at least one computing device to a second account system, a second request for the second account system to earmark the amount of the asset in the second account to prevent a balance of the second account from falling below the amount of the asset before the transfer of the amount of the asset.

9 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

receiving information from an information source, wherein the analyzing the sensor data includes analyzing the information and the sensor data to track the status record of the event, wherein the information from the information source includes a news article from a news source, and wherein determining the settled outcome of the event includes determining the settled outcome of the event based on parsing the news article from the news source to find an indication of the settled outcome in the news article.

10 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

receiving information from an information source, wherein the analyzing the sensor data includes analyzing the information and the sensor data to track the status record of the event, wherein the information from the information source includes a feed from a social media platform, and wherein determining the settled outcome of the event includes determining the settled outcome of the event based on parsing the feed from the social media platform to find an indication of the settled outcome in the feed from the social media platform.

11 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the sensor data includes at least one image of a scene in the geographical area, and wherein determining the settled outcome of the event includes determining the settled outcome of the event based on an image analysis of the at least one image of the scene to detect an indication of the settled outcome depicted in the at least one image of the scene.

12 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the sensor data includes biometric sensor data from a wearable device in the geographical area, and wherein determining the settled outcome of the event includes determining the settled outcome of the event based on a sensor data analysis of the biometric sensor data from the wearable device to detect an indication of the settled outcome in the biometric sensor data from the wearable device.

13 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

receiving information from an information source, wherein the analyzing the sensor data includes analyzing the information and the sensor data to track the status record of the event, wherein the information from the information source includes a transaction history of the user, and wherein determining the settled outcome of the event includes determining the settled outcome of the event based on a tracking of the transaction history of the user to detect an indication of the settled outcome in the transaction history of the user.

14 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

predicting the settled outcome of the event based on the status record of the event; and

preparing, by the at least one computing device and based on the predicting the settled outcome, at least a portion of the transfer of the amount of the asset before determining the settled outcome of the event.

15 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the transfer of the amount of the asset between the first account and the second account is part of a transfer of a second amount of the asset between a first plurality of accounts and a second plurality of accounts, wherein the first plurality of accounts includes the first account, and wherein the second plurality of accounts includes the second account.

16 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

receiving, by the at least one computing device, an indication that the settled outcome is in dispute;

delaying, by the at least one computing device, the facilitating of the transfer of the amount of the asset based on the indication until receipt of an indication of a resolution of the dispute; and

receiving, by the at least one computing device, the indication of the resolution of the dispute.

17 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

receiving, by the at least one computing device, an indication of a change to the settled outcome; and

in response to receiving the indication of the change to the settled outcome:

automatically transmitting, from the at least one computing device to the at least one user device, a second alert indicating the change;

causing the at least one user device to surface the second alert within the local application on the at least one user device; and

automatically facilitating, using at least one of the quorum of computing devices and based on the direction of transfer of the amount of the asset, a second transfer of the asset between the first account and the second account.

18 . A system of an asset transfer service, the system comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory, the at least one processor configured to:

receive a customized request to set up an automated transfer associated with a condition based on a pending outcome of an event occurring in a geographical area, wherein the automated transfer includes instructions to trigger a transfer of an amount of an asset between a first account associated with a user and a second account;

generate, based on the customized request, a customized record to be stored in a distributed ledger that is stored across a plurality of devices, the customized record identifying at least the condition, the automated transfer, the amount of the asset, a first identifier associated with the first account, a second identifier associated with the second account, and the event;

identify, based on the customized request, one or more sensors that capture sensor data associated with the geographical area during the event;

analyze, based on one or more event rules of the event, the sensor data using an object recognition algorithm to detect one or more representations in the sensor data of an object in the geographical area crossing a geographical threshold within the geographical area during the event to indicate a status change in the event, wherein the object crossing the geographical threshold is indicative of the status change in the event based on the one or more event rules of the event;

analyze the sensor data based on the one or more event rules to validate the status change in the event;

update a status record of the event dynamically based on the status change in the event as indicated by the sensor data;

determine, based on updating the status record of the event, a settled outcome of the event, wherein the instructions indicate a direction of transfer of the amount of the asset is based on the settled outcome of the event;

validate, through a quorum of computing devices associated with the distributed ledger and based on the sensor data and the one or more event rules, that the settled outcome satisfies the condition associated with the customized request, the quorum of computing devices being nodes of a distributed system associated with the distributed ledger; and

in response to validating that the settled outcome satisfies the condition:

automatically transmit, to at least one user device, an alert indicating the settled outcome of the event and the direction of transfer of amount of the asset;

cause the at least one user device to surface the alert within a local application on the at least one user device; and

automatically facilitate, based on the direction of transfer of the amount of the asset, the transfer of the amount of the asset between the first account and the second account.

19 . The method of claim 4 , wherein identifying, by the at least one computing device and based on the customized request, the one or more sensors that capture the sensor data associated with the geographical area during the event, further includes:

causing, by the at least one computing device and based on the customized request, an image sensor to capture video data of at least a portion of the geographical area during the event; and

causing, by the at least one computing device and based on the customized request, a second sensor to capture additional data associated with the geographical area during the event, wherein the second sensor is a different type of sensor that the image sensor.

20 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the sensor data is analyzed by a trained machine learning model associated with the at least one computing device.

Assignments (1)

References Cited (18)