Rateable token

Abstract

A method 100 of applying a rating to a digital token representing an asset comprises generating or retrieving 110 a digital token comprising metadata relating to an asset, such as a carbon reduction a

Description

Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method of applying a rating to a digital token representing an asset. In an embodiment of the disclosure, the digital token is associated with an emission reduction project and may be a voluntary carbon credit (VCC) digital token and the asset is a carbon reduction asset. Background The present disclosure relates generally to a digital token, which can be created and recorded in a distributed ledger on a public chain such as blockchain. Blockchain is a time-based series of data since it maintains a chronological record of transactions or data entries. This feature, combined with decentralisation and immutability, provides a reliable and transparent way to track the history of transactions or data entries. One area of current interest and research is the use of blockchain for the implementation of digital tokens to represent and transfer real-world entities via the blockchain. A digital token serves as an identifier that allows the real-world entity to be referenced. The token also serves as an identifier that allows the real-world item to be referenced from the blockchain. The most widely known application of blockchain technology is the Bitcoin ledger, although other blockchain implementations have been proposed and developed. Tokens can be appended to the blockchain, thereby becoming publicly retrievable. This can be achieved by completing a transaction that records the digital token within the transaction data or meta-data which a server may verify. Note that the output of this transaction does not need to be spent. Blockchain technology can also play a role in enhancing the security and transparency of land ownership transactions. However, blockchain does not inherently deal with the concept of physical location. Furthermore, it is well-recognised that geospatial data is difficult to index. An aspect of the present disclosure relates to voluntary carbon credits, which are a form of digital token. The voluntary carbon credits may be beneficial in aiding to reduce or avoid the emission of the green-house gas Carbon Dioxide (CO2). It is well-known that solutions are desired for the reduction of CO2 from the environment. One possible solution to this problem is for persons, companies or governments to trade voluntary carbon credits, where these carbon credits represent assets (i.e. carbon reduction assets) which are designed to reduce or avoid CO2. These carbon credits are traded in carbon markets, which allow their buying and selling. Voluntary carbon credits have a number of challenges, which must be overcome if they are to be seen to be a commercially viable and useful tool in the offsetting of CO2 and / or other greenhouse gas emissions. A challenge is that carbon credits may be subject to fraudulent behaviour as some sellers of these carbon credits will claim false or misleading values for the emissions reductions, which their associated carbon reduction assets can achieve. A further challenge is that some sellers may fraudulently claim multiple carbon reduction assets are occurring on a single location, and they will sell multiple carbon credits for multiple projects, where none or fewer than the number of carbon reduction assets claimed are actually being performed on said location. An additional challenge lies in the difficulty of regulators or financial exchanges in evaluating a particular carbon credit as they can only rely on the claimed benefits of said carbon credit from the seller with no real guarantees of the validity of these claimed benefits. The present disclosure seeks to overcome at least some of these disadvantages. Summary In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer-implemented method of applying a rating to a digital token representing an asset. The method comprises the step of generating or retrieving the digital token comprising metadata relating to the asset. The digital token indicates a location of the asset and / or a type of asset. The method comprises determining a rating for the asset, and applying the rating to the digital token by including the rating in the metadata or providing a pointer in the metadata that points to the rating. In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a system for applying a rating to a digital token representing an asset, wherein the digital token comprises metadata related to an asset. Further embodiments, examples and advantages associated with the above aspects are set out below in the detailed description. Brief description of the drawings Figure 1 depicts a computer-implemented method in accordance with the first aspect of the disclosure. Figure 2 depicts a computer-implemented method in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. Figure 3 depicts a schematic diagram of the programmable layers of the digital token. Figure 4 depicts a generic rating scale in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. Detailed Description In accordance with a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer-implemented method of applying a rating to a digital token representing an asset, the method comprising: generating or retrieving the digital token comprising metadata relating to the asset, wherein the digital token indicates a location of the asset and / or a type of asset; determining a rating for the asset; applying the rating to the digital token by including the rating in the metadata or providing a pointer in the metadata that points to the rating. Advantageously, in the embodiment where the location is provided with or without data relating to the type of asset, this allows validation of the authenticity of the asset by indicating the location of the asset associated with the digital token and by providing a rating to the