FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to private distributed ledger ecosystems. The present invention has particular but not exclusive application in financial transaction systems and digital marketplaces. The patent specification describes this use but it is by way of example only and the invention is not limited to this use.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Blockchain networks such as Bitcoin and Ethereum permit entities to transact with each other using virtual currencies (e.g. Bitcoin and Eth), also known as ‘cryptocurrencies’. Transactions between entities are verified via a consensus algorithm, such as Proof-of-Work (PoW), Proof-of-Stake (PoS), and others.

As the popularity of major PoW blockchain networks such as Bitcoin and Ethereum grow, the time-cost and/or financial-cost for obtaining consensus is increasing due to the increasing volume of transactions on the network and thereby the demand for consensus calculations. The energy-cost (kWh) of performing PoW consensus is also increasingly being viewed as a problem as the cost of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent emissions (CO2e) is increasingly being factored into financial analyses.

Moreover, the volatility in the value of virtual currencies relative to fiat currencies (e.g. BTC/USD, ETH/USD) presents a challenge for sellers in the pricing of their products and services in virtual currencies, and similarly for buyers in making a decision on the value-for-money of a product or service priced in a virtual currency.

Still further, the steps currently required to transact in virtual currencies are burdensome, particularly when compared with the steps required for transacting in fiat currencies. Fiat currencies are ubiquitously accepted, and a transaction in a fiat currency may be as simple as swiping a credit card at a point-of-sale terminal. In contrast, a transaction in a virtual currency involves first determining if a vendor accepts a virtual currency, purchasing enough virtual currency using fiat currency from an Exchange (e.g. Sywftx™ and Binance™), transferring the purchased virtual currency to a personal digital wallet, and then effecting the transaction from the personal digital wallet to the vendor’s wallet.

The above-described issues and inconveniences of transacting in virtual currencies present a barrier to such transactions becoming more mainstream and ubiquitous.

Another barrier to the ubiquitous adoption of transacting in virtual currencies is the lack of an ecosystem that facilitates such transactions. For example, there is no ‘marketplace’ that vendors and buyers can access, which marketplace offers products and services that can all be purchased using a virtual currency, and wherein transaction involving these products/services are effected using the blockchain underlying the virtual currency, and which further provides the same or similar ease of transaction as transacting with fiat currencies.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is one object of the present invention to provide a distributed ledger ecosystem that facilitates convenient and quick financial transactions between members of the ecosystem, and which transactions are less prone to the time-cost, financial-cost, and/or energy-cost of traditional blockchain networks, in particular PoW blockchain networks and/or provide the consumer with a useful or commercial choice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention broadly resides in a distributed ledger ecosystem having a first cryptographic token unique to the distributed ledger ecosystem and transactable within the distributed ledger ecosystem; a second cryptographic token unique to a public distributed ledger network and transactable across the public distributed ledger network; and a plurality of nodes configured to conduct private distributed ledger transactions amongst each other using the first cryptographic token.

Preferably the distributed ledger ecosystem is a private permissioned distributed ledger network. Preferably the first cryptographic token is created on the private permissioned distributed ledger network. Preferably private distributed ledger transactions using the first cryptographic token incur fees that are accrued as first cryptographic tokens in a predetermined address of the private distributed ledger network. Preferably the distributed ledger ecosystem distributes the first cryptographic tokens in the predetermined address of the private distributed ledger network to eligible recipients dependent on the amount of second cryptographic tokens staked by each eligible recipient in a predetermined address of the public distributed ledger ecosystem.

Preferably, at least one node in the private permissioned distributed ledger network is connected to the public distributed ledger network and operable to conduct distributed ledger transactions on the public distributed ledger network.

Preferably, the public distributed ledger network is a blockchain network.

Preferably, the private distributed ledger network is a blockchain network.

In one form, the private permissioned distributed ledger network utilises a consensus mechanism that is different to, or a different instance of, that used by the public distributed ledger network.

In one form, the private permissioned distributed ledger network utilises a proof- of authority consensus mechanism to obtain consensus for transactions conducted thereon.

Preferably, the first cryptographic token is pegged to a value of a fiat currency, a basket of fiat currencies, a commodity, or a precious metal.

Preferably, a value of the second cryptographic token is allowed to float and is not pegged to a fiat currency, basket of fiat currencies, a commodity, or a precious metal.

In one form, the second cryptographic token is created on the public distributed ledger network.

