Electronic Payment Method and Transaction System Supporting Digital Currency

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electronic payment method supporting digital currency, which includes: obtaining payee information from a transaction medium; wherein the payee information includes a first payee address stored in a first data field of the transaction medium and a second payee address stored in a second data field of the transaction medium; based on the user's payment settings, transmitting first payment information to the first payee address and transmitting second payment information to the second payee address; wherein the first payee address is an address in a first blockchain network and the second payee address is an address in a second blockchain network. This method can reduce transaction costs, improve the user experience, and thus promote the popularization of digital currency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of electronic payment, and more particularly, to an electronic payment method supporting digital currency. Background Art

[0002] The theoretical research on digital currency has tended to be mature, but there are still constraints such as high costs during its application. The payment scheme of digital currency needs to be compatible with the existing payment infrastructure to minimize the amount of transformation as much as possible. However, the differences between digital currency and electronic currency will affect the compatibility design, which is mainly reflected in the following three points: First, the underlying technology of digital currency mostly adopts a decentralized mode, while the underlying technology of electronic currency generally adopts a centralized mode; Second, digital currency generally adopts a peer-to-peer mode between users and merchants, while electronic currency generally adopts a four-party mode; Third, digital currency is credited to the merchant's receiving address, while electronic currency is credited to the merchant's bank account.

[0003] When using electronic currency and digital currency for payment, due to technical differences, different transaction media and transaction paths need to be provided in existing solutions, which will generate additional payment costs and the reliability of the transaction system will decrease. Summary of the Invention

[0004] According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic payment method supporting digital currency, which includes: obtaining payee information from a transaction medium; wherein the payee information includes a first receiving address stored in a first data field of the transaction medium and a second receiving address stored in a second data field of the transaction medium; based on the user's payment setting, transmitting first payment information to the first receiving address and transmitting second payment information to the second receiving address; wherein the first receiving address is an address in a first blockchain network, and the second receiving address is an address in a second blockchain network.

[0005] Optionally, the payee information further includes an electronic currency receiving address, and the method further includes: transmitting electronic currency payment information to the electronic currency receiving address based on the payment setting.

[0006] Optionally, the first blockchain network is different from the second blockchain network.

[0007] Optionally, the first data field includes an identifier of the first blockchain network, and the second data field includes an identifier of the second blockchain network.

[0008] Optionally, the payee information further includes a third receiving address stored in a third data field of the transaction medium, the third receiving address is an address in a third blockchain network, and the third blockchain network is a redundant network of the first blockchain network or the second blockchain network.

[0009] Optionally, the transaction medium includes at least one of the following: barcodes; two-dimensional codes; contactless tags; and non-transitory computer-readable storage media.

[0010] Optionally, the transaction medium also stores a digital currency header information, which includes a flag bit, a first field for recording the amount of the digital currency, and a second field for storing the header information check code.

[0011] Optionally, the second field further includes: a first check code for verifying the first receiving address; a second check code for verifying the second receiving address; and / or a third check code for verifying the third receiving address.

[0012] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transaction system supporting digital currency, configured to: provide a transaction medium, the transaction medium includes a first data field and a second data field, wherein the first data field is used to store a first receiving address, and the second data field is used to store a second receiving address; the first receiving address is an address in a first blockchain network, and the second receiving address is an address in a second blockchain network; obtain payment settings via the user's payment application; provide a transaction route to transmit first payment information to the first receiving address and second payment information to the second receiving address.

[0013] Optionally, the transaction medium further includes an electronic currency receiving address, and the transaction system is further configured to: based on the payment settings, transmit electronic currency payment information to the electronic currency receiving address.

[0014] Optionally, the transaction system is further configured to: provide a first transaction route pointing to the first receiving address; provide a second transaction route pointing to the second receiving address.

[0015] Optionally, the transaction system is further configured to: provide a third transaction route pointing to a third receiving address, the third receiving address is an address in a third blockchain network, and the third blockchain network is a redundant network of the first blockchain network or the second blockchain network.

