SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FACILITAING TRANSACTIONS USING DIGITAL CURRENCY - Patent application

Abstract

Systems and methods are described for facilitating transactions using digital currency. In some aspects, a system is described for facilitating private transactions between a first entity and a second entity using a government-issued digital currency issued by a government agency. In some aspects, a system is described for facilitating transactions between a first entity and a second entity using a digital currency issued by a bank or an entity with a banking charter. In some aspects, a digital wallet for one or more digital currencies from one or more financial institutions is described, where the digital wallet is a self-hosted digital wallet. In some aspects, a digital wallet for one or more digital currencies from one or more financial institutions is described that includes a line of credit based on a digital currency issued by the financial institution and pegged to a fiat currency.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 132,099, filed on December 30, 2020 under Attorney Docket No. M1489.70001US00 and entitled "SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING TRANSACTIONS USING A DIGITAL CURRENCY," U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 141,867, filed on January 26, 2021 under Attorney Docket No. M1489.70001US01 and entitled "SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING TRANSACTIONS USING A DIGITAL CURRENCY," and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 141,867, filed on March 15, 2021 under Attorney Docket No. M1489.70001US02 and entitled "SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING TRANSACTIONS USING A DIGITAL CURRENCY." This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 161,421, entitled "METHOD FOR CURRENCY," each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0002] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16 / 529,265, filed on August 1, 2019 under Attorney Docket No. M1489.70000US03 and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING TRANSACTIONS USING A DIGITAL CURRENCY” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17 / 020,653, filed on September 14, 2020 under Attorney Docket No. M1489.70000US05 and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING TRANSACTIONS USING A DIGITAL CURRENCY” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17 / 020,653, filed on August 1, 2018 under Attorney Docket No. M1489.70000US0 ... This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 713,374, entitled "SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING TRANSACTIONS USING A DIGITAL CURRENCY," filed on September 25, 2018 with Attorney Docket No. M1489.70000US01, entitled "SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING TRANSACTIONS USING A DIGITAL CURRENCY," and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 736,306, filed on October 29, 2018 with Attorney Docket No. M1489.70000US02, entitled "SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING TRANSACTIONS USING A DIGITAL CURRENCY," each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. [Background technology]

[0003] Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are becoming more popular every day. These cryptocurrencies rely on blockchain technology to facilitate financial transactions without the need for a central authority such as a central server. However, the lack of a central authority to monitor such transactions has created a variety of issues for cryptocurrency adopters, including the prevalence of fraudulent transactions, large fluctuations in cryptocurrency values, and a lack of transparency regarding transactions using cryptocurrencies. Financial institutions in general have been hesitant to adopt cryptocurrencies due to at least some of these issues. In one example, Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of financial institution JP Morgan, called Bitcoin cryptocurrency a "fraudulent instrument" and said that "it's going to be bad."

[0004] A cryptocurrency is a digital asset that can be used to conduct financial transactions between two entities, such as a seller and a buyer. Financial transactions using cryptocurrencies are facilitated using a distributed computer system that uses cryptography to secure the financial transactions. While a distributed computer system may encompass a large number of computing nodes, such as servers, computers, or other suitable computing nodes, a distributed computer system does not have a central authority, such as a central server, that monitors financial transactions using cryptocurrencies. Instead, computing nodes in a distributed computer system use voting, or another form of reaching consensus, to approve or reject certain financial transactions. Cryptocurrencies inherently have a low level of regulation, as well as being not controlled by a central authority, so transactions cannot be closely monitored. These transactions do not require real names, so the parties involved remain anonymous. However, this anonymity aspect of cryptocurrencies can facilitate criminal activity. Cryptocurrencies have also become attractive to criminals, as they can easily transport millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies across borders without detection.

[0005] In one example, a distributed computer system facilitates financial transactions using cryptocurrencies through a blockchain that serves as a database of financial transactions using cryptocurrencies. A blockchain is a continuously growing list of records, called blocks or transaction blocks, that are linked and secured using cryptography. Each new financial transaction may be added to the blockchain as a transaction block. For example, a new block of financial transactions may contain a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and the transaction data. The cryptographic hash is used to generate a fixed-length mathematical representation of a variable amount of data, such as the previous block. When recording financial transactions, the blockchain is typically managed by a distributed computer system that contains a large number of computing nodes, which receive new financial transactions, generate new transaction blocks, validate the new transaction blocks, and insert the new transaction blocks into the block head. New financial transactions are typically recorded in transaction blocks of the form "Payer X sends Y cryptocurrency to Recipient Z". Once recorded, the data in any given transaction block cannot be changed retroactively without changing a subsequent block, which requires the consensus of the computing nodes in the distributed computer system. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The inventors understand that current cryptocurrencies are consumer focused. Although cryptocurrencies are adopted by many consumers, they are not accepted for use by typical financial institutions, such as banks and other government-regulated financial institutions. Financial institutions use fiat currency to facilitate financial transactions. A fiat currency, such as the US dollar, is a currency that a government has declared to be legal tender. Unlike cryptocurrencies, fiat currency does not usually fluctuate significantly in value over a short period of time. Financial institutions, such as banks and other government-regulated financial institutions, use a centralized computer system that encompasses a central institution, such as a financial institution, to transparently monitor, receive, verify, and record financial transactions. Such a centralized computer system may also prevent fraudulent financial transactions, such as authorized attacks by an entity to collect currency from one or more account holders of the financial institution.

[0007] For example, a centralized computer system may require that each attempted transaction be certified with an electronic signature before allowing the transaction to proceed. Because such transactions are regulated by the financial institution and / or the centralized computer system, the transactions are closely monitored and require parties to verify their identity in order for the transaction to occur. For example, a financial institution and / or centralized computer system may require one or more parties to comply with "know your customer" (KYC) procedures to verify their identity and / or assess suitability and potential risk of illegal activity. Such requirements may reduce fraudulent transactions or illegal activities such as money laundering. In some examples, a financial institution and / or centralized computer system may be anti-money laundering (AML) compliant or adopt an anti-money laundering (AML) compliance program.

[0008] According to some embodiments, a distributed computer system, rather than a centralized computer system, may be used to monitor, receive, verify, and record financial transactions (for example, any transaction described herein). The distributed computer system may be capable of managing a public blockchain. For example, the distributed computer system may be configured to add each new financial transaction, which may be added as a transaction block, to a blockchain, such as the public blockchain described in connection with FIG. 11A. The distributed computer system may have multiple computing nodes that receive new financial transactions, generate new transaction blocks, verify the new transaction blocks, and insert the new transaction blocks into the block head. As described herein, the public blockchain may be used to facilitate private transactions, for example, using digital currency issued by financial institutions.

[0009] According to some embodiments, digital currency (e.g., issued by a financial institution or not) may include tokens, such as non-fungible tokens, open blockchain tokens (e.g., as described herein), tokens representing assets (e.g., stocks, gold, commodities, real estate, etc.), and / or other suitable tokens. In some embodiments, digital currency may also include a stake in a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), as described herein, and / or other suitable embodiments.

[0010] According to some embodiments, a public blockchain may be used to monitor financial transactions (e.g., any transaction described herein) and to receive, verify, and record private financial transactions. A private company may operate the public blockchain. For example, a private company or entity may be configured to add each new financial transaction, which may be added as a transaction block, to a blockchain, such as the public blockchain described in connection with FIG. 11A, and may have a number of computing nodes that receive the new financial transactions, generate new transaction blocks, verify the new transaction blocks, and insert the new transaction blocks into the block head.

[0011] In some aspects, systems and methods are described herein for facilitating financial transactions using an institution-specific digital currency pegged with respect to a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar. An institution may implement a distributed ledger that is private to the institution. This private distributed ledger is a continuously growing list of records, called blocks, or transaction blocks, that are linked and secured using cryptographic techniques. Unlike a public blockchain, a private distributed ledger does not expose transaction records. However, an institution, and / or its agents, may record new financial transactions by adding a corresponding transaction block to the private distributed ledger. For example, a block of a new financial transaction may include a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and the transaction data. The cryptographic hash is used to generate a fixed-length mathematical representation of a variable amount of data, such as the previous block. The private distributed ledger may record transactions between customers of the institution using the institution's digital currency. In some embodiments, other institutions may also participate in transactions using the institution's digital currency. For example, the other institutions may send information about the transaction to the original institution for inclusion in the private distributed ledger. In another example, other financial institutions may be granted access to the private distributed ledger and may be affiliated with or approved by the original financial institution for the privilege of recording transactions within the private distributed ledger.

[0012] In some aspects, a financial institution may offer digital currency transactions to its customers while tracking the digital currency transaction amounts in a profit and loss model. For example, a financial institution may apply deposits in digital currency toward reserves required to comply with banking regulations. In the United States, reserves are part of federal banking regulations that require financial institutions to hold a minimum amount of assets in cash, i.e., fiat currency. Because a financial institution's digital currency is backed by a corresponding fiat currency, such as the U.S. dollar, the financial institution may rely on the digital currency as equivalent to the corresponding fiat currency to meet reserves. In some aspects, a financial institution may associate the digital currency with a fiat currency belonging to the financial institution, a fiat currency belonging to a customer, or another fiat currency suitable for this purpose.

[0013] In some embodiments, there may be discretion in reserve requirements based on different aspects of the financial entity. In some instances, different entities may be required or encouraged to hold different amounts of assets in fiat currency, such as less than the total required amount. In some instances, reserve requirements may be met in whole or in part by different assets, such as stocks, commodities, and / or the like. Various aspects of the financial entity may include the size, credit, rating, and / or the like of the financial entity.

[0014] In some examples, financial institutions holding reserves of fiat currency may be private banks, including the Federal Reserve, the Department of the Treasury, one or more central banks, one or more regional reserve banks, etc., and / or governments, and / or other suitable entities, or combinations thereof.

[0015] In some embodiments, financial institutions may include government regulated entities such as virtual asset service providers (VASPs). VASPs include participating in and providing financial services related to the exchange of virtual assets between fiat currency, exchange between multiple forms of virtual assets, digital asset transfer, custody and management of virtual assets, and the offering and sale of virtual assets. In some embodiments, VASPs may be required to comply with applicable requirements of the jurisdiction in which they operate, which generally include implementing anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terrorism programs, being licensed or registered with a local government, and being subject to supervision or oversight by that government.

[0016] An advantage of at least some embodiments is that only financial institutions and / or authorized agents, such as retailers, can approve transactions using the digital currency, providing transparency of transactions. Another advantage of at least some embodiments is that the creation of a proof of work, which is typically required for a public blockchain, such as the Bitcoin blockchain, can be eliminated. A proof of work is an algorithm used in a public blockchain to verify transactions and record new transaction blocks in the public blockchain. A proof of work algorithm is required because any entity, individual, or organization can record new transaction blocks in the public blockchain. However, in a private distributed ledger for a financial institution's digital currency, only financial institutions and / or authorized agents can record transaction blocks in the private distributed ledger, eliminating the need to verify transaction blocks using a proof of work algorithm. According to some embodiments, the blockchain may be implemented as a linked list, where each block includes a pointer. In other embodiments, the blockchain may be implemented as a list, an indexed list, a directed acyclic graph (DAG), a table, a tree (e.g., a Merkle tree), and / or any data structure.

[0017] Another advantage of at least some embodiments is that it provides more security to financial institutions because digital currency transactions can be stored in a private distributed ledger that is distributed across multiple servers without the need for a central transaction server. This eliminates the single point of failure that would be present if a central transaction server were included. Another advantage of at least some embodiments is the provision of fast, low-cost transactions from one customer of a financial institution to another. In some embodiments, merchants can accept the financial institution's digital currency with confidence that it is backed by fiat currency (e.g., the digital currency does not fluctuate in value against the assigned fiat currency), and may also have immediate access to funds (e.g., compared to the slowness and expense of credit and debit cards). Another advantage of at least some embodiments is that customers, such as merchants and individual consumers, may enjoy benefits associated with the use of digital currency, such as fast and low-cost transactions, and banks may enjoy benefits associated with fiat currency, such as the ability to include deposits in their profit and loss models.

[0018] In some aspects, each customer of a financial institution is given a digital currency account. The digital currency may be pegged relative to a fiat currency, such as the U.S. dollar, and the digital currency may be exchangeable between the user's digital currency account and the user's fiat currency account. The customer may enjoy the benefits of a typical fiat currency account, such as a checking account, which may earn interest and receive insurance-based deposit protection from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). In some aspects, the customer may enjoy additional promotions, such as high yields, for using the digital currency account. The financial institution issuing the digital currency may earn more deposits by offering such a digital currency account.

[0019] In some embodiments, a customer of a financial institution may request to exchange an amount of fiat currency for the financial institution's digital currency. The financial institution may create a new digital currency account for the customer and deposit the digital currency equivalent of the fiat currency amount into the account. Alternatively, the financial institution may deposit the digital currency equivalent of the fiat currency amount into the customer's existing digital currency account. In some embodiments, the customer's digital currency account is separate from, but linked to, the customer's fiat currency account at the financial institution. The financial institution may also receive or obtain fiat currency from the customer from the customer's fiat currency account at the financial institution or another financial institution, or in the form of physical fiat currency or cash.

[0020] Payments using blockchain applications In some aspects, customers of financial institutions, including individual consumers and merchants, may use digital currencies without the risks associated with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. For example, merchants may not want to accept traditional digital currencies due to the risk that their value may decrease in a short period of time. From the perspective of individual consumers, the concern is that many individuals consider digital currencies to be investments. Individual consumers may not want to pay with digital currencies due to the risk that their value may increase (and thus the individual consumer may "overpay" for goods). That is, individual consumers typically view traditional digital currencies such as Bitcoin as investments rather than currencies that can be spent, while merchants typically view traditional digital currencies as risky because their value may fluctuate widely. Digital currencies whose value is pegged to fiat currencies may eliminate these problems. Thus, another advantage of at least some embodiments is that individual consumers as well as merchants may enjoy the benefits of digital currencies while avoiding the above-mentioned problems associated with traditional digital currencies.

[0021] In some embodiments, a financial institution may choose to limit the use of its digital currency to its customers and / or customers of other financial institutions approved by the financial institution. For transactions involving entities not approved by the financial institution, a traditional interbank transfer system such as the Automated Clearing House (ACH) may be used. ACH is an electronic network for fiat-based financial transactions in the United States. A financial institution's use of digital currency may be beneficial even when used with a traditional interbank transfer system. Unlike traditional transactions involving credit cards or debit cards, transactions involving digital currency may be completed immediately or within the same business day due to faster transaction speeds. In traditional transactions involving debit cards, for example, the customer's account may be debited immediately, but the merchant does not receive the payment immediately.

[0022] In some aspects, each financial institution may issue its own digital currency. Financial institutions may choose to use a central clearing house for transactions involving digital currencies from two or more different financial institutions. Individual accounts may be debited and credited immediately, and financial institutions may settle interbank transactions once a day or on some other frequency. In one example, a store that holds funds in a digital currency account with a particular bank may continue to accept digital currency issued by another bank. The transaction may be cleared via a central clearing house for transactions involving digital currencies from two different financial institutions.

[0023] Another advantage of at least some embodiments is that it provides consumers with a digital currency that offers the same security as holding funds in fiat currency at a typical financial institution. In the short term, it is highly unlikely that the federal government will issue a digital currency. In the United States, digital currencies are backed by the corresponding fiat currency, the US dollar, by pegging the value of the digital currency to the US dollar. Furthermore, unlike cryptocurrency exchanges where cryptocurrency funds are typically held and / or traded, financial institutions are regulated by the federal government. A typical cryptocurrency exchange is an unregulated business that allows customers to exchange cryptocurrencies for other assets, such as fiat currency, or other cryptocurrencies. In some embodiments, consumers may receive deposit guarantees with their digital currency accounts, similar to the deposit guarantees offered with fiat currency accounts. In the United States, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is an independent agency of the U.S. government that protects deposit consumers from the loss of insured deposits in the event of the failure of an FDIC-insured financial institution. Consumers may also use mobile applications, web applications, or physical digital currency cards to transact with digital currency and receive the same fraud protections as transacting with fiat currency.

[0024] In some embodiments, consumers may conduct transactions using any means that can authenticate their identity, such as a password, biometrics, facial recognition, fingerprints, eye scans, and other suitable authentication means. In some embodiments, consumers may use any suitable payment means, such as text messages, near-field communication enabled devices, mobile payment services such as APPLE PAY®, VENMO®, PAYPAL®, and the like (APPLE PAY® is a registered trademark of Apple Inc., Cupertino, California, USA; VENMO® and PAYPAL® are registered trademarks of Paypal, Inc., San Jose, California), and other suitable payment means.

[0025] Another advantage of at least some embodiments is that unlike typical cryptocurrencies where anyone can insert transactions into the blockchain and it is persistent, the financial institution can decide whether it will be the only authorized entity to record transactions in the private distributed ledger or whether it will add other authorized agents. In some embodiments, the financial institution may grant authorization to an authorized agent, such as another financial institution, to use the private distributed ledger.

[0026] Ledger usage authority For example, a financial institution may grant access to a private distributed ledger to government and / or financial regulators, including U.S. agencies and international joint agencies (e.g., the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), etc.). In some examples, a financial institution may use a cloud provider to store and access a private distributed ledger. In one example, a financial institution may partner with another entity and grant the entity access to one or more transactions in the distributed ledger. The entities may be one or more partner firms (e.g., any combination of investment management firms, risk management firms, and / or institutional investors).