token. In the embodiments, where the token is associated with the type of asset rather, for instance this may occur prior to assigning an owner or location for a given type of asset, the disclosure advantageously allows validation of the quality of the asset represented by the token, or a project associated with the asset irrespective of location. In an embodiment, the digital token may be a voluntary carbon credit (VCC) digital token. Advantageously, the method provides a way of reducing or avoiding the emission of CO2 from the environment. Furthermore, this provides a method of authenticating and / or evaluating a VCC by allowing the authentication and / or evaluation of an asset (e.g. an associated carbon reduction asset) by using the geospatial (i.e location) information stored with the VCC. The VCC digital token may be considered to be associated with one or more conceptual layers. Each conceptual layer may include or refer to a certain type of data or identifier that relates to the respective token. For example , the digital token optionally comprises an enrichment layer comprising metadata for the asset, an asset layer that may include data to identify or characterise the asset, a volumetric unit layer that may include data or units for one or more emission or cardon reducing parameters associated with the asset or project or the token. In an embodiment, the VCC digital token may further comprise a digital addressing layer and a base layer that includes or identifies location related data associated with the token. In an embodiment, the rating may be applied to the metadata of the enrichment layer. In an embodiment, the asset may be a carbon reduction asset. In an embodiment, the carbon reduction asset may be a mechanical asset and / or a biological asset. In an embodiment, the rating is a performance indicator which represents a likelihood of the asset or a project associated with the asset meeting a defined criterion or target. For example, the rating may be an evaluation of whether the asset associated with the VCC digital token will remove one tonne carbon dioxide or avoid the production of one tonne carbon dioxide, based on analysing the carbon reduction asset. In an embodiment, the rating may be generated based on a ground-based auditing and / or satellite imagery of the asset using the location data indicated in the digital token. In an embodiment, the digital token may be referenced in a transaction stored on a blockchain. Advantageously, this allows a permanent and unalterable record of transactions associated with the digital token, which allows a verification and / or authentication of the associated asset. In an embodiment, the metadata of the digital token is stored in an off-blockchain location and the digital token comprises a pointer configured to locate the metadata in the off-blockchain location. In an embodiment, the digital token may indicate an owner of the asset associated with the digital token, wherein the owner of the asset associated with the digital token is identified using a global legal entity identifier (GLEI), and wherein the rating is at least in part based on the owner. Advantageously, this allows authentication and / or evaluation of the owner of the asset associated with a digital token, which may be advantageous in the determination of fraudulent activity. In an embodiment, the computer-implemented method of the first aspect may further comprise performing a review of the rating and updating the metadata with an updated rating if the rating has changed based on the review. Advantageously, this allows a digital tokens rating to be reviewed and updated to ensure an accurate rating is associated with the asset of the digital token. In an embodiment, the rating may be reviewed at predetermined intervals of time. In an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a system for applying a rating to a digital token representing an asset, wherein the digital token comprises metadata related to an asset and wherein the system comprises: a computing platform; an application programming interface (API); and one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the aforementioned method of the first aspect or its associated embodiments. Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this disclosure the term ‘blockchain’ is used herein to include all forms of electronic, computer-based distributed ledgers, including consensus-based blockchains, alt-chains, sidechains and transaction-chain technologies, public or private, permissioned and un-permissioned ledgers, private or public ledgers, shared ledgers and variations thereof. A blockchain is an electronic ledger which is implemented as a computer-based decentralised, distributed system made up of blocks which in turn are made up of transactions. Each transaction includes at least one input and at least one output. Each block contains a hash of the previous block to that blocks become chained together to create a permanent, unalterable record of all transactions which have been written to the blockchain since its inception. Transactions contain small programs known as scripts embedded into their inputs and outputs, which specify how and by whom the outputs of the transactions can be accessed. On the Bitcoin platform, these scripts are written using a stack-based scripting language. In order for a transaction to be written to the blockchain, it must be i) validated by the first node that receives the transaction - if the transaction is validated, the node relays it to the other nodes in the network; and ii) added to a new block built by a miner; and iii) mined, i.e. added to the public ledger of past transactions. The most widely known application of blockchain technology is the Bitcoin ledger, although other blockchain implementations have been proposed and developed. While Bitcoin may be referred to herein for the purpose of convenience and illustration, it should be noted that the disclosure is not limited to use with the