In another aspect, the present invention broadly resides in a distributed ledger ecosystem having: a first cryptographic token unique to the distributed ledger ecosystem and transactable within the distributed ledger ecosystem; a second cryptographic token unique to a public distributed ledger network and transactable across the public distributed ledger network; and a plurality of nodes configured to conduct private distributed ledger transactions amongst each other using the first cryptographic token, wherein the distributed ledger ecosystem is a private permissioned distributed ledger network, the first cryptographic token is created on the private permissioned distributed ledger network, private distributed ledger transactions using the first cryptographic token incur fees that are accrued as first cryptographic tokens in a predetermined address of the private distributed ledger network, and the distributed ledger ecosystem distributes the first cryptographic tokens in the predetermined address of the private distributed ledger network to eligible recipients dependent on the amount of second cryptographic tokens staked by each eligible recipient in a predetermined address of the public distributed ledger ecosystem.

Preferably the at least one node in the private permissioned distributed ledger network is connected to the public distributed ledger network and operable to conduct distributed ledger transactions on the public distributed ledger network.

Preferably the public distributed ledger network is a blockchain network.

Preferably the private distributed ledger network is a blockchain network.

Preferably the private permissioned distributed ledger network utilises a consensus mechanism that is different to, or a different instance of, that used by the public distributed ledger network. Preferably the private permissioned distributed ledger network utilises a proof-of authority consensus mechanism to obtain consensus for transactions conducted thereon.

Preferably the first cryptographic token is pegged to a value of a fiat currency, a basket of fiat currencies, a commodity, or a precious metal.

Preferably a value of the second cryptographic token is allowed to float and is not pegged to a fiat currency, basket of fiat currencies, a commodity, or a precious metal.

Preferably the second cryptographic token is created on the public distributed ledger network.

The features described with respect to one aspect also apply where applicable to all other aspects of the invention. Furthermore, different combinations of described features are herein described and claimed even when not expressly stated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the present invention can be more readily understood reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention and wherein: Figure 1 illustrates an abstract representation of a public distributed ledger network;

Figure 2 illustrates an abstract representation of a distributed ledger ecosystem according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

Figure 3 illustrates a commercial implementation of the distributed ledger ecosystem as a digital marketplace.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to Figure 1 there is shown an abstract representation of a public distributed ledger network 1000. The public distributed ledger network 1000 is, in one embodiment, a public blockchain network. The network 1000 comprises a large plurality of nodes 100 which are each connected to a plurality of other nodes 100, thereby forming the network 1000. Note that whilst only three nodes have been identified with reference number 100 in Fig. 1 , it is to be understood that each vertex of each hexagon depicted in Fig. 1 is to be considered a node 100.

Each node 100 represents a participant of the network 1000. A participant may be, for example, the computing device of a legal person (e.g., a human, a corporation, or other legal entity) who is the sending or receiving party of a blockchain transaction. A participant may also be a computing device that contributes to the work required to reach consensus for transactions being conducted on the network 1000. A participant may also be a computing device that assists with the governance and administration of the blockchain network. While different blockchain networks may comprise different types of nodes, the general concept of nodes in blockchain networks is well understood by persons skilled in the art and that same general concept applies to nodes 100.

The term ‘computing device’ as used above and hereinafter is used broadly, and may refer to a physical or virtual computing device. A virtual computing device in this context may be, for example, a virtual machine, a terminal window (e.g. command prompt), or more generally a parallel computing process.

Each node 100 runs a client, which is a software program that effects interactions such as communication and coordination between the nodes 100, and more generally controls each node 100 to act in a manner that accords with the protocols of the blockchain network 1000. Whilst there are various interpretations of nodes, clients, server and peers in software engineering, for the purposes of this invention, a node is a peer from the perspective of other nodes on the network 1000, in other words a node is a member of the network. A node itself can be a server from the perspective of a client application that connects to it. As used herein, clients are not members of the network per se, rather they are clients of the node to which they connect, and which node plays the role of a gateway to the network for the client.

The public blockchain network 1000 may be any blockchain network that has an application layer, or an equivalent thereto. Preferably, the network 1000 is one that has a Turing-complete application layer.

With reference to Fig. 2, an exemplary distributed ledger ecosystem 2000 according to one embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. The distributed ledger ecosystem 2000 is represented in Fig. 2 as a blockchain network. The ecosystem 2000 illustrated in Fig. 2 is part of the network 1000 and has one node 200G connected to a node 100 of the network 1000. The node 200G, in being connected to a node 100, is thereby itself also a node 100 of the network 1000.