[0027] In some embodiments, a financial institution may allow authorized agents to submit transactions for insertion into the private distributed ledger, but only the financial institution itself may record the transactions. Because the financial institution controls who has access to the private distributed ledger, and only the financial institution can approve such access, a high level of security may be provided to customers using the financial institution's digital currency. In some embodiments, as described further herein, by way of example, a financial institution may adhere to certain rules required by a central clearing house to handle transactions between different financial institutions involving their respective digital currencies.

[0028] In some aspects, a system for facilitating a transaction between a first entity and a second entity using a digital currency includes a computing node connected to one or more computing nodes participating in a private distributed ledger for a financial institution, the private distributed ledger storing one or more transaction blocks representing a transaction in the digital currency issued by the financial institution and pegged to a fiat currency, the computing node is configured to store and maintain a copy of the private distributed ledger and to receive a transaction to transfer an amount of the digital currency from the first entity to the second entity, where the first entity and the second entity are associated with the financial institution, the computing node is further configured to generate a new transaction block representing the transaction for addition to the private distributed ledger, transmit the new transaction block to the one or more computing nodes participating in the private distributed ledger, receive a validity indication of the new transaction block from the one or more computing nodes participating in the private distributed ledger, and based on the validity indication, insert the new transaction block into the private distributed ledger to complete the transaction to transfer the amount of the digital currency from the first entity to the second entity.

[0029] In some embodiments, the transaction includes an electronic signature of the first entity, the validity indication includes a validity indication of the electronic signature of the first entity, and the computing node is further configured to receive an invalidity indication of the new transaction block from the one or more computing nodes, the invalidity indication including an invalidity indication of the electronic signature of the first entity, and further configured to reject the transaction and prevent insertion of the new transaction block into the private distributed ledger based on the invalidity indication.

[0030] In some embodiments, the validity indication includes an indication that the first entity has a sufficient amount of digital currency necessary to complete the transaction, and the computing node is further configured to receive an invalidity indication of the new transaction block from the one or more computing nodes, and based on the invalidity indication including an indication that the first entity does not have a sufficient amount of digital currency necessary to complete the transaction, determine that the first entity has access to an available amount of fiat currency equivalent to the sufficient amount of digital currency, exchange the available amount of fiat currency for the sufficient amount of digital currency necessary to complete the transaction, and resubmit the new transaction block to one or more computing nodes participating in the private distributed ledger. In some embodiments, the second entity receives the amount of digital currency or the amount of fiat currency equivalent to the amount of digital currency when the transaction is completed.

[0031] In some embodiments, the first entity is a consumer, the second entity is a merchant, and the first entity and the second entity are customers of a financial institution.

[0032] In some embodiments, the transaction is initiated from a digital currency card, a mobile application, or a web application configured for payments in digital currency.

[0033] In some aspects, a system for facilitating transactions between a first entity and a second entity using a digital currency includes a computing node connected to one or more computing nodes that participate in a private distributed ledger for a first financial institution, the private distributed ledger storing one or more transaction blocks representing transactions in the digital currency pegged to fiat currency. The computing node is configured to store and maintain a copy of the private distributed ledger and to receive a transaction to transfer an amount of digital currency from a first entity to a second entity, where the first entity is associated with a first financial institution and the second entity is associated with a second financial institution, and the computing node is further configured to generate a new transaction block representing the transaction for addition to the private distributed ledger, transmit the new transaction block to one or more computing nodes participating in the private distributed ledger, receive a validity indication of the new transaction block from the one or more computing nodes, and based on the validity indication, insert the new transaction block into the private distributed ledger to complete the withdrawal of the amount of digital currency, and exchange the amount of digital currency for an equivalent amount of fiat currency for transfer to a second entity associated with the second financial institution.

[0034] In some embodiments, the digital currency is associated with a digital wallet of one or more digital currencies from one or more financial institutions and includes one or more public and private key pairs for a user holding one or more digital currencies from one or more financial institutions, and the user may use each public and private key pair to receive and / or send digital currency issued by the financial institution corresponding to the respective public and private key pair.

[0035] According to some embodiments, the digital wallet may be issued by one or more entities, which may include, for example, a financial entity, a financial technology company, a government entity (or a government agency or government regulated financial institution), a payment processing company, a technology company, a cloud company, a clearing house, a banking syndicate, an entity with a banking charter, and / or any suitable entity.

[0036] In some embodiments, the digital currency is not stored in a digital wallet, but rather the financial institution's digital currency is stored and maintained in a private distributed ledger for the financial institution. In some embodiments, the digital currency may also be stored in an exchange, brokerage, bank, online account such as Zelle®, and / or the like. In some embodiments, to spend digital currency from a digital wallet, a user authorizes the use of a private key corresponding to the digital currency to electronically sign a transaction involving the digital currency.

[0037] In some embodiments, the digital wallet comprises software in the form of an application installed on the computer, cell phone, and / or tablet itself. In some embodiments, the digital wallet is connected to a trusted third party via an application programming interface (API) and the stored public and private key pairs are managed by the trusted third party.

[0038] In some embodiments, the digital wallet contains hardware for storing public and private key pairs, the hardware contains a button that a user must physically press or touch to electronically sign a transaction, and the hardware requires that a user insert a personal identification number (PIN) before the user can electronically sign a transaction. In some embodiments, the digital wallet provides consumer rewards, loyalty points, and / or location-based rewards to the user for use of the digital wallet, with the user's reward level being determined based on a balance of digital currency maintained in the digital wallet and / or meeting one or more transaction thresholds.

[0039] In some aspects, a method of exchanging a first digital currency pegged to a first legal tender for a second digital currency pegged to a second legal tender includes receiving a request from a user at a financial institution to exchange an amount of the first digital currency pegged to the first legal tender for an equivalent amount of the second digital currency pegged to the second legal tender, storing the received currency exchange request in a private distributed ledger for the financial institution, and withdrawing the amount of the first digital currency from a digital wallet for the user and crediting the equivalent amount of the second digital currency to the user's digital wallet.

[0040] In some embodiments, to complete a received currency exchange request, the financial institution withdraws a corresponding amount of the first fiat currency from a first omnibus account for the first fiat currency and deposits a corresponding equivalent amount of the second fiat currency to a second omnibus account for the second fiat currency. In some embodiments, received currency exchange requests are made in real time, with current currency exchange rates applied to the requests.

[0041] In some embodiments, a user of the digital wallet may set one or more notifications related to a currency exchange rate between a first fiat currency and a second fiat currency, and a request for a currency exchange is initiated based on receiving the one or more notifications.

[0042] In some aspects, a clearing facility for facilitating digital currency transactions includes a computing node connected to one or more computing nodes that participate in a private distributed ledger for the clearing facility, the private distributed ledger storing one or more transaction blocks that represent transactions in one or more digital currencies. The computing node is configured to store and maintain a copy of the private distributed ledger and to receive a transaction to transfer an amount of digital currency from a first digital wallet to a second digital wallet, where the digital currency is issued by a first financial institution and is pegged against fiat currency, the first digital wallet belongs to a user of the first financial institution and the second digital wallet belongs to a user of the second financial institution, and information regarding the transaction is sent to or received from the first digital wallet at the first financial institution and / or the second digital wallet at the second financial institution and recorded on the private distributed ledger for the first financial institution and / or the private distributed ledger for the second financial institution, and the computing node is further configured to store a new transaction block representing the transaction in the private distributed ledger for the clearing facility and update the first digital wallet and the second digital wallet, thereby transferring the amount of digital currency from the first digital wallet to the second digital wallet.

[0043] In some embodiments, the clearing mechanism is notified by the first financial institution and / or the second financial institution regarding a transaction to transfer the amount of digital currency from the first digital wallet to the second digital wallet. In some embodiments, the payment mechanism is notified by a first financial institution regarding another transaction transferring an amount of digital currency from a first digital wallet to another digital wallet, where both digital wallets belong to a user of the first financial institution. In some embodiments, the payment mechanism is notified by a second financial institution regarding another transaction transferring an amount of digital currency from a second digital wallet to another digital wallet, where both digital wallets belong to a user of the second financial institution. In some embodiments, the clearing house incorporates a hierarchical structure for ranking financial institutions based on each institution's asset size, debt rating, and / or financial strength review.

[0044] In some embodiments, a first financial institution and a second financial institution belong to a highest tier and settle transactions between them periodically or when a balance limit is exceeded, and, if the first financial institution belongs to a highest tier and the second financial institution belongs to a lowest tier, settle transactions between them on an individual transaction basis or when a balance limit is exceeded.

[0045] In some embodiments, the clearing facility stores a unique transaction number to track transactions across the private distributed ledger for the clearing facility and the first and second financial institutions, the unique transaction number being assigned by the clearing facility, the first financial institution, the second financial institution, or an independent entity that issues unique transaction numbers. In some embodiments, the clearing house is a dispute resolution facility for transactions between a first financial institution and a second financial institution.

[0046] In some embodiments, the clearing facility charges a fee for facilitating a transaction between a first entity associated with a first financial institution and a second entity associated with a second financial institution, where the clearing facility does not hold any digital currency. In some embodiments, the clearing house charges a fee for facilitating a transaction between a first entity associated with the first financial institution and a third entity associated with the first financial institution. In some embodiments, the clearing mechanism notifies the first financial institution and the second financial institution of the appropriate time to complete the transaction.

[0047] In some embodiments, the payment mechanism implements one or more "know your customer" policies to standardize the process of issuing digital wallets to users and / or authorizing third parties to be entrusted with holding digital currency on behalf of users. In some embodiments, upon receiving information, either directly or from a first financial institution or a second financial institution, regarding a transaction that is fraudulent, used to purchase illicit goods, and / or illegal in nature, the payment facility may prevent the transaction based on that information, where the payment facility may freeze and / or disable the first digital wallet and / or the second digital wallet involved in the transaction to prevent further illegal activity and / or causing loss of funds.

[0048] In some aspects, a method for exchanging digital currency pegged to fiat currency for digitized assets representing a commodity includes receiving a request from a user at a financial institution to exchange an amount of the digital currency pegged to fiat currency for an equivalent portion of the digitized assets representing the commodity, storing the received commodity exchange request in a private distributed ledger for the financial institution, and withdrawing the amount of digital currency from a digital wallet for the user and crediting the equivalent portion of the digitized assets representing the commodity to the digital wallet for the user.

[0049] In some embodiments, commodities include gold, silver, platinum, copper, oil, natural gas, corn, soybeans, wheat, cocoa, coffee, cotton, or sugar. In some instances, commodities may include stocks and / or options.

[0050] In some aspects, a system for facilitating a transaction between a first entity and a second entity using a digital currency includes a computing node. The computing node is included in a plurality of computing nodes participating in a private distributed ledger for a financial institution. The private distributed ledger for the financial institution stores one or more transaction blocks representing transactions in a digital currency issued by the financial institution and pegged to a fiat currency. Each computing node in the plurality of computing nodes stores and maintains a respective copy of the private distributed ledger for the financial institution. The computing nodes are configured to store and maintain a copy of the private distributed ledger for the financial institution. The computing nodes are further configured to receive a transaction transferring an amount of the digital currency from the first entity to the second entity, where the first entity and the second entity are associated with the financial institution, and where at least a portion of the digital currency of the first entity is associated with a first omnibus account at the financial institution and at least a portion of the digital currency of the second entity is associated with a second omnibus account at the financial institution. According to another aspect, the financial institution may also accredit a clearing house to issue the digital currency. The financial institution may subsequently and / or simultaneously transfer an equivalent and / or appropriate amount of funds to an omnibus account at the financial institution. For example, the equivalent amount of funds may be an amount of fiat currency equivalent (e.g., at the time the digital currency is issued) to the amount of the issued digital currency. In some examples, the appropriate amount may be more or less than the amount of fiat currency equivalent to the amount of the issued digital currency. The computing node is further configured to generate a new transaction block representing the transaction in the digital currency for addition to the private distributed ledger for the financial institution. The computing node is further configured to transmit the new transaction block to a plurality of computing nodes participating in the private distributed ledger for the financial institution.The computing node is further configured to receive a validity indication of the new transaction block from the plurality of computing nodes, the validity indication including a validity indication of an electronic signature of the first entity included in the transaction involving the digital currency. The computing node is further configured to complete the transaction to transfer the amount of digital currency from the first entity to the second entity based on the validity indication by inserting the new transaction block into the financial institution's copy of the private distributed ledger, each computing node in the plurality of computing nodes including the new transaction block in its respective copy of the financial institution's private distributed ledger.

[0051] In some embodiments, a new block of transactions is generated at the financial institution and sent to the clearing house for insertion into the clearing house's private distributed ledger. In some embodiments, a new block of transactions is generated at the clearing house and sent to the financial institution for insertion into the clearing house's private distributed ledger.

[0052] In some embodiments, the computing node is further configured to receive an invalidity indication of the new transaction block from the one or more computing nodes, the invalidity indication including an invalidity indication of the first entity's electronic signature, and configured to reject the transaction and prevent insertion of the new transaction block into the private distributed ledger for the financial institution based on the invalidity indication.

[0053] In some embodiments, the validity indication further includes an indication that the first entity has a sufficient amount of digital currency necessary to complete the transaction, and the computing node is further configured to receive an indication of invalidity of the new transaction block from the one or more computing nodes. The computing node is further configured to determine, based on the invalidity indication including an indication that the first entity does not have a sufficient amount of digital currency necessary to complete the transaction, that the first entity has access to an available amount of fiat currency equivalent to the sufficient amount of digital currency, exchange the available amount of fiat currency for a sufficient amount of digital currency necessary to complete the transaction and transfer the available amount of fiat currency to an omnibus account at the financial institution, resubmit the new transaction block to one or more computing nodes participating in the private distributed ledger for the financial institution, and receive validity indications of the new transaction block from the plurality of computing nodes, where the validity indication includes a validity indication of an electronic signature of the first entity included in the transaction involving the digital currency, and the computing node is further configured to complete the transaction to transfer the amount of digital currency from the first entity to the second entity by inserting the new transaction block into the copy of the private distributed ledger for the financial institution based on the validity indication, where each computing node in the plurality of computing nodes includes the new transaction block in its respective copy of the private distributed ledger for the financial institution.

[0054] In some embodiments, the second entity receives the amount of digital currency or a fiat currency equivalent to the amount of digital currency when the transaction is completed. In some embodiments, the transaction is initiated from a digital currency card, a mobile application, or a web application configured for payments in digital currency. In some embodiments, the digital currency card, mobile application, or web application requires a personal identification number (PIN), password, biometric authentication, facial recognition, fingerprint, and / or eye scan.

[0055] In some embodiments, the first omnibus account and the second omnibus account are the same omnibus account or different omnibus accounts. In some embodiments, a financial institution may have deposit insurance for an amount of fiat currency equal to the amount of the digital currency, backed or maintained by fiat currency held by each entity in an omnibus account at the financial institution.

[0056] In some embodiments, the relationship of a first entity to a second entity is one of the following: individual to individual, individual to individual(s), individual to business, individual to business(s), individual to business and individual(s), individual to business(s) and individual, individual to business(s) and individual(s), individual(s) to individual, individual(s) to individuals, individual(s) to business(s), individual(s) to business(s), individual(s) to business and individual, individual(s) to business and individual, individual(s) to business(s) and individual, individual(s) to business(s) and individual, business to individual, business to business ... to individual(s), business to business, business to business(es), business to business and individual, business to business and individual(s), business to business(es) and individual, business to business(es) and individual(s), business(es) to individual, business(es) to individual(s), business(es) to business, business(es) to business(es), business(es) to business and individual, business(es) to business and individual(s), business(es) to business(es) and individual, business(es) to business(es) and individual, business(es) to business(es) and individual(s), government to government, government to business, business to government, government to private citizen, and private citizen to government.

[0057] In some aspects, a clearing mechanism for facilitating digital currency transactions includes a computing node. The computing node is included in a plurality of computing nodes participating in a private distributed ledger for the clearing mechanism. The private distributed ledger for the clearing mechanism stores one or more transaction blocks representing transactions in one or more digital currencies. Each computing node in the plurality of computing nodes stores and maintains a respective copy of the private distributed ledger for the clearing mechanism. The computing nodes are configured to store and maintain a copy of the private distributed ledger for the clearing mechanism. The computing node is further configured to receive a transaction to transfer an amount of digital currency from a first entity associated with the first financial institution to a second entity associated with the second financial institution, where the digital currency is issued by the first financial institution and pegged against fiat currency, at least a portion of the digital currency of the first entity is associated with a first omnibus account at the first financial institution and at least a portion of the digital currency of the second entity is associated with a second account at the second financial institution (e.g., a second entity that performs KYC), and information regarding the transaction is sent to and / or received from the clearing facility, the first financial institution, and / or the second financial institution and recorded on a private distributed ledger for the clearing facility, a private distributed ledger for the first financial institution, and / or a private distributed ledger for the second financial institution. The computing node is further configured to store, based on receiving from the plurality of computing nodes an indication of validity of the electronic signature of the first entity involved in the transaction involving the digital currency, in the private distributed ledger for the payment facility a new transaction block representing a transaction to transfer the amount of digital currency from a first entity at the first financial institution to a second entity at the second financial institution, where each computing node in the plurality of computing nodes includes the new transaction block in its respective copy of the private distributed ledger for the payment facility.