Bitcoin blockchain and alternative blockchain implementations fall within the scope of the disclosure. The present disclosure provides a computer-implemented method of applying a rating (i.e. an evaluation or a performance indicator) to a digital token. In an optional embodiment, the digital token is a geospatially identified voluntary carbon credit digital token. The digital token represents an asset (i.e. the digitised token represents a real-world asset). In an embodiment, the digital asset is a carbon reduction asset (i.e. an asset whose purpose is to reduce or avoid the emission of the green-house gas CO2). The disclosure includes techniques and technologies for validating and verifying the authenticity and environmental benefits of carbon credits. This is important to ensure that carbon credits are genuine and that they accurately represent emission reductions. With reference to Figure 1, there is depicted a computer-implemented method 100 in accordance with the first aspect of the disclosure. The computer-implemented method 100 of Figure 1 comprises steps 110 to 130. In step 110, the method 100 comprises generating or retrieving the digital token comprising metadata relating to the asset, wherein the digital token indicates a location of the asset associated with the digital token (i.e. the digital token is geospatially identified. For example, the digital token may be a geospatially identified VCC, GI-VCC) and a type of asset associated with the digital token. In a first embodiment, the digital token is stored on the blockchain and retrieved from a block-chain location. Data, such as metadata may be stored off-chain and referenced by a pointer (e.g. a hash) in the token stored on the blockchain. In an alternative embodiment, the digital token is generated from scratch and a rating is applied to the digital token. The location may be determined using global positioning system (GPS) data. In one embodiment, the location is represented by a What3words address which identifies the location of the asset using a positioning system. What3words is a proprietary geocode system designed to identify any location on the surface of Earth with a resolution of about 3 metres. Alternative systems can also be used which locate the asset. The location may be a single location or it may include multiple locations for an asset. In some embodiments, location data may indicate an area coverage of the asset. The location may be a small area (e.g. with a single small asset), or it may be a large area (e.g. with a large asset). It would be understood that any information capable of representing a location of the asset may be utilised. The type of asset may be any real-world asset. For example, the asset may include: a housing asset, a commodities asset (e.g. gold, oil, natural gas, etc.); or a carbon reduction asset (e.g. a carbon capture project; a solar or wind farm project; an area of forestry or an area of peat bog, etc.). It would be understood that the asset may be any asset capable of being represented by a digital token. In a preferred embodiment of the disclosure, the asset is a carbon reduction asset, where the carbon reduction asset represents a project designed to reduce or avoid CO2. In an embodiment, the carbon reduction asset may be a biological asset or a mechanical asset. A biological asset is any biological asset capable of reducing or avoiding CO2 in the environment. For example, the biological asset may relate to a forestry or a peat bog project. A mechanical asset is any mechanical asset capable of reducing or avoiding CO2 in the environment. For example, the mechanical asset may be a carbon capture project, a wind farm project or a solar energy project. In an embodiment, the digital token further indicates an owner of the asset associated with the digital token. The owner of the asset may be identified using a global legal entity identifier (GLEI) in some examples. In an embodiment, the rating is determined at least in part based on the owner. For example, an owner of an asset may be determined to be more, or less, reliable, and the rating may be adjusted or determined accordingly. For example, an owner of an asset may be determined to be untrustworthy based on a previous history of fraudulent activity; or based on not delivering a particular result. The owner may have been determined to have claimed a carbon reduction asset will reduce or avoid a particular amount of CO2 which did not occur, and consequently, they may receive a low or poor rating / evaluation due to this past result. In contrast, asset holders that have proven to deliver projects on time or to a good standard, for example, may receive a good score and consequently a high rating. The location data and the asset data may be stored as part of the digital token, or it may be stored in metadata of the token. In step 120, the method 100 comprises determining a rating for the asset, wherein the rating is a performance indicator of the asset. The rating is a performance indicator of the asset. The rating may be generated by one or more external entities. For example, a trusted rating entity (e.g. BeZero Carbon) may be used to generate the rating. The rating may represent an evaluation of the digital token, such as an evaluation on the likelihood that a given digital token will achieve its aims and / or represents the amount of the asset described in the digital token. For example, where the digital token is a voluntary carbon credit digital token and the asset is a carbon reduction asset, the rating may be a performance indicator which indicates an evaluation of how likely the asset is to achieve one or more targets of the asset. In an example, the target may be whether the asset associated with the VCC digital token will remove one tonne of carbon dioxide or avoid the production of one tonne of carbon dioxide, based on analysing the carbon reduction asset. The rating may be determined based on a ground-based auditing and / or satellite imagery of the asset