The remainder of the nodes 200B in the ecosystem 2000 are private nodes that are connected to other nodes 200B, 200G of the ecosystem 2000 but otherwise unconnected (and unconnectable) with the nodes 100 of the network 1000. In essence, the ecosystem 2000 is a separate private permissioned distributed ledger network 2000. Accordingly, the ecosystem 2000 is hereinafter interchangeably referred to also as the private permissioned network 2000 (or network 2000). Additionally, the nodes 200B, 200G of the ecosystem 2000 are hereinafter referred to commonly as the nodes 200 of the ecosystem where distinction is not required.

The network 2000 does not require or limit any minimum or maximum number of nodes 200G that are connected to a node 100 of the network 1000 nor nodes 200B that are unconnectable with the nodes 100 of the network 1000. For example, every node 200 in the ecosystem 2000 may be a node 200G that is also a node 100 of the network 1000. Conversely, all but one node 200 in the ecosystem 2000 may be a node 200B that is not connected to a node 100 of the network 1000.

The nodes 200 conform to the same distributed ledger protocol as the nodes 100, or otherwise conform to a distributed ledger protocol that is compatible with the blockchain protocol of the nodes 100. In this manner, decentralized applications (dApp) built for the public distributed ledger network 1000 will also run on the private permissioned network 2000, and vice versa.

The network 2000 is formed, maintained, and governed by a distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform (e.g. Hyperledger BESLI) embodied as a software application executing on each node 200 of the network 2000. The software application executing on a node 200 is configured to permit its node 200 to communicate, transact, and otherwise interact privately with other nodes 200 of the ecosystem 2000, and also to permit its node 200 to separately communicate, transact, and otherwise interact with nodes 100 of the system 1000 if its node 200 has been deemed permitted to do so. Nodes 100 and nodes 200 may additionally or alternatively communicate through a middleware developed as a part of the distributed ledger ecosystem with the use of Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) and/or Application Programming Interface (API).

The private permissioned network 2000 is thereby formed from and defined by the collection of nodes 200 that are each executing the aforementioned DLT software application according to a predetermined configuration of the software application common to and shared by each node 200.

It should be apparent that whilst Fig. 2 visually illustrates the private permissioned network 2000 as separate from the blockchain network 1000 and connected thereto only by a single node 200G, this visual illustration is for convenience and ease of understanding only. In practice, the skilled addressee will understand that the private permissioned network 2000 may actually significantly ‘overlie’ the network 1000, and that many of the nodes 200 of the network 2000 may also be nodes 100 of the network 1000.

The network 2000 may use a different consensus mechanism (or a different instance of a consensus mechanism) to that used by the network 1000 for transactions that are private to the ecosystem 2000. As used herein, a private transaction is one that is strictly between the nodes 200 and internal to the ecosystem/network 2000. In allowing a different consensus mechanism (or instance of one) to be used for private transactions, such transactions are freed from the previously described issues and inconveniences that apply to transaction on the public blockchain network 1000, such as increasing time-resources, financial-resources, and/or energy-resources. Moreover, different consensus mechanisms may be used for different private transactions types. In one preferred embodiment of the ecosystem 2000, a Proof-of- Authority (PoA) mechanism and a PoW mechanism are provided. According to the preferred embodiment of the ecosystem 2000, a first cryptographic token (hereinafter referred to as BSC) unique to the ecosystem 2000 is created and used for private transactions. BSC is created and resides in the application layer of the private network 2000. BSC is used by users of the network 2000 to exchange value with each other, for example to buy and sell products and services, pay transaction fees, and the like.

With reference to Fig. 3, a commercial implementation of the ecosystem 2000 is described. The commercial implementation illustrated in Fig. 3 is that of a digital marketplace 3000. It should be understood that the ecosystem 2000 is not limited an implementation as a digital marketplace 3000, and the following description of an implementation of the ecosystem 2000 as a digital marketplace 3000 is exemplary only.

The digital marketplace 3000 comprises a plurality of users 300A, 300B ... 300N. Collectively, this plurality of users 300A, 300 ... 300N is referred to as users 300 of the digital marketplace 3000. Notable users 300 include an administrating entity 300A, a financial institution 300B, a first end user 300C, a second end user 300D, and a retail business 300E. Each of the administrating entity 300A, financial institution 300B, first user 300C, second user 300D, and retail business 300E have a corresponding presence in the digital marketplace 3000 in the form of being a connected to a node 200 of the network 2000 via a client.