[0058] In some embodiments, an amount of the digital currency is transferred to a second entity. In some embodiments, a second digital currency issued by a second financial institution and pegged against fiat currency and equivalent to the amount of the digital currency is transferred to the second financial entity. In some embodiments, the fiat currency corresponding to the amount of the digital currency is transferred immediately or subsequently from a first omnibus account at a first financial institution to a second omnibus account at a second financial institution.

[0059] In some embodiments, the first financial institution notifies the clearing house upon issuance of the digital currency, and the clearing house is notified by the first financial institution and / or the second financial institution regarding a transaction to transfer an amount of fiat currency corresponding to the amount of digital currency from the first omnibus account to the second omnibus account.

[0060] In some embodiments, the clearing facility incorporates a hierarchical structure for ranking financial institutions based on each financial institution's asset size, debt rating, and / or financial soundness review, where a first financial institution and a second financial institution are in the highest tier and settle transactions between them periodically or when a balance limit is exceeded, and where the first financial institution is in the highest tier and a third financial institution is in the lowest tier and settles transactions between them on an individual transaction basis or periodically or when a balance limit is exceeded.

[0061] In some embodiments, the clearing mechanism notifies the first financial institution and the second financial institution of the timing to complete the transaction, including once a day, week, or month to allow for immediate settlement or aggregate processing of the transaction and / or to reduce settlement costs. In some embodiments, the transaction is completed based on the total balance owed between the first financial institution and the second financial institution.

[0062] In some aspects, a method for facilitating a transaction between a first entity and a second entity using a digital currency issued by a financial institution and pegged to a fiat currency is performed on a computing node included in a plurality of computing nodes participating in a private distributed ledger for the financial institution. Each computing node in the plurality of computing nodes stores and maintains a respective copy of the private distributed ledger for the financial institution. The method includes storing and maintaining a copy of the private distributed ledger for the financial institution, the private distributed ledger for the financial institution storing one or more transaction blocks representing transactions in the digital currency issued by the financial institution and pegged to a fiat currency. The method further includes receiving a transaction to transfer an amount of the digital currency from the first entity to the second entity, the first entity and the second entity being associated with a first omnibus account and a second omnibus account at the financial institution. The method further includes generating a new transaction block representing the transaction in the digital currency for addition to the private distributed ledger for the financial institution. The method further includes transmitting the new transaction block to a plurality of computing nodes participating in the private distributed ledger for the financial institution. The method further includes receiving a validity indication of the new transaction block from the plurality of computing nodes, the validity indication including a validity indication of the electronic signature of the first entity. The method further includes inserting the new transaction block into a copy of the private distributed ledger for the financial institution based on the validity indication to complete the transaction to transfer the amount of digital currency from the first entity to the second entity, wherein each computing node in the plurality of computing nodes includes the new transaction block in its respective copy of the private distributed ledger for the financial institution.

[0063] In some embodiments, a new block of transactions is generated at the financial institution and sent to the clearing house for insertion into the clearing house's private distributed ledger. In some embodiments, a new block of transactions is generated at the clearing house and sent to the financial institution for insertion into the clearing house's private distributed ledger.

[0064] In some embodiments, the method further includes receiving an invalidity indication of the new transaction block from the one or more computing nodes, the invalidity indication including an invalidity indication of the first entity's electronic signature, and the method further includes rejecting the transaction and not inserting the new transaction block into the private distributed ledger for the financial institution based on the invalidity indication.

[0065] In some embodiments, the validity indication further includes an indication that the first entity has a sufficient amount of digital currency necessary to complete the transaction, and the method further includes receiving an indication of invalidity of the new transaction block from the one or more computing nodes. The method further includes determining, based on the invalidity indication including an indication that the first entity does not have a sufficient amount of digital currency necessary to complete the transaction, that the first entity has access to an available amount of fiat currency equivalent to the sufficient amount of digital currency, exchanging the available amount of fiat currency for a sufficient amount of digital currency necessary to complete the transaction and transferring the available amount of fiat currency to an omnibus account at the financial institution, resubmitting the new transaction block to one or more computing nodes participating in the private distributed ledger for the financial institution, and receiving validity indications of the new transaction block from the plurality of computing nodes, where the validity indication includes an indication of a validity of the first entity's electronic signature, and the method further includes completing the transaction to transfer the amount of digital currency from the first entity to the second entity by inserting the new transaction block into a copy of the private distributed ledger for the financial institution based on the validity indication, where each computing node in the plurality of computing nodes includes the new transaction block in its respective copy of the private distributed ledger for the financial institution.

[0066] In some embodiments, the second entity receives the amount of digital currency or the fiat currency equivalent of the amount of digital currency when the transaction is completed. In some embodiments, the transaction is initiated from a digital currency card, a mobile application, or a web application configured for payments in digital currency. In some embodiments, the digital currency card, mobile application, or web application requires a personal identification number (PIN), password, biometric authentication, facial recognition, fingerprint, and / or eye scan.

[0067] In some embodiments, the first omnibus account and the second omnibus account are the same omnibus account or different omnibus accounts. In some embodiments, the financial institution has deposit insurance for an amount of fiat currency equal to the amount of the digital currency, backed or maintained by fiat currency held by each entity in an omnibus account at the financial institution.

[0068] In some embodiments, the relationship of a first entity to a second entity is one of the following: person to person, person to person, person to business, person to business, person to business and individual, person to business and individual, person to business and individual, person to individual, person to person, person to person, person to business, person to business, person to business and individual ... and individual(s), business to individual, business to individual(s), business to business, business to business(s), business to business and individual, business to business and individual(s), business to business(s) and individual, business to business(s) and individual(s), business(s) to individual, business(s) to individual(s), business(s) to business, business(s) to business(s), business(s) to business and individual, business(s) to business and individual(s), business(s) to business(s) and individual(s), and business(s) to business(s) and individual(s).

[0069] In some aspects, a method for a clearing facility facilitating digital currency transactions between a first entity associated with a first financial institution and a second entity associated with a second financial institution is implemented on a computing node included in a plurality of computing nodes participating in a private distributed ledger for the clearing facility, where each computing node in the plurality of computing nodes stores and maintains a respective copy of the private distributed ledger for the clearing facility. The method includes storing and maintaining a copy of the private distributed ledger for the clearing facility, where the private distributed ledger for the clearing facility stores one or more transaction blocks representing transactions of one or more digital currencies.

[0070] The method further includes receiving a transaction to transfer an amount of digital currency from a first entity associated with the first financial institution to a second entity associated with the second financial institution, where the digital currency is issued by the first financial institution and pegged against fiat currency, the first entity is associated with a first omnibus account at the first financial institution and the second entity is associated with a second omnibus account at the second financial institution, and information regarding the transaction is sent to and / or received from the clearing facility, the first financial institution, and / or the second financial institution and recorded on a private distributed ledger for the clearing facility, a private distributed ledger for the first financial institution, and / or a private distributed ledger for the second financial institution. The method further includes storing, based on receiving from the plurality of computing nodes an indication of validity of the electronic signature of the first entity involved in the transaction involving the digital currency, in the private distributed ledger for the payment facility, a new transaction block representing a transaction to transfer the amount of digital currency from a first entity at the first financial institution to a second entity at the second financial institution, where each computing node in the plurality of computing nodes includes the new transaction block in its respective copy of the private distributed ledger for the payment facility.

[0071] In some embodiments, an amount of digital currency is transferred to a second entity. In some embodiments, a second digital currency issued by a second financial institution and pegged against fiat currency and equivalent to the amount of digital currency is transferred to the second entity. In some embodiments, an amount of fiat currency corresponding to the amount of digital currency is transferred immediately or subsequently from a first omnibus account at a first financial institution to a second omnibus account at a second financial institution.

[0072] In some embodiments, the first financial institution notifies the clearing house upon issuance of the digital currency, and the clearing house is notified by the first financial institution and / or the second financial institution regarding a transaction to transfer an amount of fiat currency corresponding to the amount of digital currency from the first omnibus account to the second omnibus account.

[0073] In some embodiments, the clearing facility incorporates a hierarchical structure for ranking financial institutions based on each financial institution's asset size, debt rating, and / or financial soundness review, where a first financial institution and a second financial institution are in the highest tier and settle transactions between them periodically or when a balance limit is exceeded, and where the first financial institution is in the highest tier and a third financial institution is in the lowest tier and settles transactions between them on an individual transaction basis or periodically or when a balance limit is exceeded.

[0074] In some embodiments, the clearing mechanism notifies the first financial institution and the second financial institution of the timing to complete the transaction, including once a day, week, or month to allow for immediate settlement or aggregate processing of the transaction and / or to reduce settlement costs. In some embodiments, the transaction is completed based on the total balance owed between the first financial institution and the second financial institution. In some aspects, a method of facilitating an exchange of digital currency issued by a financial institution and pegged to a fiat currency includes receiving a request from a user to exchange at the financial institution an amount of a first digital currency pegged to a first fiat currency for an equivalent amount of a second digital currency pegged to a second fiat currency, storing the received request for currency exchange in a private distributed ledger for the financial institution, and withdrawing the amount of the first digital currency from the user's digital wallet and crediting the equivalent amount of the second digital currency to the user's digital wallet.

[0075] In some embodiments, a financial institution maintains an omnibus account or multiple accounts for each digital currency pegged to a fiat currency. In some embodiments, each omnibus account contains an amount of fiat currency equivalent to the amount of digital currency issued by the financial institution.

[0076] In some embodiments, to complete a received currency exchange request, the financial institution withdraws a corresponding amount of the first fiat currency from a first omnibus account for the first fiat currency and deposits a corresponding equivalent amount of the second fiat currency to a second omnibus account for the second fiat currency. In some embodiments, a financial institution tracks ownership of digital currency issued by the financial institution with deposit insurance in an amount of fiat currency equal to the amount of the digital currency backed or maintained by fiat currency in an omnibus account at the financial institution.

[0077] In some embodiments, the user's digital wallet includes an indication of the country that insures the financial institution associated with the digital currency in the user's digital wallet and / or the digital wallet includes a color and / or code indication regarding the country that insures the financial institution associated with the digital currency in the user's digital wallet or that the financial institution associated with the digital currency in the user's digital wallet is not insured.

[0078] In some embodiments, received currency exchange requests are made in real time and the current currency exchange rate is applied to the request. In some embodiments, received currency exchange requests are set to start at an exchange price or based on the exchange price at the time of the transaction. Basing received currency exchange requests on the exchange price at the time of the transaction is advantageous in having the exact amount of currency required for conversion; however, this embodiment may involve the risk of price fluctuations that affect the final exchange price used in the transaction.

[0079] In some embodiments, a user may access different exchange prices for one or more foreign currencies from multiple entities providing foreign exchange services. A user may select a particular entity for a foreign currency exchange transaction based on better price, reputation, speed of transaction, and / or preferred factors associated with the particular entity. In some embodiments, a user of a digital wallet sets one or more notifications related to a currency exchange rate between a first fiat currency and a second fiat currency. In some embodiments, a request for a currency exchange is initiated automatically based on receipt of one or more notifications.

[0080] In some embodiments, the second digital currency is issued by a different financial institution than the financial institution that issued the first digital currency. In some embodiments, the method further includes receiving a request from the user at the financial institution to exchange an amount of the digital currency pegged to the first fiat currency for an equivalent portion of the digitized assets representing the commodity, storing the received request for commodity exchange in a private distributed ledger for the financial institution, and withdrawing the amount of digital currency from the user's digital wallet and transferring the equivalent portion of the digitized assets representing the commodity to the user's digital wallet.

[0081] In some embodiments, the goods include gold, silver, platinum, copper, petroleum, natural gas, corn, soybeans, wheat, cocoa, coffee, cotton, or sugar. In some embodiments, a financial institution may be responsible for holding a cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin or other suitable cryptocurrency, such that the financial institution is responsible for the security of the cryptocurrency. The financial institution may issue digital currency backed by the cryptocurrency. This may protect consumer deposits from cryptocurrency exchanges accidentally losing funds or funds being stolen by bad actors. In some embodiments, goods are represented as digitized assets in the form of tokens that are included in digital transactions and / or stored within a user's digital wallet.

[0082] In some embodiments, the digitized assets in lieu of the goods are stored in a portion of the digital wallet separate from the portions of the first and second digital currencies. In some embodiments, the value of the digitized asset fluctuates based on the value of the commodity, and the digital wallet indicates the current value, the amount of commodity owned, and / or the value at the time of the transaction.

[0083] In some embodiments, the digital wallet indicates to the user that the value of the digitized asset fluctuates based on the value of the commodity. In some aspects, a system for facilitating exchange of digital currencies issued by a financial institution and pegged to a fiat currency includes a computing node that is included in a plurality of computing nodes participating in a private distributed ledger for the financial institution. The private distributed ledger for the financial institution stores one or more transaction blocks that represent transactions in one or more digital currencies issued by the financial institution and pegged to an associated fiat currency. Each computing node in the plurality of computing nodes stores and maintains a respective copy of the private distributed ledger for the financial institution.

[0084] The computing node is configured to store and maintain a copy of a private distributed ledger for the financial institution. The computing node is further configured to receive a transaction to exchange an amount of a first digital currency pegged to a first fiat currency for an equivalent amount of a second digital currency pegged to a second fiat currency, the first digital currency and the second digital currency being issued by the financial institution, the first digital currency being associated with a first omnibus account at the financial institution, and the second digital currency being associated with a second omnibus account at the financial institution. The computing node is further configured to generate a new transaction block representing the transaction for addition to the private distributed ledger for the financial institution. The computing node is further configured to transmit the new transaction block to a plurality of computing nodes participating in the private distributed ledger for the financial institution.

[0085] The computing node is further configured to receive a validity indication of the new transaction block from the plurality of computing nodes, the computing node is further configured to complete a transaction based on the validity indication to insert the new transaction block into a copy of the private distributed ledger for the financial institution, withdraw the amount of the first digital currency from the user's digital wallet, and credit an equivalent amount of the second digital currency to the user's digital wallet, where the financial institution withdraws a corresponding amount of the first fiat currency from a first omnibus account in the first fiat currency and credits a corresponding amount of the second digital currency to a second omnibus account in the second fiat currency, and each computing node in the plurality of computing nodes includes the new transaction block in its respective copy of the private distributed ledger for the financial institution.

[0086] In some aspects, a digital wallet for one or more digital currencies from one or more financial institutions includes one or more public and private key pairs for a user holding one or more digital currencies from one or more financial institutions, including digital currencies issued by the financial institutions and pegged to fiat currency, where the public and private key pairs are used by the user to receive and / or send digital currencies issued by the financial institution corresponding to the public and private key pairs and to record transactions in the digital currencies in a private distributed ledger for the financial institution.

[0087] In some embodiments, digital currency is not stored in a digital wallet, and digital currency issued by a financial institution is stored and maintained in a private distributed ledger for the financial institution and / or payment facility. In some embodiments, to spend digital currency from a digital wallet, a user authorizes the use of a private key corresponding to the digital currency to electronically sign a transaction involving the digital currency. In some embodiments, the digital wallet comprises software in the form of an application installed on the computer, cell phone, and / or tablet itself.

[0088] In some embodiments, the digital wallet includes a mobile wallet, a desktop wallet, and / or a hardware wallet. In some embodiments, the mobile, desktop, and / or hardware wallets require a personal identification number (PIN), password, biometric authentication, facial recognition, fingerprint, and / or eye scan. In some embodiments, the digital wallet is connected to a trusted third party via an application programming interface (API), and one or more public / private key pairs are managed by the trusted third party. In some embodiments, a digital wallet comprises hardware that stores one or more public and private key pairs.

[0089] In some embodiments, the hardware includes a button that a user must physically press or touch to e-sign a transaction. In some embodiments, the hardware requires the user to submit a personal identification number (PIN), password, biometrics, facial recognition, fingerprint, and / or eye scan before the user can e-sign a transaction.

[0090] In some embodiments, the digital wallet provides the user with consumer rewards, loyalty points, and / or location-based rewards for use of the digital wallet. In some embodiments, a user's reward level is determined based on a balance of digital currency maintained in a digital wallet and / or meeting one or more transaction thresholds.

[0091] In some aspects, a digital wallet for one or more digital currencies from one or more financial institutions includes one or more public and private key pairs for a user holding one or more digital currencies from the one or more financial institutions, including digital currencies issued by the financial institution and pegged to fiat currency, where a plurality of computing nodes participate in a private distributed ledger for the financial institution, each computing node in the plurality of computing nodes stores and maintains a copy of the private distributed ledger, the private distributed ledger stores one or more transaction blocks representing a transaction in the digital currency, a private key of the public and private key pair is used to generate an electronic signature for the user to record on the private distributed ledger a transaction in the digital currency issued by the financial institution and corresponding to the public and private key pair, and based on an indication of validity of the electronic signature from the plurality of computing nodes, a new transaction block representing the transaction is inserted into the private distributed ledger to complete the transaction in the digital currency.

[0092] It should be understood that all combinations of the foregoing concepts, and other concepts described in more detail below (provided such concepts are not mutually inconsistent), are considered to be part of the inventive subject matter disclosed herein, and in particular, all claim combinations appearing at the end of this disclosure are considered to be part of the inventive subject matter disclosed herein. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0093] Various non-limiting aspects of the technology are described with reference to the following figures, which should be understood as not necessarily drawn to scale. [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example system for facilitating transactions using digital currency in accordance with some aspects of the technology described herein. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is another block diagram of an example system for facilitating transactions using digital currency in accordance with some aspects of the technology described herein. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 shows an illustrative diagram of an example transaction using digital currency in accordance with some aspects of the technology described herein.