[0016] The electronic payment method supporting digital currency provided by the present invention arranges multiple receiving addresses corresponding to different blockchain networks in the same transaction medium, and can realize the transmission of digital currency according to the user's settings. This method can reduce transaction costs, improve the user experience, and thus promote the popularization of digital currency. The transaction system supporting digital currency provided by the present invention has a low deployment cost and can ensure the reliability of transactions. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 A flowchart showing an electronic payment method supporting digital currency according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 2Shows a transaction medium according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 3 Shows a network topology diagram of a transaction system supporting digital currency.

[0020] Figure 4 Shows another network topology diagram of a transaction system supporting digital currency. Detailed implementation

[0021] Specific details are presented in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, those skilled in the art will clearly know that the embodiments of the present invention can be implemented even without these specific details. In the present invention, specific numerical references can be made, such as "the first element", "the second device", etc. However, the specific numerical references should not be understood as necessarily following their literal order, but rather that "the first element" is different from "the second element".

[0022] The specific details proposed by the present invention are only exemplary, and the specific details can vary, but still fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention. The term "coupled" is defined as representing a direct connection to a component or an indirect connection to a component via another component. The term "transaction routing" refers to the routing from a user to a payee (merchant), which includes determining the best path from the user to the payee and transmitting information through the network.

[0023] The following describes preferred embodiments of methods, systems, and devices suitable for implementing the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although each embodiment is described for a single combination of elements, it should be understood that the present invention includes all possible combinations of the disclosed elements. Therefore, if one embodiment includes elements A, B, and C, and the second embodiment includes elements B and D, the present invention should also be considered to include other remaining combinations of A, B, C, or D, even if not explicitly disclosed.

[0024] As Figure 1 shown, an embodiment of the present invention provides an electronic payment method supporting digital currency, which includes steps S10 - S15.

[0025] Step S10: Obtain payee information from the transaction medium.

[0026] In this step, the payee information can be obtained from the transaction medium by a payment application installed on the user's smartphone through scanning or non - contact means (such as based on near - field communication technology). The payee information includes a first payee address stored in the first data field of the transaction medium and a second payee address stored in the second data field of the transaction medium. The first and second payee addresses can be different payee addresses of the same payee or payee addresses of different payees respectively.

[0027] Users can pay digital currency to the first and second receiving addresses, and parallel payment of electronic currency and digital currency can be achieved. Specifically, the first receiving address can be an address in the first blockchain, and the second receiving address is an address in the second blockchain different from the first blockchain. As an example, the first blockchain network is the first digital currency network, and the second blockchain network is the second digital currency network. As another example, the first blockchain network and the second blockchain network are different subnets in the same blockchain network, or the first and second blockchain networks respectively support different blockchain protocols. To distinguish different blockchain networks, the identifier of the first blockchain network is stored in the first data field, and the identifier of the second blockchain network is stored in the second data field. As an example, the identifier occupies 3 bits. The identifier BTC of the first blockchain network indicates that the first blockchain network is the first digital currency network, and the identifier ETH of the second blockchain network indicates the second digital currency network.

[0028] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the transaction medium may include barcodes, two-dimensional codes, contactless tags, and other non-transitory computer-readable storage media (such as flash memory, external hard drives), etc. Hereinafter, the two-dimensional code will be taken as an example for illustration. The two-dimensional code includes two data fields. The first receiving address is stored in the first data field, and the second receiving address is stored in the second data field. By scanning the two-dimensional code, the user can obtain two different receiving addresses of the payee. A third data field may further be included in the two-dimensional code, in which the third receiving address is stored, and the third receiving address is an address in the third blockchain network. In some improved embodiments, the third blockchain network may be a redundant network of the first blockchain network or the second blockchain network, so that when the first or second blockchain network fails, it can replace the failed network to work, thereby ensuring the reliability of the transaction.