The digital marketplace 3000 is configured with a fee holding account/address 390. Each private transaction conducted in the digital marketplace 3000 incurs a fee which is charged in BSC. The fees collected from one or more of the parties of a transaction are accumulated in the fee holding address 390. Distribution of the accumulated fees in the fee holding address 390 occurs periodically, and the manner in which this distribution is preformed is described in greater detail later below. In one embodiment of the present invention, the administrator of the network 2000 may establish an additional fee holding address 391 to accumulate additional fess (also in BSC) to cover the administrator’s costs of administering and/or operating the network 2000. Accordingly, each private transaction conducted in the digital marketplace 3000 may incur fees in BSC which are split between two addresses/accounts 390 and 391 as revenue for participating users of the digital market place 3000 and for compensation of operational costs and the like for the administrator, respectively. An issuance process for obtaining BSC is first described using the first user 300C as an example. The process for obtaining BSC involves the first user transferring an amount of funds in a fiat currency to a banking institution 310 with which the administrating entity 300A has an account or via the administrating entity 300A taking into its possession, control or power such other form of value recognised by the administrating entity from time to time. Upon receipt, the funds are deposited into an account, or value attributed to a ledger, belonging to the administrating entity 300A. The administrating entity 300A is typically the owner or administrator of the digital marketplace 3000, and thereby also the owner/administrator of the private permissioned network 2000. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the value of BSC is pegged to a fiat currency or a basket of fiat currencies. The BSC may also be pegged to commodities, precious metals or such other value references which may be available from time to time. In pegging BSC to a fiat currency or a basket of fiat currencies, pricing for products and services in BSC for both vendors and buyers is rendered more certain, easier to evaluate, and less volatile.

Upon deposit of funds or value into the administrating entity’s account, or otherwise into the possession, control or power of the administrating entity 300A, the administrating entity 300A issues a corresponding amount of BSC and transfers this amount of BSC to the digital wallet of the first user 300C.

Consensus calculations for all blockchain transactions necessary to effect the above BSC token issuance process are performed in accordance with the consensus mechanism defined by the aforementioned DLT platform. As previously described, private transactions (of which the above-described deposit process is one) may use a consensus mechanism that is different to that used by the public blockchain network 1000. Accordingly, the consensus mechanism used only for the above BSC token issuance process is not subject (or at least less subject) to the issues of time-cost, financial-cost, and/or energy-cost that transactions on the public blockchain network 1000 are. In this manner, the above BSC token issuance process can be near instantaneous as contrasted with an average time of around 10 minutes for Bitcoin transactions, for example. Any fees incurred in the performance of the distributed ledger transactions necessary to effect the above BSC token issuance process are charged in BSC and transferred to the fee holding accounts 390, 391 .

A transfer process for transferring BSC from one user to another is next described using the first user 300C and second user 300D as examples. A transfer - io - process that is conducted wholly in BSC is a straightforward process that involves the first user 300C using their client software to identify the second user 300D and instruct a transfer of the desired amount of BSC to the second user 300D. Identification of the second user 300D is typically by way of the unique cryptography token address or ‘wallet’ address of the second user 300D. As with the BSC token issuance process, the transfer process is a private transaction and all consensus calculations required to effect the transfer process are performed in accordance with the consensus mechanism defined by the DLT platform, which may be different to that used by the public blockchain network 1000. As with the BSC token issuance process, any fees incurred in the performance of the blockchain transactions necessary to effect the transfer process are charged in BSC and transferred to the fee holding accounts 390, 391.

A point-of-sale transaction process involving the purchase of a product or service in BSC using a debit card (either physical or virtual) is described using the second user 300D, the retail business 300E, and the financial institution 300B as an example. The point-of-sale transaction process requires the retail business 300E to operate a point-of-sale terminal or device that is compatible with the financial institution 300B. Additionally, the point-of-sale transaction process requires the second user 300D to have a debit card issued by the administrating entity (or on behalf thereof). The retail business 300E operates the point-of-sale terminal or device to charge a predetermined amount in BSC corresponding to the product or service provided by the retail business 300E to the second user 300D. The second user 300D interacts the debit card with the point-of-sale terminal or device. The point-of-sale terminal or device obtains from the debit card necessary details, most of which are common to existing point-of-sale transactions such as present-day credit card transactions (e.g. VISA, Mastercard, etc.). Additionally, the point-of-sale terminal or device obtains from the debit card a reference number by which the digital marketplace 3000 administrator can associate to the appropriate node or wallet address unique to the second user 300D. The information obtained by the point-of-sale terminal or device is transmitted to the financial institution 300B. The financial institution 300B is a user of the digital marketplace 3000 and as such is a node 200 of the network 2000. Using the information sent to it by the point-of-sale terminal, the financial institution 300B generates a series of transactions (e.g. by way of a smart contract) to request BSC from the wallet of the second user 300D, and transfer BSC to the wallet of the retail - n - business 300E. As all participants in this transaction are users of the digital marketplace 3000, the point-of-sale transaction process is a private transaction. Accordingly, as with the BSC token issuance and transfer processes, any fees incurred in the performance of the blockchain transactions necessary to effect the above point-of-sale process are charged in BSC and transferred to the fee holding accounts 390, 391.