[0094] [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram of an example process for facilitating a transaction using digital currency in accordance with some aspects of the technologies described herein. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example process that is performed when a transaction block is determined to be invalid, in accordance with some aspects of the technology described herein. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram of an example process for creating and / or populating a digital wallet with digital currency in accordance with some aspects of the technology described herein. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 shows an illustrative diagram of an exemplary transaction in digital currency using a digital wallet in accordance with some aspects of the technology described herein. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a computing node of a private distributed ledger in accordance with some aspects of the technologies described herein.

[0095] [Figure 9] FIG. 9 illustrates an example computer system that performs one or more functions of a private distributed ledger in accordance with some aspects of the technology described herein. [Figure 10A] FIG. 10A is a diagram of an example process for facilitating the exchange of government-issued digital currency for fiat currency in accordance with some aspects of the technology described herein. [Figure 10B] FIG. 10B is a diagram of an example process for facilitating the exchange of government-issued digital currency for digital currency issued by another financial institution in accordance with some aspects of the technologies described herein. [Figure 10C] FIG. 10C is a diagram of an example process for facilitating the exchange of a first government-issued digital currency for a second government-issued digital currency in accordance with some aspects of the technologies described herein.

[0096] [Figure 11A] FIG. 11A is a diagram of an example public blockchain upon which applications for private and / or public transactions may be powered, in accordance with certain aspects of the technologies described herein. [Figure 11B] FIG. 11B illustrates a block diagram of an example system for facilitating transactions using a public blockchain in accordance with some aspects of the technologies described herein. [Figure 12A] FIG. 12A illustrates a block diagram of an example system for facilitating private transactions on a public blockchain using digital currency in accordance with some aspects of the technologies described herein. [Figure 12B]FIG. 12B illustrates a block diagram of an example system for facilitating private transactions on a public blockchain using digital currency in accordance with some aspects of the technologies described herein.

[0097] [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram of an example process for facilitating private transactions on a blockchain using digital currency issued by a financial institution, in accordance with some aspects of the technologies described herein. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 is a diagram of an example process for facilitating private transactions on a blockchain using digital currency issued by a financial institution, in accordance with some aspects of the technologies described herein.

[0098] Detailed explanation In some aspects, systems and methods are described herein for facilitating financial transactions using an institution-specific digital currency pegged with respect to a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar. An institution may implement a distributed ledger that is dedicated to that institution. The private distributed ledger may interact with and / or run on a public ledger. For example, the function of managing private transactions of the private distributed ledger may be implemented using an application that runs on a public blockchain. This public blockchain may optionally provide support for other financial and / or non-financial applications in addition to the function of managing private transactions of the private distributed ledger. In some embodiments, within the public distributed ledger, some may be designated as private, with more limited divisions based on digital currency, users, and / or other suitable information. Additionally or alternatively, the private distributed ledger may share or receive information and / or transaction blocks from or with / in a public system. The described systems and methods may be implemented using any one or more of the distributed ledgers described herein, or another suitable variant thereof. A private distributed ledger is a continuously growing list of records, called blocks, or transaction blocks, that are linked and secured using cryptography. Each new financial transaction may be added to the distributed ledger as a transaction block. For example, a new block of financial transactions may contain a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and the transaction data. The cryptographic hash is used to generate a fixed-length mathematical representation of a variable amount of data, such as the previous block. A private distributed ledger may record transactions between clients of a financial institution using the financial institution's digital currency.

[0099] In some aspects, a purchase transaction is facilitated between two entities, a customer and a store, that are associated with the same financial institution, such as a bank. The bank may issue a digital currency card for transactions in the bank's digital currency. A customer of the bank may visit a store that also holds funds with the bank. The customer may provide the bank's digital currency card to pay for goods using the bank's digital currency. In some embodiments, the bank provides a device that can accept the bank's digital currency card and notify a server at the bank to complete the transaction (e.g., by recording the transaction in a private distributed ledger).

[0100] In some embodiments, an instrument provided by VISA®, MASTERCARD®, AMEX®, SQUARE®, or another payment enterprise may accept the digital currency card (VISA®, MASTERCARD®, AMEX®, and SQUARE® are registered trademarks of Visa Inc., Foster City, California, USA; Mastercard Incorporated, Purchase, New York, USA; American Express Company, New York, New York, USA; and Square, Inc., San Francisco, California, respectively). The instrument may relay information about the transaction to a processing center of the payment enterprise, which may then notify the bank. The bank's server may then complete the transaction (e.g., by recording the transaction in a private distributed ledger). In some embodiments, the central clearing facility may record the transaction in a private distributed ledger for the clearing facility. In some embodiments, the transaction may be recorded in the financial institution's private distributed ledger and then relayed for recording in the clearing facility's private distributed ledger. In some embodiments, a transaction may be recorded simultaneously in the financial institution's private distributed ledger and the clearing facility's private distributed ledger. In some embodiments, a transaction may be recorded in the clearing facility's private distributed ledger and, once approved by the clearing facility, may be recorded in the financial institution's private distributed ledger.

[0101] In some embodiments, the digital currency is transferred from the customer's digital currency account to the merchant's digital currency account. If the merchant wishes to complete the transaction in fiat currency, the bank may exchange the received digital currency for fiat currency, such as US dollars, and deposit the fiat currency in the merchant's fiat currency account at the bank.

[0102] In some aspects, a funds transfer transaction is facilitated between two entities (e.g., two customers) associated with the same financial institution, such as a bank. For example, a customer of the bank may request a digital transfer of an amount of digital currency to another customer of the same bank. In some aspects, the financial institution has a private distributed ledger stored across multiple computing nodes. The private distributed ledger stores one or more transaction blocks representing transactions in a digital currency issued by the financial institution and pegged to a fiat currency. The computing node receives a transaction from a first customer of the financial institution to a second customer of the financial institution to transfer an amount of digital currency. The computing node generates a new transaction block representing the transaction for addition to the private distributed ledger. The computing node transmits the new transaction block to one or more computing nodes participating in the private distributed ledger. The computing node receives a validity indication of the new transaction block. If the indication is valid, the computing node inserts the new transaction block into the private distributed ledger and completes the transaction.

[0103] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example system 100 that facilitates a transaction using digital currency between a first entity 102 and a second entity 104 associated with the same financial institution, in accordance with some aspects of the techniques described herein. A computing node 106 is connected to other computing nodes 110, 112. The computing nodes 106, 110, 112 store and maintain a copy of a private distributed ledger 108 for a financial institution, such as a bank. The private distributed ledger 108 stores one or more transaction blocks that represent transactions in the digital currency. In some aspects, the digital currency is issued by the financial institution. In some aspects, the digital currency is pegged to a fiat currency.

[0104] A computing node 106 may receive a transaction to transfer an amount of digital currency from a first entity 102 to a second entity 104. For example, the first entity and the second entity may be customers associated with the same financial institution. The first entity may request a transfer of the amount of digital currency from the first entity's digital currency account at the financial institution. The computing node 106 may generate a new transaction block representing the transaction for addition to the private distributed ledger. The computing node 106 may transmit the new transaction block to computing nodes 110, 112 participating in the private distributed ledger.

[0105] The computing node 106 may receive a validity indication of the new transaction block from one or more computing nodes 110, 112. Based on the validity indication, the computing node 106 may insert the new transaction block into the private distributed ledger. The computing node 106, the computing node 112, or another suitable computing node may complete the transaction by transferring the amount of digital currency to the second entity. For example, the digital currency may be transferred to the second entity's digital currency account at a financial institution. In some embodiments, one or more financial institutions may choose to use a central clearing facility. The clearing facility may implement its own private distributed ledger to record all transactions in digital currency from one or more financial institutions. The transactions may be recorded in the private distributed ledger of each financial institution involved in the transaction and in the clearing facility's private distributed ledger. For example, a payment facility's private distributed ledger may encompass transactions between users from different financial institutions (including transactions between users of the same financial institution), while each financial institution's private distributed ledger may encompass only transactions between users of the same financial institution, or transactions involving users of the financial institution as parties to the transaction. A payment facility may be provided using computing nodes (e.g., computing nodes 156, 160 and / or 162 (see illustrative system 150 of FIG. 1 ), or other suitable computing nodes) that store and maintain a copy of a private distributed ledger 158 for the payment facility. More details about payment facilities are provided further below.

[0106] In some aspects, a purchase transaction is facilitated between two entities (customer and store) associated with different financial institutions. A financial institution, such as a bank, may issue a digital currency card for transactions in the bank's digital currency. A customer of the bank may visit a store that holds funds with another bank. The customer of the bank may provide a digital currency card to pay for an item using the bank's digital currency. In some embodiments, the bank provides a digital wallet as described herein, for example with reference to Figures 6 and 7.

[0107] According to some embodiments, the digital wallet may be issued by one or more entities, which may include, for example, a financial entity, a government entity, a payment processing company, a technology company, a cloud company, a clearing house, a banking syndicate, an entity with a banking charter, and / or any suitable entity.

[0108] Customers of a bank may also use the digital wallet to pay for goods using the bank's digital currency. In some embodiments, the bank provides a device that can accept the bank's digital currency card and / or digital wallet and notify a server at the bank to complete the transaction (e.g., by recording the transaction in a private distributed ledger and transferring the payment to a merchant's account at another bank).

[0109] In some embodiments, equipment provided by VISA®, MASTERCARD®, AMEX®, SQUARE®, or another payment company may accept digital currency cards (VISA®, MASTERCARD®, AMEX®, and SQUARE® are registered trademarks of Visa Inc., Foster City, California, USA; Mastercard Incorporated, Purchase, New York, USA; American Express Company, New York, New York, USA; and Square, Inc., San Francisco, California, respectively). The equipment relays information about the transaction to a processing center of the payment company, which may then notify the bank. A server at the bank may then complete the transaction (e.g., by recording the transaction in a private distributed ledger and transferring the payment to the merchant's account at another bank).

[0110] In some embodiments, the digital currency is exchanged into a fiat currency, such as US dollars, and then transferred to the merchant's account at another bank. In some embodiments, if the merchant wishes to complete the transaction in digital currency, the merchant's bank may exchange the received fiat currency for another bank's digital currency and deposit it into the merchant's digital currency account. In some embodiments, the digital currency received into the merchant's digital currency account is different from the digital currency transferred from the customer's digital currency account. This is because the digital currencies issued by the two banks are different and may not be compatible. For example, in some embodiments, each financial institution may maintain its own private distributed ledger to record transactions in its own digital currency. However, a transfer from one digital currency account at one bank to another digital currency at a different bank may be done via an intermediate conversion to a fiat currency, such as US dollars.

[0111] In some aspects, a funds transfer transaction is facilitated between two entities (e.g., two customers) associated with different financial institutions. For example, a customer of a financial institution may initiate a transaction to send digital currency to a customer of another financial institution. In some embodiments, the digital currency transaction is recorded as a withdrawal, exchanged for fiat currency, and delivered to the second customer. In some embodiments, the financial institution has a private distributed ledger stored across multiple computing nodes. The private distributed ledger stores one or more transaction blocks representing transactions in a digital currency issued by the financial institution and pegged to fiat currency. The computing node receives a transaction sending an amount of digital currency from a first customer of the financial institution to a second customer of a different financial institution. The computing node generates a new transaction block representing the transaction for addition to the private distributed ledger. The computing node transmits the new transaction block to one or more computing nodes participating in the private distributed ledger. The computing node receives a validity indication of the new transaction block. If the indication is valid, the computing node inserts a new transaction block into the private distributed ledger and completes the withdrawal of the digital currency amount, which the computing node exchanges for an equivalent amount of fiat currency and transmits to the second customer.

[0112] FIG. 2 is another block diagram of an example system 200 for facilitating a transaction using digital currency between a first entity 202 and a second entity 204 associated with different financial institutions, according to some aspects of the technology described herein. A computing node 206 is connected to other computing nodes 210, 212. The computing nodes 206, 210, 212 store and maintain a copy of a private distributed ledger 208 for a financial institution, such as a bank. The private distributed ledger 108 stores one or more transaction blocks representing transactions in the digital currency. In some aspects, the digital currency is issued by one of the financial institutions. The financial institution issuing the digital currency may partner with other financial institutions and provide them with access to the private distributed ledger. Alternatively or additionally, the financial institution issuing the digital currency may limit external access to the private distributed ledger and complete the transaction using a central clearing house described herein or a traditional interbank transfer system, such as the Automated Clearing House (ACH). ACH is an electronic network for fiat-based financial transactions in the United States. In some embodiments, the digital currency is pegged to a fiat currency.

[0113] In some embodiments, the financial institution may grant access to the private distributed ledger to government and / or financial regulators (e.g., the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)) and / or data companies (e.g., Fiserv) (FISERV is a registered trademark of Fiserv, Inc., Brookfield, WI, USA). In some examples, the financial institution may use a cloud provider to store and access the private distributed ledger. In one example, the financial institution may partner with another entity and grant the entity access to one or more transactions in the distributed ledger. The entities may be one or more partner companies (e.g., any combination of investment management companies, risk management companies, and / or institutional investors).

[0114] The computing node 206 may receive a transaction to transfer an amount of digital currency from the first entity 202 to the second entity 204. For example, the first entity and the second entity may be customers associated with different financial institutions. The first entity may request a transfer of the amount of digital currency from the first entity's digital currency account at the financial institution. The computing node 206 may generate a new transaction block representing the transaction for addition to the private distributed ledger. The computing node 206 may transmit the new transaction block to the computing nodes 210, 212 participating in the private distributed ledger. The computing node 206 may receive a validity indication of the new transaction block from one or more of the computing nodes 210, 212. Based on the validity indication, the computing node 206 may insert the new transaction block into the private distributed ledger. The computing node 206, the computing node 212, or another suitable computing node may complete a withdrawal of the amount of digital currency from the first entity's digital currency account. Computing node 206, computing node 212, or another suitable computing node may exchange the amount of digital currency for an equivalent amount of fiat currency and transmit it to the second entity. The exchange may be initiated by an exchange server 214 that has the capability to convert the digital currency into the equivalent fiat currency.

[0115] FIG. 3 shows illustrative diagrams of example transactions 300 and 350 using digital currency according to some embodiments of the technology described herein. In some embodiments of the example transactions 300 and 350, the financial institution 306 or 356 is the only entity that may issue the digital currency, create the omnibus account 304 or 354, and / or deposit the digital currency into the omnibus account 304 or 354. In some embodiments, the financial institution may require the customer to comply with "know your customer" (KYC) procedures, verify identity, and / or assess suitability and potential risk of illegal activity before creating an omnibus account for the customer. Such requirements may reduce illegal activities such as fraudulent transactions or money laundering. Although the example transactions 300 and 350 describe transactions depositing digital currency into a digital wallet or another suitable digital currency account, the described technology may equally apply to transactions withdrawing digital currency from a digital wallet or another suitable digital currency account.

[0116] assets Additionally, digital wallets may further encompass other financial assets and / or instruments. The described techniques may equally apply to transactions to withdraw financial assets and / or instruments such as stocks, bonds, derivatives, currencies, equity, commodities or others. Digital wallets may contain assets and / or instruments issued by entities such as government entities, financial institutions, exchanges and / or clearing houses.

[0117] In some embodiments, an open blockchain token may be considered intangible personal property, for example, if the primary purpose of the token is consumable and the developer or seller did not sell the token to the initial purchaser as a financial investment. "Consumable" may be defined as the token being exchangeable for services, software, content, or real estate or tangible personal property. In some embodiments, all digital assets may be classified as property. For example, digital consumer assets may be classified as general intangible property, digital securities as securities, and cryptocurrencies as gold. In some embodiments, a financial institution may provide custodial services for digital assets. A financial institution may be subject to SEC rules regarding custodial services. A security interest in a digital asset may be perfected by control and does not require physical possession. In some embodiments, such digital assets held in the custody of a financial institution may not be a deposit obligation or asset of the financial institution. In some embodiments, a financial institution may be prohibited from engaging in any discretionary powers related to a digital asset unless directed to do so by a customer.

[0118] In a transaction 300, a customer of a financial institution 306 requests to exchange an amount of fiat currency from their fiat currency account 302 for the financial institution's digital currency. The financial institution 306 receives or acquires the fiat currency from the customer's fiat currency account 302. The financial institution 306 may deposit the received amount of fiat currency into an omnibus account 308 (more details of which are provided below). The financial institution 306 may create a new digital wallet 304 for the customer and deposit the equivalent amount of digital currency into the account. Alternatively, the financial institution 306 may deposit the equivalent amount of digital currency into the customer's existing digital wallet 304. In some embodiments, the customer's digital wallet 304 is separate from, but linked to, the customer's fiat currency account 302 at the financial institution 306.

[0119] In transaction 350, digital currency is issued by financial institution 356, which partners with another financial institution, such as affiliated institution 358, to provide the other financial institution with access to the financial institution's digital currency. A customer of affiliated institution 358 requests to exchange an amount of fiat currency from their fiat currency account 352 for the financial institution's digital currency. Financial institution 356 receives or acquires the fiat currency from the customer's fiat currency account 352 at affiliated institution 358. Financial institution 356 may deposit the received amount of fiat currency into omnibus account 360 (more details of which are provided further below). Financial institution 356 may create a new digital wallet 354 for the customer and deposit an amount of digital currency equivalent to the amount of fiat currency into the account. Alternatively, financial institution 356 may deposit an amount of digital currency equivalent to the amount of fiat currency into the customer's existing digital wallet 354. In some embodiments, the customer's digital wallet 354 is separate from, but linked to, the customer's fiat account 352 at an affiliated institution 358 and / or a fiat account at a financial institution 356. In some embodiments, the financial institution 356 completes fiat transactions with the affiliated institution 358 using a traditional interbank transfer system, such as Automated Clearing House (ACH). ACH is an electronic network for fiat-based financial transactions in the United States.