using the location data indicated in the digital token. The rating may be generated by evaluating whether a carbon reduction asset will remove or avoid CO2, and the evaluation may comprise determining if the carbon reduction asset has peer reviewed data supporting its CO2 reduction / avoidance aims; whether the asset will reduce / avoid CO2 or whether this will simply be avoided until after the lifetime of the project. The evaluation may comprise determining if the claimed CO2 reduction / avoidance is real, or whether leakage occurs (i.e. where the CO2 has simply been moved outside the confines of the project). For example, a CO2 reduction project may avoid the emission of CO2 within the confines of the project, but it may simply move the emission of CO2 to a part of the process not within the scope of the project. It will be understood that the generation of the rating may comprise a simple determination, or it may comprise a comprehensive evaluation of the entirety of an asset (e.g. a carbon reduction asset). In an embodiment, the owner of the asset may be considered when determining a rating for the asset. An owner who is determined to be trustworthy (e.g. they removed the amount of CO2 that they claimed they would in a previous carbon reduction asset / project). The owner information may be used by an auditor or a regulator when generating a rating for the asset. It will be understood that this list is not exhaustive and other methods of determining the rating may be used. In step 130, the method 100 comprises applying the rating to the digital token by including the rating in the metadata or providing a pointer in the metadata that points to the rating. For example, in a first embodiment, the rating may be applied to digital token by including the rating in the metadata. The rating may be applied to the metadata of the enrichment layer. In a second embodiment, the rating may be applied to the digital token by providing a pointer in the metadata that points to the rating. In the second embodiment, the pointer may indicate where the rating is stored in a server configured at least to store the rating. Step 130 may further comprise a verification step, where before applying the rating to the digital token by including the rating in the metadata, it is verified that the rating is accurate, or is from a trusted party. This may be used to ensure that the rating is a legitimate rating. With reference to Figure 2, there is depicted a computer-implemented method 200 in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. The computer-implemented method 200 comprises steps 210 to 240. Steps 210, 220 and 230 are the same as steps 110, 120 and 130, respectively discussed in relation to Figure 1. In step 240, the method 200 comprises performing a review of the rating and updating the metadata with an updated rating if the rating has changed based on the review. If it is determined that the rating does not require updating, then the method 200 ends. If it is determined that the rating does require updating, then the method 200 returns to step 230 and the metadata is updated to reflect the change in the rating. For example, the rating may be updated if a review indicates that the rating has changed by a predetermined minimum value. The rating may be changed where further information has been received regarding an owner of the asset; based on changes to the asset (e.g. where the asset is a carbon reduction asset, the carbon reduction asset may report changes which may be seen as an indication that the project should be reviewed). In an embodiment, the rating may be reviewed at predetermined intervals of time. For example, it may be reviewed once a month, once a year, once every five years, etc. With reference to Figure 3, there is depicted a schematic diagram of the programmable layers of the digital token 300. The digital token 300 comprises an enrichment layer 310, the enrichment layer 310 comprising metadata (e.g. metadata suitable for the asset). In embodiments, the rating is provided in the metadata of the enrichment layer 310. The metadata may further comprise information regarding a total amount of CO2 which is expected to be removed / avoided as a result of the asset; a timescale for the asset; the current state of the asset. The metadata may comprise any information relevant to the digital token and / or its associated asset. The digital token 300 further comprises an asset layer 320, the asset layer 320 comprising information related to the asset. For example, where the digital token is a VCC token, the asset layer may comprise information related to a carbon reduction asset, such as whether the carbon reduction asset is a biological asset or a mechanical asset. Information related to the asset may further comprise information regarding the type of asset; a total amount of CO2 which is expected to be removed / avoided as a result of the asset; a timescale for the asset; the current state of the asset. The digital token 300 further comprises a volumetric unit 330, the volumetric unit 330 comprising information related to the amount of the asset being represented by the digital token 300. For example, where the digital token 300 is a VCC token, the volumetric unit 330 may comprise information related to the amount of volumetric tonnes of CO2 that the carbon reduction asset (or assets) claim to reduce or avoid from the environment. The digital token 300 further comprises a digital addressing layer 340, the digital addressing layer 340 comprising an IPv6 address (i.e. it provides a unique IP address for the digital token 300); and the digital addressing layer 340 comprises a unique Bitcoin address to identify the distributed ledger which stores information regarding the digital token 300 (e.g. the VCC token). The digital token 300 further comprises a base layer 350, the base layer 350 comprising location information and owner information (i.e. information which identifies the legal owner of the digital token 300, for example