As previously described, BSC accumulated from, for example, transaction fees are held in the fee holding accounts 390, 391. The BSC accumulated in the fee holding account 390 are periodically distributed to eligible recipients. An individual qualifies as an eligible recipient to receive a share of the BSC held in the fee holding account 390 if they meet two conditions:

1 . They own at least one second cryptographic token (hereinafter referred to as BMC) that is unique to the public distributed ledger network 1000 and transactable across the public distributed ledger network 1000; and

2. They have ‘staked’ at least one of their BMC to a pre-determined network address on the public distributed ledger network 1000 recognised by the digital marketplace 3000 as a valid staking network address.

As used herein, the term ‘stake’ refers to the process of holding (and if necessary, first transferring) BMC in/to the pre-determined network address and leaving the BMC in the pre-determined network address for a qualifying period of time.

If an individual satisfies the above two conditions, they will receive a share of the BSC held in the fee holding account if/when the administrator of the digital marketplace 3000 initiates a fee distribution action.

The share of BSC held in the fee holding account 390 that an eligible recipient receives is at least in part determined by how much BMC they have stake. This share may also be in part determined by how long they have staked their BMC.

The mechanism of fee distribution among BMC holders that have staked their BMC operates as follows. A BMC is ‘staked’ by fixing it to an approved address for a set/qualifying period of time. This period of time is determined by the administrator of the network 20001 digital marketplace 3000. Those BMC which remained fixed in the approved address for the set/qualifying period (or more) are eligible to receive a share of the BSC held in the fee holding account 390. The share received by an individual is proportional to the amount of BMC staked by the individual relative to the total amount of BMC staked at the address. An approved node of the private distributed ledger network 2000 scans the ledger/blocks of the public distributed ledger network 1000 to determine which accounts/wallets on the public distributed ledger network 1000 (hereinafter referred to as public network accounts/wallets) have staked BMC, and distributes a share of the BSC fees to accounts/wallets on the private distributed ledger network 2000 corresponding to the public network accounts/wallets.

BMC may be purchased using fiat currency or such other value references commonly accepted by virtual currency exchanges for settling such transactions. Unlike BSC, however, BMC is allowed to float in value and is not pegged to a fiat currency, a basket of fiat currencies, commodities, precious metals or such other value references. BMC is created on the public distributed ledger network 1000.

The ecosystem 2000 of the present invention overcomes several challenges impeding the more ubiquitous use of blockchain transactions and transaction involving cryptographic tokens.

According to the present invention, the ecosystem 2000 is a private permissioned network 2000 with nodes that conform to the blockchain protocol of the public blockchain network 1000. In this manner, the ecosystem 2000 leverages the existing community, resources, and ‘critical mass’ of the public blockchain network 1000 such as dApps, know-how, code libraries, and familiarity with code base.

In being a private permissioned network, private transactions that are wholly between nodes that comprise the private permissioned network can be conducted differently to transactions on the public blockchain network 1000. For example, consensus for private transactions can be achieved using proof-of-authority instead of proof-of-work, which is quicker, cheaper, and more energy efficient.

Moreover, in being a private permission network, membership to the network can be controlled by an administrating entity. Control of membership can include a requirement for members to broadcast or otherwise make available greater information of their identity, services, and the like and in doing so, make more convenient the sale/purchase of goods/services (and more generally the exchange of value) on the private permission network.

ADVANTAGES

An advantage of the preferred embodiment of the private distributed ledger ecosystem includes that consensus for private transactions can be achieved using proof-of-authority instead of proof-of-work, which is quicker, cheaper, and more energy efficient.

VARIATIONS While the foregoing has been given by way of illustrative example of this invention, all such and other modifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of this invention as is herein set forth.

Throughout the description and claims of this specification the word “comprise” and variations of that word such as “comprises” and “comprising”, are not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers or steps.