[0120] Digital Currency Issuance According to some aspects, the financial institution may be a government entity and the issued digital currency may be a government-issued digital currency. As described herein, the digital currency may be issued by one or more of the United States Mint, the United States Bureau of Printing and Engraving, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the Internal Revenue Service, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and / or a community development financial institution under the Department of the Treasury. In some examples, the digital currency may be issued by a single Federal Reserve Bank, multiple regional Federal Reserve Banks, and / or member banks of a Federal Reserve Bank. According to some aspects, the financial institution issuing the digital currency may be one or more entities (e.g., technology companies) that have received a bank charter or similar rights from the government. According to another aspect, the financial institution may authorize a clearing house to issue the digital currency. For example, a first customer of a first financial institution may wish to transfer an amount of a first digital currency to a second customer of a second financial institution that has a second digital currency. The clearing house may issue an amount of the second digital currency to the second customer equal to the value of the first digital currency. The first financial institution may subsequently and / or simultaneously transfer an equivalent amount of funds into an omnibus account at the financial institution.

[0121] According to some aspects, a government entity may transfer the government-issued digital currency to one or more financial institutions. According to some aspects, a government entity may use the government-issued digital currency. According to some aspects, a financial institution may use the government-issued digital currency to manage one or more transactions in a manner consistent with the systems and methods described herein. Additionally or alternatively, a financial institution may issue its own digital currency based on the government-issued digital currency. According to some aspects, a financial institution may issue its own digital currency to manage one or more transactions in a manner consistent with the systems and methods described herein using the government-issued digital currency. For example, a financial institution may introduce a digital currency backed by a fiat currency issued by the financial institution and backing the government-issued digital currency, and / or the government-issued digital currency itself.

[0122] Example Transactions 10A-C show illustrative diagrams of example transactions 1000A, 1000B, and 1000C using government-issued digital currency in accordance with some embodiments of the technology described herein. In some embodiments of the example transactions 1000A, 1000B, and 1000C, the financial institution 1020 is the only entity that may issue the digital currency, create the omnibus account 1030, and / or deposit the digital currency into the omnibus account 1030. In some embodiments, the financial institution may require the customer to comply with "know your customer" (KYC) procedures, verify identity, and / or assess suitability and potential risk of illegal activity before creating the customer's omnibus account. Such requirements may reduce fraudulent transactions or illegal activities such as money laundering. Although example transactions 1000A, 1000B, and 1000C describe transactions to deposit digital currency into a digital wallet or another suitable digital currency account, the described techniques may be equally applied to transactions to withdraw digital currency from a digital wallet or another suitable digital currency account.

[0123] In transaction 1000A, a customer of a financial institution 1020 requests to exchange an amount of digital currency issued by a government entity for fiat currency from his or her digital currency account 1010. The financial institution receives or acquires the first government-issued digital currency from the digital currency account 1010. The financial institution 1020 may deposit the received amount of government-issued digital currency into an omnibus account 1030 (more details of which are provided further below). The financial institution may create a new fiat currency account for the customer and deposit an amount of fiat currency into the account equivalent to the amount of government-issued digital currency. In some embodiments, the customer's fiat currency account 1040 is separate from, but linked to, the customer's digital currency account 1010 at the financial institution.

[0124] In transaction 1000B, a customer of the financial institution 1020 requests to exchange an amount of government-issued digital currency from his / her digital currency account 1010 for digital currency issued by the financial institution 1020. The financial institution 1020 receives or acquires the government-issued digital currency from the digital currency account 1010. The financial institution 1020 may deposit the received amount of government-issued digital currency into the omnibus account 1030. The financial institution 1020 may create a new digital wallet 1050 for the customer and deposit an amount of financial institution-issued digital currency into the account equivalent to the amount of government-issued digital currency. Alternatively, the financial institution 1020 may deposit an amount of financial institution-issued digital currency into the customer's existing digital currency account 1010. In some embodiments, the customer's digital wallet 1050 is separate from, but linked to, the customer's digital currency account 1010 at the financial institution 1020. The financial institution may also offer benefits such as adding an amount of digital currency issued by the financial institution as a perk to the customer's digital currency account in addition to the amount exchanged. The amount of the additional financial institution-issued digital currency may be determined in advance or based on the amount of government-issued digital currency exchanged.

[0125] In transaction 1000C, a customer of a financial institution 1020 requests to exchange an amount of a first digital currency issued by a first government entity from his / her digital currency account 1010 for a second digital currency issued by a second government entity. The financial institution receives or acquires the first government-issued digital currency from the digital currency account 1010. The financial institution 1020 may deposit the received amount of the first government-issued digital currency into an omnibus account 1030 (more details of which are provided below). The financial institution (e.g., a currency exchange provider, a bank, etc.) may apply a digital currency exchange rate (e.g., variable, fixed, etc.) to determine the amount of the second government-issued digital currency to deposit into the customer's digital currency account. The financial institution 1020 may deposit an amount of the second digital currency issued by the second government determined to be equivalent to the amount of the government-issued digital currency into the customer's existing digital currency account 1010.

[0126] FIG. 4 is a diagram of an example process 400 for facilitating transactions using a digital currency, according to some aspects of the techniques described herein. In some embodiments, the process is executed on a computing node connected to one or more computing nodes participating in a private distributed ledger for a financial institution. In some embodiments, the private distributed ledger stores one or more transaction blocks representing transactions in the digital currency. In some embodiments, the digital currency is issued by the financial institution. In some embodiments, the digital currency is pegged to a fiat currency. In some embodiments, the computing node stores and maintains a copy of the private distributed ledger. In some embodiments, the private distributed ledger may interact with and / or run on a public ledger. For example, the functionality of managing private transactions of the private distributed ledger may be implemented using an application running on a public blockchain. This public blockchain may optionally provide support for other financial and / or non-financial applications in addition to the functionality of managing private transactions of the private distributed ledger. In some embodiments, within the public distributed ledger, portions may be designated as private and more restricted in division based on the digital currency, the user, and / or other suitable information. Additionally or alternatively, a private distributed ledger may share or receive information and / or transaction blocks from or with / in a public system. The described systems and methods may be implemented using any one or more of the distributed ledgers described herein, or another suitable variation thereof.

[0127] At act 402 the process begins. In act 404, the computing node receives a transaction to transfer an amount of digital currency from a first entity to a second entity.

[0128] In some embodiments, the first entity and the second entity are associated with the same financial institution. In some embodiments, the first entity is associated with one financial institution and the second entity is associated with another financial institution. In some embodiments, the first entity is a consumer and the second entity is a merchant. In some embodiments, the first entity and the second entity are customers of the same financial institution. In some embodiments, the transaction is initiated from a digital currency card configured for payments in digital currency, hi some embodiments, the transaction is initiated from a mobile application or web application configured for payments in digital currency. In some embodiments, the digital currency card, mobile application, or web application requires a personal identification number (PIN), password, biometric authentication, facial recognition, fingerprint, and / or eye scan.

[0129] Installment payments In some embodiments, the transaction represents a split payment from a transaction involving a first entity and at least one other entity that provides payment to a second entity. For example, multiple people may need to pay for one bill. The payment may be split per item, as a percentage of the bill, or a combination thereof. Each person may pay for what they order, for example at a restaurant or other suitable location or store. Alternatively, each person may pay the same percentage. In another example, roommates may need to pay rent for an apartment. Each person may pay based on the size of the room. Alternatively, each person may pay the same percentage. In some embodiments, at least the first entity is associated with a public / private key pair, and based on an authorization from the first entity, at least a portion of the private transaction involving the digital currency is generated using the private key of the public / private key pair for the first entity.

[0130] In act 406, the computing node generates a new transaction block representing the transaction for addition to the private distributed ledger. In act 408, the computing node sends the new transaction block to one or more computing nodes participating in the private distributed ledger. In some embodiments, a new block of transactions is generated at the financial institution and sent to the clearing house for insertion into the clearing house's distributed ledger. In some embodiments, a new block of transactions is generated at the clearing house and sent to the financial institution for insertion into the clearing house's distributed ledger.

[0131] At act 410, the computing node receives a validity indication for the new transaction block from one or more computing nodes. In some embodiments, the validity indication includes a validity indication generated using a public key of a public-private key pair for a first entity involved in a private transaction involving the digital currency. In act 412, the computing node determines whether the block is valid. Figure 5 and the associated discussion provide further details regarding an exemplary process that is performed when a transaction block is determined to be invalid.

[0132] In Act 414, based on determining that the transaction block is valid, the computing node inserts the new transaction block into the private distributed ledger to complete the transaction transferring the amount of digital currency from the first entity to the second entity. In some embodiments, the second entity receives the amount of digital currency when the transaction is completed. In some embodiments, the second entity receives an amount of fiat currency equivalent to the amount of digital currency when the transaction is completed. In some embodiments, the exchange of the available amount of fiat currency for the sufficient amount of digital currency is authorized by the first entity prior to the private transaction, authorized by the first entity at or after the private transaction, or denied by the first entity at the time of the private transaction. In some embodiments, the second entity receives an amount of digital currency issued by another financial institution but equivalent to the amount of digital currency issued by the financial institution.

[0133] In some embodiments, based on determining that the transaction block is valid in Act 414, the computing node inserts a new transaction block into the private distributed ledger and completes the withdrawal of the amount of digital currency from the first entity to the second entity, where the first entity and the second entity are associated with different financial institutions. The computing node further exchanges the amount of digital currency for an equivalent amount of fiat currency and transmits it to the second entity at the other financial institution.

[0134] In some embodiments, the exchange of the available amount of fiat currency for the sufficient amount of digital currency is approved by the first entity prior to the private transaction, approved by the first entity at or after the private transaction, or rejected by the first entity at the private transaction. In some embodiments, the second entity receives the amount of digital currency issued by the financial institution in a digital wallet. The digital wallet may include one or more rules for spending digital currency issued by the financial institution before or after spending digital currency issued by another financial institution. For example, the rules may include rules for automatically converting digital currency issued by an unauthorized financial institution into fiat currency. The fiat currency may be deposited in the first entity's account at the financial institution, or in another suitable account.

[0135] In another example, the rules may include rules that block the acceptance of digital currencies issued by non-approved financial institutions. For example, one or more financial institutions may be marked as non-approved by a second entity, another financial institution, one or more clearing mechanisms, or another suitable party. In some embodiments, a non-approved financial institution may be a financial institution with which the user does not want to transact, such as with digital currencies. For example, the user may wish to transact with or use digital currencies issued by financial institutions of their choice (e.g., where the user has an account or has a preferred preference), reputable financial institutions (e.g., tier 1 banks, etc.), financial institutions in one or more designated countries (e.g., only the United States, only the United States and Europe, etc.), and / or other suitable criteria. The user may ask to mark any financial institutions that do not meet these criteria as non-approved.

[0136] In some embodiments, a non-approved financial institution may be a financial institution with which the particular financial institution may not want to conduct business, such as with digital currencies. For example, a particular financial institution may want to deal with reputable financial institutions (e.g., tier 1 banks, etc.), financial institutions in one or more designated countries (e.g., only the United States, only the United States and Europe, etc.), and / or other suitable criteria. A particular financial institution may mark as non-approved any financial institution that does not meet these criteria.

[0137] In some embodiments, a financial institution may not want unknown entities (e.g., entities that do not adhere to a "know your customer" policy) to accept digital currency issued by the financial institution. For such unknown entities, the financial institution may require them to pass a pre-approval process before being allowed to obtain the financial institution's digital currency. In some embodiments, the unknown entity may instead accept fiat or digital currency for another financial institution to fulfill the transaction in question. Conducting the transaction in this manner may speed up settlement, while the financial institution may benefit from only approved entities (e.g., entities that adhere to a "know your customer" policy, that have passed a pre-approval process) being allowed to accept the financial institution's digital currency. Furthermore, in conventional systems, such unknown entities may be excluded from such transactions, while the transactions may still be completed using fiat currency or the digital currency of another financial institution.

[0138] In some embodiments, the relationship of a first entity to a second entity is one of the following: person to person, person to person(s), person to business, person to business(s), person to business and individual(s), person to business(s) and individual, person to business(s) and individual(s), person(s) to individual, person(s) to individuals, person(s) to business(s), person(s) to business(s) and individual, person(s) to business(s) and individual, person(s) to business(s) and individual, person(s) to business(s) and individual(s), business to individual, business to individual(s), business to business, business to business(s), business to business and individual, business to business and individual(s), business to business(s) and individual, business to business(s) and individual(s), business(s) to individual, business(s) to individual(s), business(s) to business, business(s) to business(s), business(s) to business and individual, business(s) to business and individual(s), business(s) to business(s) and individual, business(s) to business(s) and individual, business(s) to business(s) and individual, business(s) to business(s) and individual(s). In act 416 the process ends.

[0139] 5 is a diagram of an example process 500 executed when a transaction block is determined to be invalid, according to some aspects of the techniques described herein. In some aspects, the process is executed on a computing node connected to one or more computing nodes participating in a private distributed ledger for a financial institution. In some aspects, the private distributed ledger stores one or more transaction blocks that represent transactions in a digital currency issued by the financial institution and pegged to a fiat currency. In some aspects, the computing node stores and maintains a copy of the private distributed ledger.

[0140] In act 502, the computing node determines whether the electronic signature of the first entity is valid. In Act 504, based on determining that the electronic signature of the first entity is invalid, the computing node rejects the transaction and prevents the new transaction block from being inserted into the private distributed ledger.

[0141] In act 506, based on determining that the first entity's electronic signature is valid, the computing node determines whether the first entity has a sufficient amount of digital currency necessary to complete the transaction. In act 508, based on determining that the first entity does not have a sufficient amount of digital currency necessary to complete the transaction, the computing node determines that the first entity has authorization to use a sufficient amount of digital currency and an equivalent amount of available fiat currency. In act 510, the computing node exchanges the available amount of fiat currency for a sufficient amount of digital currency required to complete the transaction.

[0142] In some embodiments, the financial institution determines the availability of the equivalent fiat currency and / or authorizes the exchange of the equivalent fiat currency into the digital currency based on authorization from a first entity (e.g., a user of the financial institution). For example, if the financial institution (or another suitable party or system) determines that the first entity does not have a sufficient amount of digital currency to complete the transaction, the financial institution may request authorization from the user at the time of the transaction to determine the availability of the equivalent fiat currency and / or to exchange the equivalent fiat currency into the digital currency. In another example, the financial institution may request authorization from the user at a time prior to the transaction, such as when the user's omnibus account is opened or updated by the financial institution, i.e., the financial institution may receive pre-authorization to determine the availability of the equivalent fiat currency and / or to exchange the equivalent fiat currency into the digital currency.

[0143] In yet another example, if the financial institution (or another suitable party or system) determines that the first entity does not have a sufficient amount of digital currency to complete the transaction, the financial institution may request authorization from the user at the time of the transaction and may receive an indication denying the request. In such a case, the transaction may be terminated and, optionally, the associated transaction block may be discarded. In yet another example, the financial institution may receive an indication denying any future requests to determine the availability of an equivalent fiat currency and / or to exchange the equivalent fiat currency for digital currency, i.e., the user may not have the option to determine the availability of an equivalent fiat currency and / or to exchange the equivalent fiat currency for digital currency if a sufficient amount of digital currency is not available to complete the transaction. In such a case, the user may initiate or request an entirely new transaction after a sufficient amount of digital currency has been added to the user digital wallet.

[0144] In some embodiments, not all users of a financial institution are authorized to take advantage of the automated determination and conversion of equivalent fiat to digital currencies, which may be determined based on the user's creditworthiness, the length of the user's relationship with the financial institution, the time-average balance of the user's account, and / or other suitable metrics.

[0145] At act 512, the computing node retransmits the new transaction block to one or more computing nodes participating in the private distributed ledger. In some embodiments, the computing node returns to act 410 of process 400 (FIG. 4) to continue processing the retransmitted transaction block.

[0146] While in some aspects each financial institution may issue its own digital currency, financial institutions may choose to use digital wallets that store digital currency from multiple financial institutions. For example, a digital wallet may store respective public and private keys for digital currency from one or more financial institutions. The public and private keys may be used to receive or send digital currency issued by each institution. For example, in a purchase transaction, both the buyer and seller may have respective digital wallets. The buyer and seller may have received their respective digital wallets with accounts at a desired financial institution. The buyer may transfer an amount of digital currency from the buyer's digital wallet to the seller's digital wallet using the private key for the digital currency issued by a particular institution.

[0147] In some embodiments, a digital wallet may contain multiple public and private key pairs for multiple digital currencies, while none of the digital currencies themselves are stored in the digital wallet. Instead, each financial institution's digital currency may be stored and maintained in the respective financial institution's private distributed ledger. To spend digital currency from their digital wallet, a user may authorize the use of the corresponding private key and electronically sign the transaction to store a block of transactions in the private distributed ledger (e.g., to spend the associated digital currency). In some embodiments, a digital wallet may contain software in the form of an application installed on a computer, mobile phone, tablet, or another suitable user device itself.