[0029] As a further improvement, various payee information and digital currency header information can be stored in the transaction medium. As Figure 2 shown, the electronic currency payee information 11 and the digital currency payee information 12 are stored in the transaction medium, which are respectively used for electronic currency payment and digital currency payment. The digital currency payee information 12 includes the digital currency header information 120, the first receiving address 121, the second receiving address 122, and the third receiving address 123. The digital currency header information 120 includes a header information flag bit, a first field for recording the total amount of digital currency, and a second field for storing the header information check code. Preferably, the second field further includes a first check code, a second check code, and a third check code. The first, second, and third check codes are respectively used to verify the first receiving address, the second receiving address, and the third receiving address, and the verification methods can adopt cyclic redundancy check, MD5 check, etc.

[0030] Step S15: Based on the user's payment settings, transmit the first payment information to the first receiving address and transmit the second payment information to the second receiving address.

[0031] In this step, the smart phone can learn the user's payment settings. For example, the user may wish to split the payment amount so as to use different payment addresses (digital currency accounts) in different blockchains for payment. In addition, the user may also wish to use electronic currency to pay part of the payment amount. The user can make corresponding payment settings or selections through a payment application installed on the smart phone. Furthermore, the payment application can transmit the first payment information to the first receiving address according to the user's payment settings to pay the digital currency of the first amount, and then transmit the second payment information to the second receiving address to pay the digital currency of the second amount. In some cases, the first payment information realizes unconditional payment, and the second payment information can be bound with certain payment conditions (such as exchange rate, limit, trading date, etc.), thereby realizing a flexible payment method. In some cases, the first and second payment information may include confirmation information about this transaction, and after obtaining the feedback from the payee on the confirmation information, the payment action of the digital currency is then executed. In the case where the user wishes to pay with electronic currency, the smart phone transmits the electronic currency payment information to the electronic currency receiving address (such as the electronic currency payee information 11 shown) for paying the electronic currency, and the payment of the electronic currency and the payment of the digital currency can be carried out in parallel. The electronic currency receiving address has nothing to do with the blockchain network, and it can be the payee's bank account, an account on the payment application, or a receiving address on a third-party platform, etc. Figure 2 In some embodiments of the present invention, the transaction route can be determined according to the user settings or the status of the blockchain network, including determining to pay the digital currency of the first amount to the first receiving address via the first transaction route (pointing to or passing through the first blockchain network), and determining to pay the digital currency of the second amount to the second receiving address via the second transaction route (pointing to or passing through the second blockchain network). In the case where the first transaction route or the second transaction route is blocked, it can also be determined to pay the digital currency of the third amount to the third receiving address via the third route (pointing to or passing through the third blockchain network as a redundant network). The work of determining the route can be implemented by a router or a switch accessing the payment network (which connects each blockchain network).

[0032] The above-provided electronic payment method supporting digital currency can achieve the following technical effects:

[0033] The above-provided electronic payment method supporting digital currency can achieve the following technical effects:

[0034] 1. A merchant can arrange multiple collection account information including support for electronic currency / digital currency and multiple collection addresses on different blockchains within the same transaction medium, which reduces the arrangement cost and improves the payment efficiency. 2. Users can select different transaction routes for transactions through a payment application, and can also select different payment methods and specify corresponding electronic currency / digital currency accounts for payment, which improves the user experience. 3. It helps to reduce the cost of transactions, ensure the reliability of transactions, and promote the popularization of digital currency.

[0035] It should be understood that steps S10 and S15 of the above electronic payment method can be split, combined, or one or more other sub-steps can be inserted therebetween. Those skilled in the art can foresee various implementation manners of simple improvements based on the above disclosure. As long as they can achieve the above technical effects, they should all fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0036] The present invention also provides a transaction system supporting digital currency. The transaction system is configured to provide a transaction medium and a transaction route to facilitate users to pay corresponding digital currency to different collection addresses on the blockchain network. Among them, the transaction medium and the transaction route are generated for each transaction, and the adjustment of the transaction route can also be realized during the transaction process. As an example, the transaction medium can be a data packet transmitted from the merchant to the user via near-field communication. The data packet includes an independent first data field and a second data field, where the first data field is used to store the first collection address and the second data field is used to store the second collection address. The first and second collection addresses are the addresses in the first blockchain network and the second blockchain network respectively. Thus, the paying user can transmit payment information, including paying corresponding digital currency, to different addresses of the same payee (merchant).