a Global Legal Entity Identifier (GLEI), the GLEI identifying the legal owner of the digital token 300). The location information may be any information capable of identifying the location of the asset, such as a what3words address or a Global Positioning System (GPS) address. With reference to Figure 4, there is depicted a generic rating scale 400 in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. The generic rating scale 400 depicted shows an 8-point scale for which an asset (such a carbon reduction asset) can be rated. By way of example, when the asset is a carbon reduction asset, a higher number on the rating scale 400 may represent a high likelihood (i.e. a high probability or evaluation) that the carbon reduction asset will reduce CO2 by the amount claimed by the carbon reduction asset associated with a VCC. A lower number may represent a low likelihood that the carbon reduction asset will reduce CO2 by the amount claimed by the carbon reduction asset associated with a VCC. It will be appreciated that the above-described embodiments of the first aspect of the present disclosure are given by way of example only, and that various modifications may be made to the embodiments without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined in the appended claims. For example, in use the assets of Figures 1 and 3 may represent any asset, such as a carbon reduction asset, a property asset, assets of a smart city, bonds or shares, commodities (e.g. gold, silver etc.) or a natural resource such as oil, natural gas, area of forestry etc. It will be understood that this list is not exhaustive and other location based assets can be realised. Furthermore, in use any of the digital tokens described above may be stored on a geospatially identified (i.e. a geo-location indexed) blockchain, which allows the identification of the location of the asset associated with the digital token. Furthermore, any of the digital tokens described above may be referenced in a transaction stored on a blockchain. Furthermore, the metadata of the digital token may be stored in an off-blockchain location and the digital token may comprise a pointer configured to locate the metadata in the off-blockchain location. It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit 5 the disclosure, and that those skilled in the art will be capable of designing many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed in parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claims. The word "comprising" and "comprises", and the like, does not exclude the presence of elements or steps 10 other than those listed in any claim or the specification as a whole. In the present specification, “comprises” means “includes or consists of’ and “comprising” means “including or consisting of”. The singular reference of an element does not exclude the plural reference of such elements and vice-versa. The disclosure may be implemented by means of hardware comprising several distinct elements, and by 15 means of a suitably programmed computer. In a device claim enumerating several means, several of these means may be embodied by one and the same item of hardware. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of applying a rating to a digital token representing an asset, the method comprising:generating or retrieving the digital token comprising metadata relating to the asset, wherein the digital token indicates at least one of a location of the asset or a type of the asset;determining a rating for the asset;applying the rating to the digital token by including the rating in the metadata or providing a pointer in the metadata that points to the rating.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital token is associated with an emission reduction project relating to the asset, and optionally the token is a voluntary carbon credit (VCC) digital token.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the digital token comprises enrichment data associated with the asset such as metadata, an asset identifier and / or, a volumetric unit relating to the asset.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the rating is applied to the metadata.

5. The method of claims 3 or 4, wherein the digital token further comprisesdigital addressing data and / or geographical location data .

6. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the asset is a carbon reduction asset.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the carbon reduction asset is a mechanical asset and / or a biological asset.

8. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the rating is a performance indicator which represents a likelihood of the asset or a project associated with the asset meeting a defined criterion or target.

9. The method of any of claims 2 to 8, wherein the rating is determined based on a ground-based auditing and / or satellite imagery of the asset using the location data indicated in the digital token.

10. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the digital token is referenced in a transaction stored on a blockchain.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the metadata of the digital token is stored in an off-blockchain location and the digital token comprises a reference or pointer configured to the metadata in the off-blockchain location.

12. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the digital token indicates an owner of the asset associated with the digital token, wherein the owner of the asset associated with the digital token is identified using a global legal entity identifier (GLEI), and wherein the rating is at least in part based on the owner.

13. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising performing a review of the rating and updating the metadata with an updated rating if the rating has changed based on the review.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the rating is reviewed at predetermined intervals of time.

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