[0148] In some embodiments, the digital wallet may be connected via an application programming interface (API) to a trusted third party such as GOOGLE®, APPLE®, VISA®, MASTERCARD®, AMEX®, or another suitable entity (GOOGLE®, APPLE®, VISA®, MASTERCARD®, and AMEX® are registered trademarks of Google LLC, Mountain View, California, USA; Apple Inc., Cupertino, California, USA; Visa Inc., Foster City, California, USA; Mastercard Incorporated, Purchase, New York, USA; and American Express Company, New York, New York, USA, respectively). The user's private key may be managed by the trusted third party.

[0149] In some embodiments, the digital wallet may include hardware that stores a user's private key. The hardware may include a button that the user must physically press or touch to e-sign a transaction. Alternatively or additionally, the hardware may require the user to insert a PIN before the user can e-sign a transaction. According to some embodiments, the private key may include one or more private keys. For example, the private key may consist of multiple private keys appended in a predefined order or may act as one or more private keys. For example, the private key may consist of two private keys, with the financial institution storing the first private key and the digital wallet storing the second private key. The financial institution may have multiple private keys, and each private key may be unique to each user. To spend digital currency from the digital wallet, the user may authorize the use of the private key corresponding to the digital currency and e-sign a transaction involving the digital currency. For example, the user may authorize the use of the second private key and the financial institution may automatically or manually authorize the use of the first private key to e-sign a transaction. In some aspects, the digital wallet may provide a user with consumer rewards, loyalty points, or other suitable incentives for use of the digital wallet. For example, the digital wallet may provide rewards similar to credit cards in the form of points, hotel stays, miles, cash back, or other suitable rewards.

[0150] In some embodiments, financial institutions issuing digital currencies may establish unique relationships with accounts using those digital currencies. For example, financial institutions may offer incentives that lead to hotel rewards programs, airline rewards programs, or other suitable rewards programs. In some embodiments, a user's reward level may be determined based on a balance of digital currency maintained in the user's digital wallet, meeting one or more transaction thresholds, or other suitable means. In some embodiments, the digital wallet may offer a user location-based reward. For example, when a user enters a particular store, the digital wallet may offer a two-for-one sale on an item if the user uses the digital wallet to purchase from the store.

[0151] Private transactions on a public blockchain As described herein, the functionality of managing private transactions may be implemented using an application running on a public blockchain, which may optionally provide support for other financial and / or non-financial applications in addition to the functionality of managing private transactions. Figures 11A-B are exemplary diagrams of a public blockchain and a distributed computer system capable of managing the public blockchain. Figures 12A-B are block diagrams of illustrative systems for facilitating private and / or public transactions on a public blockchain.

[0152] FIG. 11A is an exemplary diagram of a public blockchain 1100 on which applications for private and / or public transactions may run. As described herein, a public blockchain (eg, blockchain 1100) is a continuously growing list of records, called blocks or transaction blocks, that are linked and secured using cryptographic techniques. The exemplary blockchain 1100 may have blocks such as blocks 1110, 1120, 1130, and 1140. Each new financial transaction may be added to the blockchain as a transaction block. For example, block 1150 for a new financial transaction may include a cryptographic hash 1153 of the previous block, a timestamp 1152, and transaction data 1151. The cryptographic hash 1153 is used to generate a fixed-length mathematical representation of a variable amount of data, such as the previous block 1140. To record financial transactions, the blockchain is typically managed by a distributed computer system, such as the exemplary distributed computer system 1160 of FIG. 11B. The distributed computer system 1160 may have multiple computing nodes 1161, 1162, 1163, and 1164 that receive new financial transactions, generate new transaction blocks 1150, validate the new transaction blocks 1150, and insert the new transaction blocks into the block head. New financial transactions are recorded in transaction blocks 1150, typically in the form "Payer X sends Y cryptocurrency to Recipient Z." Once recorded, the data in any given transaction block cannot be changed retroactively without changing a subsequent block, which requires the consensus of the computing nodes in the distributed computer system 1160.

[0153] As described herein, a public blockchain may require proof of work to verify transactions and record new transaction blocks in the public blockchain. For example, a proof of work algorithm is necessary because any entity, individual, or organization may record new transaction blocks in the public blockchain. According to some aspects, rather than proof of work, a public blockchain may require proof of stake. Proof of stake may be a consensus mechanism in a blockchain network where users validate block transactions as a function (e.g., proportional) of the digital currency held by the users. A consensus mechanism may be a set of rules by which all nodes in the blockchain agree on whether a transaction is valid.

[0154] According to some aspects, the authentication process may occur in one or more steps, in any order. For example, verification may occur in one or more steps provided in any order, where one or multiple entities may perform one or more steps of the authentication and / or verification process (e.g., as described herein in the "Verification" section, and / or other preferred embodiments).

[0155] FIG. 12A is a block diagram of an example system 1200A for facilitating private transactions on a public blockchain between a first entity 1210 and a second entity 1230 using a digital currency. The first and second entities 1210 and 1230 may each be associated with the same financial institution according to some aspects of the technology described herein. For example, the first and second entities may represent different customers of the financial institution. According to some aspects, the first and second entities of FIGS. 12A and 12B may communicate transactions to a node using one or more decentralized digital applications (DAPPs). According to some aspects, the first and second entities of FIGS. 12A and 12B may communicate transactions to a node using one or more wallets.

[0156] The described entities may each relate to a particular blockchain client. The first entity 1210 may relate to a blockchain client 1220, where the blockchain client 1220 includes a node 1221, a transaction manager 1222, and an enclave 1223. The second entity 1230 may relate to a blockchain client 1240, where the blockchain client 1240 includes a node 1241, a transaction manager 1242, and an enclave 1243. The third entity 1250 is also shown with a blockchain client 1260, where the blockchain client 1240 includes a node 1261, a transaction manager 1262, and an enclave 1263. Transaction managers such as transaction managers 1222, 1242, and / or 1262 may facilitate automatic discovery of other transaction managers on the network of nodes and / or clients, exchange payloads with other transaction managers on the network of nodes and / or clients, and store transaction data. Enclaves such as 1223, 1243, and 1263 are isolated regions of memory that are protected from other processes and may provide security for private keys.

[0157] According to some aspects, a node (e.g., 1221, 1241) may store data regarding the public blockchain (e.g., public state). In some aspects, a node may store the entire blockchain data. In some aspects, a node may store data regarding identifiers of blocks (e.g., blocks 1110, 1120, 1130, and 1140, etc.) of a public blockchain (e.g., blockchain 1100). For example, the block identifier may be a block header. In some examples, the data regarding identifiers of blocks may be a chain of headers (e.g., header chain). According to some aspects, a node may store data regarding private transactions between a blockchain client to which the node belongs and another blockchain client. For example, a node may store data in a private state.

[0158] According to some embodiments, the system of FIG. 12A may be used to facilitate private transactions on a public blockchain. Node 1221 may receive a transaction to transfer an amount of digital currency from a first entity 1210 to a second entity 1230. For example, the first entity and the second entity may be customers associated with the same financial institution. The first entity may request a transfer of the amount of digital currency from the first entity's digital currency account at the financial institution. Node 1221 may generate a new transaction block representing the transaction to be distributed to blockchain clients on the network. For example, node 1221 may transmit the new transaction block to blockchain clients 1220, 1240, and 1260 (e.g., using a peer-to-peer network (P2P)).

[0159] Each blockchain client on the network may then attempt to process the transaction. According to some aspects, attempting to process the transaction may include making a call to a transaction manager to determine if the blockchain client owns the transaction. Based on an indication that the blockchain client does own the transaction, the blockchain client (e.g., blockchain client 1220, 1240) may execute the transaction. Executing the transaction may update data related to the private transmission (e.g., private state).

[0160] Generating a new transaction block may include node 1221 sending the transaction to transaction manager 1222 with a request to store the transaction payload. Transaction manager 1221 may call enclave 1223 to verify the sender and encrypt the payload. The enclave may verify the private key for blockchain client 1220, and if verified, the enclave may process the transaction. Transaction manager 1222 may calculate a hash of the encrypted payload and store an encrypted random master key (RMK) for the encrypted payload and hash in a database. Transaction manager 1222 may send data related to the transaction to transaction manager 1242 of blockchain client 1240. For example, the data related to the transaction may include the encrypted payload, the encrypted RMK, and a nonce to transaction manager of blockchain client 1240. In response to an indication of successful data transmission to transaction manager 1242, for example in the form of an ACK response, transaction manager 1242 may change the value of the transaction to indicate the private transaction with the associated encrypted payload to other nodes.

[0161] According to some aspects, a transaction may be configured to execute under one or more conditions. For example, a user may configure a transaction to execute when a threshold is exceeded, at a certain time, based on one or more other transactions, and / or the like. In some examples, a user may configure a transaction to execute upon delivery of goods (e.g., once goods are delivered, upon confirmation of delivery of goods, etc.), or upon completion of a service. A user may configure a transaction through programming. In some examples, a transaction may be implemented as one or more smart contracts deployed on a node. A smart contract may include computer code that automatically executes an agreement and may be stored on a blockchain-based platform. In some examples, a public store of a node may include a public state of a contract that is public (e.g., globally synchronized). In some examples, a private store of a node may include a private state of a contract that is private (e.g., not globally synchronized). In some aspects, executing a smart contract may complete a transaction between blockchain clients 1210 and 1230.

[0162] According to some embodiments, the system 1200A of FIG. 12A may be used to facilitate a public transaction on a public blockchain. For example, node 1221 may receive a transaction to transfer an amount of digital currency from a first entity 1210 to a second entity 1230. As described herein, the first entity and the second entity may be customers associated with the same financial institution. The first entity may request a transfer of the amount of digital currency from the first entity's digital currency account at the financial institution. The transaction may be broadcast to the network (e.g., using a peer-to-peer (P2P) network) and added to a transaction block representing the transaction to be distributed to blockchain clients on the network. The transaction may then be confirmed and executed.

[0163] Additionally, according to some embodiments, the system 1200A of FIG. 12A may be used to facilitate both private and public transactions on a public blockchain. For example, private and public transactions may be created and executed as described herein. In some embodiments, the first entity 1210 may optionally indicate whether the transaction is a private transaction and / or a public transaction when sending the transaction to node 1221.

[0164] FIG. 12B is a block diagram of an example system 1200B for facilitating a private transaction on a public blockchain using a digital currency between a first entity 1210 and a second entity 1230. The first and second entities 1210 and 1230 may each be associated with a different financial institution according to some aspects of the technology described herein. The first entity 1210 may be associated with a blockchain client 1220, where the blockchain client 1220 includes a node 1221, a transaction manager 1222, and an enclave 1223. The second entity 1230 may be associated with a blockchain client 1240, where the blockchain client 1240 includes a node 1241, a transaction manager 1242, and an enclave 1243. According to some aspects, the first and second entities of FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B may communicate transactions to the nodes using one or more decentralized digital applications (DAPPs). According to some aspects, the first and second entities of FIGS. 12A and 12B may communicate transactions to a node using one or more wallets.

[0165] According to some embodiments, the system 1200B of FIG. 12B may be used to facilitate both private and / or public transactions on a public blockchain using the methods and techniques described above in connection with FIG. 12A.

[0166] As described herein, each node (e.g., 1221, 1241) may include a private store and / or a public store. For example, a node (e.g., 1221, 1241) may store data related to a public blockchain (e.g., a public state). In some aspects, a node may store all blockchain data. In some aspects, a node may store data related to identifiers of blocks (e.g., blocks 1110, 1120, 1130, and 1140, etc.) of a public blockchain (e.g., blockchain 1100). For example, the block identifier may be a block header. In some examples, the data related to identifiers of blocks may be a chain of headers (e.g., a header chain). According to some aspects, a node may store data related to private transactions between a blockchain client to which the node belongs and another blockchain client. For example, a node may store data in a private state.

[0167] On-Chain Payments According to some aspects, the transaction may be an on-chain transaction such that the transaction occurs on the blockchain and is reflected on the distributed public ledger, hi some examples, the on-chain transaction is verified or authenticated and updated to the blockchain network.

[0168] As described herein, the digital currency issued as a result of the transaction is issued by one of the financial institutions. Alternatively or additionally, the financial institution issuing the digital currency may complete the transaction using a central clearing house as described herein or a traditional interbank transfer system (e.g., ACH). As described herein, in some aspects, a purchase transaction is facilitated between two entities (customer and store) associated with different financial institutions. A financial institution, such as a bank, may issue a digital currency card for transactions in the bank's digital currency. A bank customer may visit a store that holds funds at another bank. A bank customer may provide a digital currency card to pay for goods using the bank's digital currency. In some embodiments, the bank provides a digital wallet as described herein, e.g., with reference to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7. In some examples, the use of the digital wallet is facilitated using a DAPP as described herein. A bank customer may use the digital wallet to pay for goods using the bank's digital currency. In some embodiments, the bank provides a device that can accept the bank's digital currency card, and / or digital wallet, and notify the bank's server to complete the transaction. In some embodiments, equipment provided by VISA®, MASTERCARD®, AMEX®, SQUARE®, or another payment company may accept digital currency cards (VISA®, MASTERCARD®, AMEX®, and SQUARE® are registered trademarks of Visa Inc., Foster City, California, USA; Mastercard Incorporated, Purchase, New York, USA; American Express Company, New York, New York, USA; and Square, Inc., San Francisco, California, respectively). The equipment relays information about the transaction to a processing center of the payment company, which may then notify the bank.A server at the bank may then complete the transaction.

[0169] In some embodiments, the digital currency is exchanged into a fiat currency, such as US dollars, and then transferred to the merchant's account at another bank. In some embodiments, if the merchant wishes to complete the transaction in digital currency, the merchant's bank may exchange the received fiat currency for another bank's digital currency and deposit it into the merchant's digital currency account via exchange 1270. In some implementations, the digital currency received into the merchant's digital currency account is different from the digital currency transferred from the customer's digital currency account. This is because the digital currencies issued by the two banks are different and may not be compatible. However, a transfer from one digital currency account at a bank to another digital currency account at a different bank may be done via an intermediate conversion to a fiat currency, such as US dollars.

[0170] 13 is a diagram of an example process 1300 for facilitating a private transaction on a blockchain between a first entity and a second entity using a digital currency issued by a financial institution and pegged to a fiat currency. The method may be performed on a first client of a network of clients.

[0171] At act 1302 the process begins. At Act 1304, a first client associated with the first entity receives a transaction to transfer an amount of digital currency from the first entity to a second entity, where the first entity and the second entity are associated with financial institutions. The first and second entities may be any of the entities described herein, including those described in connection with FIG.

[0172] At act 1306, the first client transmits data associated with the transaction to a second client of the network, where the second client is associated with a second entity. In some embodiments, the data associated with the transaction to the second client includes an encrypted payload of the transaction. In some embodiments, the data associated with the transaction to the second client includes an encrypted RMK. In some embodiments, the data associated with the transaction to the second client includes a nonce to the transaction manager of the second client.

[0173] At act 1308, the first client may generate a transaction block. In some embodiments, a transaction may be processed only by the client that owns the transaction. In some examples, the client that owns the transaction includes clients associated with the first and second entities. In some examples, the client that owns the transaction includes the first and second clients. At act 1310, the first client transmits a new transaction block to one or more clients participating in the network. In some embodiments, the new transaction block is transmitted to all clients participating in the network. In some embodiments, the transaction block includes data related to the transaction. In act 1312 the process ends.

[0174] 14 is a diagram of an example process 1400 for facilitating a private transaction on a blockchain between a first entity and a second entity using a digital currency issued by a financial institution and pegged to a fiat currency. The method may be performed on a first client of a network of clients. The first and second entities may be any of the entities described herein, including those described in connection with FIG. 3.

[0175] At act 1402 the process begins. At act 1404, the first client may receive a transaction block from a second client associated with the first entity of the network of clients. In some embodiments, the new transaction block is transmitted to all clients participating in the network. In some embodiments, the transaction block includes data related to the transaction. At act 1406, the first client determines whether the transaction manager of the first client holds a transaction associated with the transaction block. In some aspects, the first client may determine whether the transaction manager holds a transaction by making a call to the transaction manager of the first client.

[0176] If the transaction manager determines that it holds the transaction, then the first client updates the private state of the first client's node at act 1408. For example, the private state of the client's node may contain data related to private transactions between the client and other clients on the network. At act 1410, the process ends.

[0177] 6 is a diagram of an example process for creating and / or populating a digital wallet with digital currency according to some aspects of the technology described herein. At 602, a customer of a financial institution may deposit fiat currency (e.g., United States Dollars (USD)) into an account at the financial institution.

[0178] At 604, the financial institution may open an account for the customer and deposit the customer's fiat currency into the account. In some embodiments, the financial institution may be pre-approved by the clearing facility to open accounts for some or all of the financial institution's users. For example, the financial institutions may be ranked based on the clearing facility's rules for rating financial institutions. Once the financial institution is highly ranked, the financial institution may be permitted to open accounts for some or all of the users based on certain rules received from the clearing facility. For example, the financial institution may be allowed to open accounts for users of the financial institution who are credit-worthy, have a threshold number of years of relationship with the financial institution, have a threshold time average balance across accounts, and / or comply with other suitable metrics. Additionally or alternatively, the financial institution may be pre-approved by the clearing facility to certify users and perform certain transactions for some or all of the financial institution's users. Once the financial institution is highly ranked, the financial institution may be permitted to perform certain transactions for some or all of the financial institution's users based on certain rules received from the clearing facility.

