Granted Patent B2

US 12,652,166 · App. 18/726,038 · Granted Jun 9, 2026

Inventors: Daryl Burns (Gloucestershire, GB); Barry Childe (Sussex, GB); David Williams (Surrey, GB)

Assignee: Arqit Limited

H04L9/0852H04L9/0825H04L9/083H04L9/3247H04L2209/56

Abstract

Claims (16)

1 . A computer-implemented method of quantum-secure (QS) minting and issuing of a digital coin by a central bank using a quantum cloud platform operable to facilitate an issuing authority, the method comprising:

issuing a command, from the central bank to the issuing authority, to mint a new digital coin, wherein the command comprises:

data indicative of a predetermined value of the digital coin,

a unique identifier to be associated with the digital coin, and

an identifier indicating which endpoint user of the quantum cloud platform, amongst a plurality of endpoint users, is to be designated as the owner of the digital coin;

in response to receiving the command, signing, by the issuing authority, the digital coin with an ownership encryption key, wherein the ownership encryption key is a private key known only to the quantum cloud platform and the owner;

subsequent to signing the digital coin with the ownership encryption key, signing, by the issuing authority, the digital coin with an authorizing encryption key, wherein the authorizing encryption key is a private key known only to the quantum cloud platform and the central bank.

2 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , further comprising: storing, by the issuing authority, data regarding the twice signed digital coin in a database of coins, wherein the coin is identifiable by its unique identifier.

3 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising: requesting, by a first endpoint user to the central bank, the issuance of a coin of the predetermined value to initiate the issuing of the command by the central bank, wherein the first endpoint user is the endpoint user of the quantum cloud platform designated in the command as the owner of the digital coin.

4 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising: sending, from the issuing authority to the owner, the twice signed digital coin.

5 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein each of the ownership encryption keys is a quantum-secure key distributed to the associated endpoint user by the quantum cloud platform.

6 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 5 , wherein each of the ownership encryption keys is a public encryption key that is part of a quantum-secure (QS) asymmetric key pair issued by the quantum cloud platform to the owner, wherein the QS asymmetric key pair comprises the respective ownership key and a respective private owner key.

7 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the authorizing encryption key is a private quantum-secure key stored by the issuing authority.

8 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein signing the digital coin, by any of the endpoint users or issuing authority, comprises concatenating the respective ownership encryption key to a data item defining the digital coin.

9 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein signing the signed digital coin, by the issuing authority comprises concatenating the authorizing encryption key to a data item defining the signed digital coin.

10 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the quantum cloud platform is the issuing authority.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (11)