[0037] In some embodiments, the transaction system communicates with the user's smart phone to obtain the user's payment settings. The transaction system can also be configured to provide a first transaction route pointing to the first collection address and a second transaction route pointing to the second collection address to promote the payment using digital currency. Preferably, based on the user's payment settings, the transaction system can provide a digital currency payment method that conforms to the user's intention by configuring the first transaction route and the second transaction route. For example, the transmission of the first payment information is realized via the first transaction route, and the transmission of the second payment information is realized via the second transaction route. The union of the first payment information and the second payment information corresponds to the digital currency information that the user expects to pay.

[0038] In some embodiments, an electronic currency receiving address is included in the transaction medium. At this time, the transaction system can transmit electronic currency payment information to the electronic currency receiving address based on the user's payment settings, thereby realizing parallel payment of electronic currency and digital currency. The electronic currency payment information may include electronic currency, coupons, discount rates, etc. Since the electronic currency receiving address and the digital currency receiving address are stored on the same transaction medium, users can conveniently use parallel payment of electronic currency and digital currency, which not only improves the utilization rate of the transaction medium, but also enhances the user experience.

[0039] As Figure 3 shown, the illustrated transaction system includes two blockchain networks, Net1 and Net2, which respectively support different blockchain protocols. The first blockchain network, Net1, includes a number of nodes N1, each of which is coupled to each other, and one of the nodes N1 corresponds to the first receiving address Adr1. Similarly, the second blockchain network, Net2, includes a number of nodes N2, and one of the nodes N2 corresponds to the second receiving address Adr2. The first receiving address Adr1 and the second receiving address Adr2 are the receiving addresses of the same merchant in different blockchain networks. Thus, when trading, users can pay the first amount of digital currency to the first receiving address and the second amount of digital currency to the second receiving address according to their wishes.

[0040] Figure 4 Shows a network topology diagram of another transaction system that supports digital currency. Figure 4 It includes three blockchain networks, Net1, Net2, and Net3, each of which includes a plurality of nodes coupled to each other. One of the nodes N1 in the first blockchain network Net1 has the first receiving address Adr1, one of the nodes N2 in the second blockchain network Net2 has the second receiving address Adr2, and one of the nodes N3 in the third blockchain network Net3 has the third receiving address Adr3. The first blockchain network Net1 and the second blockchain network Net2 are connected in parallel, and the third blockchain network Net3 is implemented as a redundant network of the second blockchain network Net2.

[0041] The transaction system provides different transaction routes 211, 221, which respectively point to the first receiving address Adr1 and the second receiving address Adr2 of the merchant. The third blockchain network Net3 can use the same consensus algorithm as the second blockchain network Net2 and work instead of it when the second blockchain network Net2 fails. Correspondingly, the transaction system provides another transaction route 231, which points to the third receiving address of the merchant, and the third receiving address is the address in the third blockchain network Net3. The transaction route 221 and the transaction route 231 may at least partially overlap to reduce the cost of routing or line deployment.

[0042] According to some improved embodiments, the routing operation of the trading system can be implemented by one or more routers or switches (not shown in the figures) connected to the system. Specifically, the router can not only select suitable trading routes 211, 221, 231 according to the user's payment settings, but also measure the status of each blockchain network and switch to a suitable trading route according to the status of each blockchain network.

[0043] According to some embodiments, a supervision node is provided on the second blockchain network Net2. The supervision node can supervise the working status of the second blockchain network. When it is found that the routing via the second blockchain network is not smooth, a router connected to the supervision node can determine a third trading route 231 via the third blockchain network, and the router will transfer the payment information originally via the second trading route 221 to the third trading route 231 for transmission. In some embodiments, the trading system and the user's smartphone can respectively verify the first and second receiving addresses by using the digital currency header information stored in the trading medium. Among them, the verification performed on the trading system side can be carried out by the router on the supervision node or a processor coupled thereto.

[0044] The present invention also provides a machine-readable storage medium, on which a batch of computer-executable instructions are stored. When these computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor, the above-mentioned electronic payment method is implemented.