[0179] According to some aspects, a transaction may involve a user purchasing a virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and / or extended reality (XR) appearance using digital currency. For example, a user may purchase an avatar, one or more virtual objects, virtual real estate, virtual money, and / or the like for use in a VR, AR, or XR world, or a world otherwise referred to as the metaverse. Aspects of the present disclosure may be similarly applicable to transactions operated in such metaverse aspects, and these aspects may be used to operate transactions using one or more digital currencies in such metaverse aspects.

[0180] Buyer Protection According to some embodiments, a first amount of digital currency used by a user during the purchase of a product may be refunded to the user in certain cases. For example, the first amount of digital currency may be the purchase price of the product or less than the purchase price of the product. The amount may be refunded if the product is not delivered, if the delivered product is different from the purchased product, and / or if it is damaged. According to some embodiments, digital currency used by a user during the purchase of a product may be withdrawn from the user's account (e.g., digital currency account, digital wallet) only upon delivery of the purchased product under certain circumstances: For example, if the product is not delivered, if the delivered product is different from the purchased product, and / or is damaged, the digital currency should not leave the account.

[0181] According to some aspects, if the financial entity does not recognize the merchant, the financial entity may delay the transfer of digital currency from the digital wallet and / or digital currency account if the user has not previously purchased from the merchant through the digital wallet and / or the like. In some aspects, the merchant's account and / or digital wallet may indicate that funds (e.g., digital currency) are on hold after the purchase of an item but before the transaction is executed. In some aspects, the purchaser's account and / or digital wallet may indicate that funds (e.g., digital currency) are on hold after the purchase of an item but before the transaction is executed.

[0182] According to some examples, when one or multiple criteria are met, the transaction may be automatically executed and the digital currency may be removed from the user's digital currency account and / or digital wallet. For example, the transaction may be executed after a predetermined period of time. In some examples, the transaction may be executed after manual confirmation and / or an indication by the purchaser that the transaction is authorized by the user.

[0183] Credit Rating In some embodiments, the digital wallet may further include information identifying the user's credit rating. In some examples, the credit rating may be accessed by a third party (e.g., a seller) to make one or more credit decisions. At 606, the customer may request to exchange a portion of their fiat currency (e.g., $100) for digital currency issued by a financial institution (e.g., $AA100SC (i.e., a digital currency issued by financial institution AA and pegged to USD)), where SC may refer to a standard coin, stable coin, or another suitable reference for a digital currency pegged to fiat currency.

[0184] At 608, the financial institution may send a notice to the clearing facility containing information regarding the requested exchange from the customer and receive customer approval and / or approval of the transaction by the clearing facility. For example, the clearing facility may implement a "know your customer" policy to standardize the process of issuing digital wallets to customers and / or authorizing third parties to be entrusted with holding digital currency on behalf of customers. In some embodiments, the financial institution may be pre-authorized by the clearing facility to authenticate users and perform certain transactions for some or all of the financial institution's users. Once the financial institution is highly ranked, the financial institution may be permitted to perform certain transactions for some or all of its users based on certain rules received from the clearing facility. For example, the financial institution may be able to perform currency exchange transactions for most or all of its users, but commodity transactions may only be allowed to be performed for users who are credit-worthy, have a threshold number of years of relationship with the financial institution, have a threshold time average balance across accounts, and / or comply with other suitable metrics.

[0185] At 610, the financial institution records the transaction on a private distributed ledger for the digital currency and may transfer the fiat currency from the user's account to the omnibus account (more details of which are provided further below). The financial institution may issue the equivalent digital currency and transfer the digital currency to the user's digital wallet at 612. In embodiments where a digital wallet does not exist for the user, the financial institution may request the creation of a digital wallet before transferring the digital currency to the user's digital wallet.

[0186] In some embodiments, a digital wallet may hold a digital currency issued by a financial institution and pegged to a fiat currency (e.g., the US Dollar (USD)) and another digital currency issued by another financial institution and pegged to the same fiat currency. For example, a digital wallet may contain $AA100SC (i.e., a digital currency issued by financial institution AA and pegged to USD) and $BB100SC (i.e., a digital currency issued by financial institution BB and pegged to USD). A customer's digital wallet may hold multiple types of digital currencies from financial institutions that choose to use the digital wallet.

[0187] In some embodiments, when a customer's digital wallet receives digital currency issued by a particular financial institution, the customer may be presented with one or more options for storing the digital currency within the customer's digital wallet, such as exchanging the digital currency issued by the particular financial institution for a digital currency issued by another financial institution and / or exchanging the digital currency for an equivalent fiat currency.

[0188] For example, a customer's digital wallet may receive $AA100SC (i.e., digital currency issued by financial institution AA and pegged to USD) and the customer may decide to store this digital currency in the customer's digital wallet. Additionally or alternatively, the customer may pre-select an option to pre-authorize any received digital currency issued by a particular financial institution (e.g., financial institution AA or another financial institution) to be stored in the customer's digital wallet.

[0189] In another example, a customer's digital wallet may receive $BB100SC (i.e., digital currency issued by financial institution BB and pegged to USD), and the customer may decide to exchange this digital currency for digital currency issued by another financial institution (e.g., financial institution AA). The digital currency issued by financial institution BB, $BB100SC, may be converted to digital currency issued by financial institution AA, and stored in the customer's digital wallet. Additionally or alternatively, the customer may pre-select an option to pre-certify any digital currency not issued by a particular financial institution (e.g., financial institution AA or another financial institution) to be exchanged for digital currency issued by the particular financial institution. For example, the customer may prefer financial institution AA because the customer has an account with the financial institution, the customer trusts the financial institution over other financial institutions (e.g., because of a good reputation, large holdings, favorable location, and / or other suitable criteria), the customer receives reward points and / or other benefits for storing digital currency issued by the financial institution, and / or another suitable reason for preferring the financial institution. Additionally or alternatively, the customer may select the option to exchange the digital currency issued by financial institution BB for digital currency issued by another financial institution prior to storing it in the digital wallet.

[0190] When the customer receives the digital currency issued by financial institution BB, the customer may be presented with a choice of other digital currencies for exchange. Additionally or alternatively, the customer may receive any digital currency issued by financial institution BB and pre-designate a preferred digital currency for exchange therefor. The customer may not want to store digital currency issued by financial institution BB due to lack of trust or preference for financial institution BB (e.g., due to poor reputation, small holdings, unfavorable location, or other preferred criteria) and / or other preferred reasons.

[0191] In yet another example, a customer's digital wallet may receive digital currency issued by a financial institution (e.g., $AA100SC (i.e., digital currency issued by financial institution AA and pegged to USD)) and the customer may decide to exchange this digital currency for an equivalent fiat currency (i.e., $100 USD). Additionally or alternatively, the customer may pre-select an option to pre-authorize any digital currency issued by a financial institution to be exchanged for an equivalent fiat currency. Additionally or alternatively, the customer may select an option that digital currency issued by a particular financial institution (e.g., financial institution BB) should be exchanged for an equivalent fiat currency. The customer may be presented with an option to exchange for fiat currency when receiving digital currency issued by financial institution BB. Additionally or alternatively, the customer may pre-specify that any digital currency issued by financial institution BB should be exchanged for an equivalent fiat currency. A customer may not want to store digital currency issued by financial institution BB due to a lack of trust or preference for financial institution BB (e.g., due to a poor reputation, small holdings, an unfavorable location, or another suitable criterion) and / or for another suitable reason.

[0192] In some embodiments, a digital wallet may hold a digital currency pegged to a fiat currency (e.g., the US Dollar (USD)) and another digital currency pegged to a different fiat currency (e.g., the Euro (EUR)). These digital currencies may be issued by the same or different financial institutions. For example, a digital wallet may contain $AA100SC (i.e., a digital currency issued by financial institution AA and pegged to USD) and EURAA100SC (i.e., a digital currency issued by financial institution AA and pegged to EUR). In another example, a digital wallet may contain $AA100SC (i.e., a digital currency issued by financial institution AA and pegged to USD) and EURBB100SC (i.e., a digital currency issued by financial institution BB and pegged to EUR).

[0193] In some embodiments, the user's digital wallet may include one or more rules for accepting and transmitting digital currency (e.g., implementing a tiering or ranking system). The rules may be received from one or more financial institutions, one or more users, a clearing house (details of which are provided further below) that processes digital currency transactions using the digital wallet, or another authorized source. For example, the user's primary financial institution may be designated with "Tier 1-A" status, such that the user prefers to accept and / or store digital currency issued by the user's primary financial institution. In another example, the tiering or ranking system may be implemented based on rules received from a clearing house that ranks financial institutions. The clearing house may include one or more financial institutions that issue digital currency and / or other entities appropriate to the ranking of such financial institutions.

[0194] In some embodiments, the digital wallet may transfer digital currency in reverse hierarchical order. For example, if a user wishes to transfer the equivalent of $100 in digital currency, the digital wallet may select digital currency issued by a lower tier financial institution from the available digital currencies in the digital wallet. In some embodiments, a user of a digital wallet may specify one or more financial institutions from which the user may wish to accept and / or reject the digital currency. Alternatively or additionally, the user may specify one or more financial institutions that can accept the digital currency but must convert it to fiat currency upon receipt.

[0195] In some embodiments, a user of a digital wallet may request that the digital currency in the digital wallet be converted into fiat currency or another digital currency. In some embodiments, a user of a digital wallet may request that a financial institution exchange the financial institution's digital currency for fiat currency. For example, a customer of a financial institution may request that a digital currency issued by the financial institution (e.g., $AA100SC) be converted into an equivalent fiat currency (e.g., $100). The financial institution may record this transaction on its private distributed ledger and issue the equivalent fiat currency to the customer.

[0196] In some embodiments, a user of a digital wallet may ask a financial institution to exchange another financial institution's digital currency for fiat currency. For example, a customer of financial institution AA may ask to convert a digital currency issued by another financial institution BB (e.g., $BB100SC) into an equivalent fiat currency (e.g., $100). Financial institution AA may record the transaction on its private distributed ledger, send the transaction to a clearing house (details of which are provided further below), and / or send the transaction to financial institution BB to issue the equivalent fiat currency to the consumer. In some embodiments, based on the hierarchy of financial institution BB, financial institution AA may issue the equivalent fiat currency to the customer from its own reserves (e.g., if financial institution BB is high-ranked) and receive the fiat currency from financial institution BB when the two financial institutions periodically settle their accounts. Alternatively, financial institution AA may wait to receive the fiat currency from financial institution BB before issuing the equivalent fiat currency to the customer (e.g., if financial institution BB is low-ranked).

[0197] fiat reserve In some examples, financial institutions that hold reserves of fiat currency may be private banks and / or governments, including Federal Reserve Banks (e.g., central banks, district reserve banks, etc.). In some embodiments, financial institutions that receive digital currency issued by another financial institution may apply a tiering or ranking system (e.g., Tier 1-Tier 5) to determine the appropriate time to complete the transaction. For example, financial institutions in the highest tier (e.g., Tier 1) may settle all transactions between them once a month or when a certain limit is reached. In another example, when a financial institution in the highest tier (e.g., Tier 1) initiates a transaction with a financial institution in the lowest tier (e.g., Tier 5), the financial institution in the highest tier may request the financial institution in the lowest tier to immediately complete the transaction and transfer the digital currency and / or fiat currency.

[0198] In some embodiments, a user of a digital wallet may ask a financial institution to exchange the financial institution's digital currency pegged to a fiat currency for a digital currency pegged to a different fiat currency. For example, the user may ask the financial institution to exchange $AA100SC (i.e., a digital currency issued by the financial institution and pegged to USD) for EURAA86.33SC (i.e., a digital currency issued by the financial institution and pegged to EUR, based on the current exchange rate). The financial institution may record the currency exchange on its private distributed ledger and transfer the requested digital currency to the user's digital wallet. In some embodiments, the financial institution may maintain an omnibus account, or multiple accounts, for each fiat currency corresponding to the digital currency issued to all of its customers. To complete a currency exchange transaction, the financial institution may withdraw an amount of fiat currency (e.g., USD) from the fiat currency omnibus account and deposit an equivalent amount of exchanged currency (e.g., EUR) into the exchanged currency omnibus account.

[0199] In some embodiments, a user of a digital wallet may ask to convert the government-issued digital currency in the digital wallet into fiat currency or another digital currency, such as a financial institution-issued digital currency or a digital currency issued by another government. In some embodiments, a user of a digital currency account may ask a financial institution to exchange the government-issued digital currency for fiat currency. For example, a customer of a financial institution may ask to convert a government-issued digital currency into an equivalent fiat currency. The financial institution may record the transaction on its private distributed ledger and issue the equivalent fiat currency to the customer.

[0200] In some embodiments, a user of a digital currency account may ask a financial institution to exchange a government-issued digital currency for a digital currency issued by another government. For example, a customer of financial institution AA may ask to convert a digital currency issued by government GA (e.g., $GA100SC) into an equivalent digital currency issued by a second government (e.g., $GB100SC). Financial institution AA may first use the exchange rate of the digital currency to determine the correct equivalent amount of the digital currency issued by the second government. In some examples, the government-issued digital currency is based on the legal tender of the same government. And the exchange rate of the digital currency may be fixed and / or floating based on the exchange rate between the legal tender of the two governments. The financial institution may record the transaction on its private distributed ledger.

[0201] According to some embodiments, a user of a digital currency account may ask a financial institution to exchange government-issued digital currency for digital currency issued by the financial institution. For example, a customer of financial institution AA may ask to convert government GA-issued digital currency (e.g., $GA100SC) into an equivalent digital currency (e.g., $AA100SC). The financial institution may record the transaction on its private distributed ledger and issue the equivalent financial institution-issued digital currency to the customer.

[0202] Digital currency accounts may be held by individuals or by financial institutions. In some embodiments, where a government entity issues the digital currency, a user may have an account with the government entity and the government entity may hold the digital currency. In some instances, the government may also hold fiat currency in lieu of a fiat-based government-issued digital currency.

[0203] In some embodiments, a financial institution tracks ownership of digital currency issued by the financial institution with deposit insurance in an amount of fiat currency equal to the amount of the digital currency backed or maintained by fiat currency in an omnibus account at the financial institution.

[0204] In some embodiments, the financial institution may maintain in the omnibus account an amount of fiat currency equivalent to the amount of digital currency previously issued by the financial institution. The omnibus account may be used to back the issued digital currency. Deposit insurance may be available for such fiat currency accounts. For example, in the United States, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is an independent agency of the U.S. government that protects deposit consumers from the loss of insured deposits in the event of the failure of an FDIC-insured financial institution. The financial institution may track ownership of issued digital currency and obtain equivalent fiat currency compensation for each account holder. In some embodiments, the digital wallet may include an indication of which countries have insured the financial institution associated with the digital currency in the digital wallet, or that the financial institution is not insured in connection with the digital currency in the user's digital wallet. For example, the digital wallet may include a color and / or code indication of which countries have insured the financial institution associated with the digital currency in the digital wallet. In some embodiments, the omnibus account may be used to fulfill government regulations related to currency exchange transactions (and, optionally, in addition to the KYC procedures described above). For example, in the United States, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) enforces regulations related to currency exchanges. Thus, a financial institution may maintain an omnibus account for each fiat currency used to back digital currencies issued by that financial institution, where ownership of the omnibus account is associated with each holder of the digital currency.

[0205] In some embodiments, received currency exchange requests are made in real time and the current currency exchange rate is applied to the request. In some embodiments, received currency exchange requests are set to start at an exchange price or based on the exchange price at the time of the transaction. Basing received currency exchange requests on the exchange price at the time of the transaction is advantageous in having the exact amount of currency required for conversion; however, this embodiment may involve the risk of price fluctuations that affect the final exchange price used in the transaction.

[0206] In some embodiments, a user of the digital wallet may set one or more notifications related to fiat currency exchange rates to determine a preferred timing for performing a currency exchange transaction. Typically, foreign exchange settlements may involve significant transaction costs, especially for traveling consumers or non-business entities. The described systems and methods allow users to exchange foreign currency and / or access foreign currency prices in real time or near real time. This process may be more efficient than traditional foreign exchange markets, providing time and / or cost benefits to individual consumers and businesses alike. The system may be a viable alternative to traditional foreign exchange markets, handling all relevant transactions and complementing traditional foreign exchange markets, and processing transactions that need to be real time and / or cost effective compared to traditionally available options for currency exchange. In some embodiments, a user may access different exchange prices for one or more foreign currencies from multiple entities providing foreign exchange services. A user may select a particular entity for a foreign currency exchange transaction based on better prices, reputation, speed of transaction, and / or preferred factors associated with the particular entity.

[0207] For example, a user may be interested in exchanging a USD-backed digital currency for a EUR-backed digital currency. In another example, a user may be interested in exchanging a USD-backed digital currency for a commodity, such as gold, silver, platinum, copper, oil, natural gas, corn, soybeans, wheat, cocoa, coffee, cotton, sugar, or another suitable commodity. The commodity may be owned by a financial institution, or the financial institution may own rights to the commodity. The commodity may be represented as a digitized asset (e.g., in the form of a token) and included in a digital transaction and / or stored in a user's digital wallet. The commodity may include an asset, such as real estate, and the digitized asset may represent an ownership interest or stake in an asset or group of assets.