[0045] It should be understood that a mobile payment device (such as a smartphone) held by a user also falls within the protection scope of the present invention. The mobile payment device includes a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory and executed by the processor, etc. Among them, when the processor executes the computer program, the steps of the above-mentioned electronic payment method can be implemented.

[0046] In some embodiments of the present invention, at least a part of the system can be implemented by a group of distributed computing devices connected by a communication network, or based on "cloud". In such a system, multiple computing devices operate together to provide services by using their shared resources. The "cloud"-based implementation can provide one or more advantages, including: openness, flexibility, and scalability.

[0047] Those skilled in the art will understand that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To illustrate the interchangeability of hardware and software, the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software will depend upon the particular application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

[0048] The above description is only directed to the preferred embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Those skilled in the art may make various modified designs without departing from the spirit of the present invention and the appended claims.

Claims

1. An electronic payment method supporting digital currency, comprising: Obtaining payee information from a transaction medium; wherein, the payee information includes a first payee address stored in a first data field of the transaction medium and a second payee address stored in a second data field of the transaction medium; Based on the user's payment settings, transmitting first payment information to the first payee address and transmitting second payment information to the second payee address; wherein, determining a transaction route according to the user settings and the status of the blockchain network, including determining to pay a first amount of digital currency to the first payee address via a first transaction route, and determining to pay a second amount of digital currency to the second payee address via a second transaction route; in the case where the first transaction route or the second transaction route is not smooth, determining to pay a third amount of digital currency to a third payee address via a third route; Wherein, the first payee address is an address in a first blockchain network, and the second payee address is an address in a second blockchain network different from the first blockchain network; Wherein, the first data field includes an identifier of the first blockchain network, and the second data field includes an identifier of the second blockchain network; Wherein, the third payee address is a payee address stored in a third data field of the transaction medium, which is an address in a third blockchain network, and the third blockchain network is a redundant network of the first blockchain network or the second blockchain network.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The payee information further includes an electronic currency payee address, and the method further includes: Based on the payment settings, transmitting electronic currency payment information to the electronic currency payee address.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The transaction medium includes at least one of the following items: Barcode; QR code; Contactless tag; and, Non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein The transaction medium further stores a digital currency header information, which includes a flag bit, a first field for recording the amount of digital currency, and a second field for storing a header information check code.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein The second field further includes: A first check code for verifying the first payee address; A second check code for verifying the second payee address; and / or A third check code for verifying the third payee address.

6. A transaction system supporting digital currency, configured to: Provided is a transaction medium, the transaction medium including a first data field and a second data field, wherein, The first data field is used to store a first payee address, and the second data field is used to store a second payee address; the first payee address is an address in a first blockchain network, and the second payee address is an address in a second blockchain network different from the first blockchain network; Obtaining payment settings via the user's payment application; Provide transaction routing to transmit first payment information to the first payee address and second payment information to the second payee address; wherein the transaction routing is determined according to user settings and the status of the blockchain network, including providing a first transaction routing to pay a first amount of digital currency to the first payee address and providing a second transaction routing to pay a second amount of digital currency to the second payee address; in the case where the first transaction routing or the second transaction routing is blocked, provide a third routing to pay a third amount of digital currency to the third payee address; Wherein, the first data field includes an identifier of the first blockchain network, and the second data field includes an identifier of the second blockchain network; Wherein, the third payee address is the payee address stored in the third data field of the transaction medium, which is an address located in the third blockchain network, and the third blockchain network is a redundant network of the first blockchain network or the second blockchain network.

7. The trading system according to claim 6, wherein The transaction medium further includes an electronic currency payee address, The transaction system is further configured to transmit electronic currency payment information to the electronic currency payee address based on the payment setting.

8. The trading system according to any one of claims 6, characterized in that, The transaction system is also configured to use the digital currency header information stored in the transaction medium to verify the first payee address and the second payee address.

9. A machine-readable storage medium, on which a batch of computer-executable instructions are stored, and when the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor, the method described in any one of claims 1 to 5 is implemented.

10. A mobile payment device, including a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory and executed by the processor, wherein when the processor executes the computer program, the steps of the method described in any one of claims 1 to 5 are implemented.

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