[0208] In some embodiments, one or more rules (e.g., a smart contract for a limited liability company) and / or another suitable rule may be established for the transfer of digitized assets, e.g., for the sale and financing of an asset or group of assets to raise future capital as needed. One or more rules may be provided for automatically allocating digital currency to different entities, such as shareholders or another suitable entity. For example, digitized assets of a commodity may be stored in a separate area of ​​a user's digital wallet. Since the value of a digitized asset may fluctuate based on the value of the commodity, the user's digital wallet may indicate the current value, the amount of commodity owned, the value at the time of the transaction, and / or indicate to the user that the value of the digitized asset may fluctuate based on the value of the commodity.

[0209] In some embodiments, one or more rules for price fluctuations may be established (e.g., quarterly, annually, or another suitable valuation period). In some embodiments, the entity holding the asset may be responsible for the tax, the holder of the interest may be responsible for the tax (e.g., as with real estate investment trusts, limited liability companies, etc.), and / or another suitable party, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, a foreign holder of an interest may receive a tax benefit such that if the foreign holder (e.g., outside the United States) sells its interest, it may not have to pay tax in the United States. In some embodiments, transfer taxes on the sale of a foreign holder's interest may vary depending on the location of the foreign holder, the location of the asset, the type of asset, and / or another suitable restriction, or a combination thereof.

[0210] According to some embodiments, a token may be non-fungible. In some examples, a non-fungible token may be a form of digital currency. A non-fungible token may be unique and not exchangeable for other tokens. A non-fungible token may be a unique digital piece of artwork and / or music, a domain name, a digital collectible (e.g., CryptoKitties, memes), an artificial intelligence (AI) character, a ticket, a part of a virtual world, a part of a game such as a digital object used in the game, an item that has a tangible benefit (e.g., a specific function), provides the owner with voting rights, and / or the like. In some examples, a non-fungible token may be associated with stocks, options, and / or other suitable financial instruments, and / or commodities, real estate, and / or other suitable non-financial instruments (e.g., an NFT may represent at least a portion of a stock, option, and / or another suitable financial instrument, and / or at least a portion of a commodity, real estate, and / or another suitable non-financial instrument). According to some embodiments, a token may be fungible. For example, a fungible token may be a token that is exchangeable for another identical token. According to some embodiments, the compound value of one or more non-fungible tokens may be prorated as individual fungible tokens representing stakes in the compound value. According to some embodiments, the NFT may be a collective NFT, and the creator of the NFT may sell the NFT to a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) in exchange for tokens issued by the DAO. In some embodiments, the NFT may back issued tokens. The issued tokens may provide users with voting rights regarding projects associated with the DAO.

[0211] According to some embodiments, the token may be a digital representation of the digital currency. For example, the digital asset may be a packaged digital currency. In some embodiments, the digital currency may be tokenized by requiring a user to peg an amount of the digital currency to receive a token pegged to the value of the digital currency. According to some embodiments, the digital currency may be tokenized using an entity (e.g., any entity described herein). For example, a user may transfer a first amount of the digital currency to the entity. The transferred digital currency may be pegged by the entity using a smart contract, and the entity may send an equivalent amount of the tokenized digital currency to the user's digital wallet and / or associated account. In some embodiments, a user may directly send the digital currency to a smart contract and receive an equivalent amount of the tokenized digital currency.

[0212] According to some embodiments, the digital currency may be a digital currency on a first public or private blockchain as described herein, and the tokenized digital currency may be a digital currency on a second public or private blockchain as described herein. In some examples, the user's digital wallet may be configured to tokenize the digital currency as described. As described herein, holders of tokens issued by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) may be provided with voting rights regarding projects associated with the DAO. The DAO may operate using a smart contract that defines how assets associated with the DAO (e.g., digital currencies, tokens, stocks, commodities, fiat currencies, etc.) are used. Those with a stake in the DAO (e.g., holders of one or many DAO tokens) may use their voting rights to influence the operation of the DAO. For example, the DAO may change the rules set by the smart contract through the DAO's governance system (e.g., led to changes by majority vote).

[0213] The user may set a notification with a favorable exchange rate and / or a range of favorable exchange rates. Upon receipt of the notification, the user may initiate a currency or commodity exchange transaction. Alternatively or additionally, the user may have the digital wallet automatically initiate a currency or commodity exchange transaction upon receipt of the notification. In some embodiments, the financial institution may regulate and approve or deny the user's ability to receive and / or initiate a currency or commodity exchange transaction. For example, the financial institution may require the user to indicate whether the transaction is for personal use or investment purposes. The financial institution may take this information into consideration when approving or denying the user's ability to receive and / or initiate a currency or commodity exchange transaction.

[0214] In some embodiments, a financial institution may provide currency or commodity exchange facilities to all of its customers. In some embodiments, a financial institution may provide currency or commodity exchange facilities to its customers after individually approving each customer. In some embodiments, as a control mechanism, a digital currency recipient (e.g., a retailer, a business user, a friend, etc.) may be required to only accept digital currency backed by their financial institution's country. However, the recipient user may choose to accept payment in another fiat currency or a commodity-backed digital currency. The recipient's financial institution may allow the recipient to convert another financial institution's digital currency into their own digital currency, fiat currency, or another suitable conversion. In some embodiments, a financial institution may grant access to accredited investors to trade or hold certain assets. For example, if the recipient is recognized as an accredited investor by the financial institution, the recipient may be able to receive or purchase an asset or a pool of assets.

[0215] In some embodiments, the digital currency held by the recipient in a digital wallet or another suitable location may be presented to the recipient as a general certified digital currency (e.g., a stable coin backed by the US dollar). From the recipient's perspective, the financial institution's specific digital currency may be public or hidden. For example, the recipient may ask to verify the details of the digital currency held and to obtain a breakdown of the digital currency from different financial institutions. For example, a recipient holding digital currency backed by the US dollar may verify that, of $10,000 of digital currency, $5,000 is held in digital currency issued by a first financial institution, $3,000 is held in digital currency issued by a second financial institution, and $2,000 is held in digital currency issued by a third financial institution.

[0216] In some aspects, the financial institutions issuing each digital currency may choose to use a central clearing facility. The clearing facility may implement its own private distributed ledger to record all transactions in the digital currencies of the two different financial institutions. The clearing facility may include one or more clearing facilities with one or more private distributed ledgers to implement the systems and methods described herein.

[0217] In some embodiments, a private distributed ledger may interact with and / or run on a public ledger. For example, the functionality of managing private transactions of a private distributed ledger may be implemented using an application running on a public blockchain. This public blockchain may optionally provide support for other financial and / or non-financial applications in addition to the functionality of managing private transactions of the private distributed ledger. In some embodiments, within a public distributed ledger, portions may be designated as private, with more limited divisions based on digital currency, users, and / or other suitable information.

[0218] Additionally or alternatively, the private distributed ledger may share or receive information and / or transaction blocks from or with / in the public system. The described systems and methods may be implemented using any one or more of the distributed ledgers described herein, or another suitable variant thereof. In some embodiments, a transaction may be recorded in the private distributed ledger of each financial institution involved in the transaction, and in the private distributed ledger of the settlement facility. For example, the private distributed ledger of the settlement facility may include transactions between users from different financial institutions (including transactions between users of the same financial institution), while the private distributed ledger of each financial institution may only include transactions between users of the same financial institution, or transactions involving users of the financial institution as parties to the transaction. In some embodiments, a transaction may be recorded in the private distributed ledger of the financial institution and then relayed for recording in the private distributed ledger of the settlement facility.

[0219] In some embodiments, a transaction may be recorded simultaneously in the financial institution's private distributed ledger and the payment facility's private distributed ledger. In some embodiments, a transaction may be recorded in the payment facility's private distributed ledger and, once approved by the payment facility, recorded in the financial institution's private distributed ledger. In some embodiments, the payment facility may be provided for implementation using computing nodes (e.g., computing nodes 156, 160 and / or 162 (see illustrative system 150 of FIG. 1 )) that store and maintain a copy of the payment facility's private distributed ledger 158, as well as the financial institution's private distributed ledger. The private distributed ledger may store one or more transaction blocks representing transactions in digital currency and involving two or more different financial institutions. In one example, a store that holds funds in a digital currency account at a particular bank may receive digital currency issued from another bank, as transactions may be settled through the payment facility as transactions involving a financial institution different from the store's financial institution.

[0220] In some embodiments, the clearing facility may record the transaction and notify one or both financial institutions regarding the appropriate time to complete the transaction. The clearing facility may incorporate a hierarchical structure to rank financial institutions based on each financial institution's asset size, debt rating, financial health review, and / or other suitable criteria. In some embodiments, there are two steps to complete a transaction: clearing and settlement. Clearing is the transfer and confirmation of information between the payer (sending financial institution) and the payee (receiving financial institution). Settlement is the actual transfer of digital currency between the payer financial institution and the payee financial institution. Settlement fulfills the payer financial institution's obligation to the payee financial institution for the transaction. For example, a top-tiered financial institution may settle all transactions between them only once a month or when a balance limit is exceeded. In another example, transactions between a top-tiered financial institution and a bottom-tiered financial institution may settle on an individual transaction basis or when a balance limit is exceeded.

[0221] In some embodiments, for a transaction between two different financial institutions, the clearing facility may record a transaction between a customer of a first financial institution (e.g., a purchaser) and a customer of a second financial institution (e.g., a merchant). The purchaser may make a purchase with a digital currency issued by the first financial institution. The merchant may receive payment in a digital currency issued by the first financial institution. The merchant may keep some or all of the received digital currency issued by the financial institution, transfer it to a digital currency issued by the second financial institution, transfer it to fiat currency, or a combination thereof. The merchant may specify instructions or preferences for holding and / or transferring the received digital currency prior to or at the time of the transaction, or another suitable means for specifying the instructions or preferences. Each financial institution may deposit or withdraw an equivalent amount of fiat currency into their respective omnibus accounts and settle the transaction at a later date (e.g., based on the appropriate timing for completing the transaction as notified by the clearing facility). The funds may also be recorded as red / yellow, or another suitable indication(s), in the recipient's digital wallet and / or private distributed ledger to indicate a pending status until the financial institution settles the transaction. In some embodiments, a pending status may be beneficial for cash on delivery or cash on delivery, where the purchaser can inspect the purchased product upon receipt and immediately approve the payment.

[0222] In some embodiments, each individual transaction may receive a unique transaction number that may be used to track the transaction across private distributed ledgers for the clearing facility and the financial institutions involved. For example, in a transaction involving a transfer of digital currency from one financial institution to another, the transaction may be recorded individually in the private distributed ledger of each financial institution and the private distributed ledger of the clearing facility. The individual records of the transaction may be tracked using a unique transaction number assigned to the transaction. The unique transaction number may be assigned by either the financial institution, the clearing facility, or another entity suitable for issuing such unique transaction numbers.

[0223] In some embodiments, the clearing facility may also be a dispute resolution facility for transactions between financial institutions. To assist in dispute resolution, the clearing facility may pull transactions from the private distributed ledger using an assigned unique transaction number.

[0224] In some embodiments, the clearing facility may charge fees to facilitate transactions between customers of different financial institutions and / or between customers within a financial institution, but may not itself hold any digital currency. Instead, the clearing facility may notify financial institutions of the appropriate timing to complete a transaction. In some embodiments, the clearing facility may implement a "know your customer" policy to standardize the process of issuing digital wallets to customers and / or authorizing third parties to be entrusted with holding digital currency on behalf of customers. In some embodiments, the clearing facility may block a particular transaction at the direction of one of the financial institutions involved in the transaction. For example, the financial institution may receive information regarding fraudulent transactions, transactions used to purchase illegal goods, or other illegal activity. Similarly, the clearing facility itself may receive such information and block a particular transaction based on that information. In another example, the financial institution and / or the clearing facility may freeze and / or disable one or both digital wallets involved in the transaction to prevent further illegal activity and cause loss of funds.

[0225] FIG. 7 shows illustrative diagrams of example transactions 700 and 750 in digital currency using digital wallets according to some aspects of the technology described herein. In transaction 700, a customer of a financial institution 706 requests that an amount of digital currency (e.g., $AA100SC) be transferred from its digital wallet 702 to a digital wallet 704 of another customer of the financial institution 706. The transaction may be recorded in a private distributed ledger of a clearing mechanism 708, the digital wallets 702 and 704 may be updated, and the digital currency (e.g., $AA100SC) may be transferred from the digital wallet 702 to the digital wallet 704. In some embodiments, the clearing mechanism 708 may send the transaction to be recorded in a private distributed ledger for the financial institution 706. In some embodiments, one or both of the digital wallets 702, 704 may send the transaction to be recorded in a private distributed ledger for the financial institution 706. The financial institution may update the holder of the equivalent fiat currency in the financial institution's omnibus account. This may update ownership information or other suitable information to protect the new owner of the transferred digital currency with FDIC insurance or other suitable locality-based insurance. In some embodiments, the clearing mechanism 708 is notified by the financial institution 706 of the requested transaction to transfer digital currency from digital wallet 702 to digital wallet 704. In this case, the private distributed ledger for the clearing mechanism 708 and / or the private distributed ledger for the financial institution 706 may be updated to reflect the transaction via the techniques described herein.

[0226] In some embodiments, for a transaction between two users' digital wallets at different financial institutions, one or both financial institutions may notify the clearing mechanism 708 about the transaction. In this case, the private distributed ledger for the clearing mechanism 708 and / or the private distributed ledgers for both financial institutions may be updated to reflect the transaction via techniques described herein.

[0227] In transaction 750, a customer of a financial institution 756 requests that an amount of digital currency (e.g., $AA100SC) be transferred from its digital wallet 752 to a digital wallet 754 of a customer of another financial institution 758. The transaction is recorded on a private distributed ledger at a clearing house 760, digital wallets 752 and 754 are updated, and digital currency (e.g., $AA100SC) may be transferred from digital wallet 752 to digital wallet 754. In some embodiments, since this transaction spans two financial institutions, the clearing house 760 acts as an intermediary between the two financial institutions. In some embodiments, the clearing house 760 may send the transaction to be recorded on the private distributed ledger for the financial institutions 756, 758.

[0228] In some embodiments, one or both of the digital wallets 752, 754 may send the transaction to be recorded on a private distributed ledger for the financial institution 756, 758. In some embodiments, the transaction may be recorded in a private distributed ledger in one or both of the digital wallets 752, 754. This step may act as a safeguard to verify the transaction in the absence of, for example, the clearing mechanism 760. In some embodiments, the clearing mechanism 760 may record the transaction in its private distributed ledger and then notify one or both of the financial institutions 756, 758 to record the transaction in their respective private distributed ledgers. In some embodiments, the financial institution 756 may update the holder of the equivalent fiat currency in the financial institution's omnibus account. This may update FDIC insurance information or other suitable insurance information to protect the new owner of the transferred digital currency.

[0229] In some embodiments, a customer of the financial institution 758 may request that the financial institution 756's digital currency (e.g., $AA100SC) be converted into fiat currency (e.g., $100) and deposited in the customer's account at the financial institution 758. The clearing house 760 may act as an intermediary between the two financial institutions to facilitate the transaction. The clearing house 760 may verify, on behalf of the financial institution 756, that the digital currency is held by the customer and notify the financial institution 756 (which issued the digital currency) of the transaction. In some embodiments, the financial institution 756's digital currency (e.g., $AA100SC) may be directly exchanged for the requested fiat currency (e.g., $100). In some embodiments, the financial institution 756's digital currency (e.g., $AA100SC) may first be converted into the financial institution 758's equivalent digital currency (e.g., $BB100SC) and then exchanged into the requested fiat currency (e.g., $100).

[0230] In some embodiments, the clearing mechanism 760 may generally act as a gateway for financial institutions, such as financial institutions 758, and may track balances of digital currency issued by financial institutions 756 held by customers of each financial institution. In some embodiments, the clearing mechanism 760 may apply a tiering or ranking system (e.g., Tier 1-Tier 5) to determine the appropriate time to complete a transaction. The clearing mechanism 760 may incorporate a tiering structure to rank financial institutions based on each financial institution's asset size, debt rating, financial health review, and / or other suitable criteria. For example, financial institutions in the highest tier (e.g., Tier 1) may settle all transactions between them once a month or when a certain limit is reached. In another example, when a financial institution in the highest tier (e.g., Tier 1) initiates a transaction with a financial institution in the lowest tier (e.g., Tier 5), the financial institution in the highest tier may request the financial institution in the lowest tier to immediately complete the transaction and transfer the fiat currency backing the digital currency. In another example, the clearing facility 760 may provide credit and periodically collect fees to facilitate transactions involving higher level financial institutions, while the clearing facility 760 may request immediate payment of fees to facilitate transactions involving lower level financial institutions.

[0231] Traditionally, fiat currency transfers between financial institutions may be operated using the Clearing House Interbank Payment System (CHIPS) or Fedwire. CHIPS is a privately-run US clearing house for large value transactions. Fedwire is a real-time gross settlement funds transfer system operated by the US Federal Reserve Bank that allows financial institutions to transfer funds electronically between participants. CHIPS and Fedwire differ in speed and minimum transaction amounts, but both systems directly process fiat currency and make payments in fiat currency from one party to another. However, the only currency handled by the clearing house 760 is that related to the clearing house's fees for facilitating transactions between financial institutions. Unlike traditional CHIPS-type or Fedwire-type systems, the clearing house 760 facilitates transactions between financial institutions but does not hold or handle digital or fiat currency. Clearing houses, as described, provide greater efficiency between financial institutions to limit third-party interactions compared to traditional systems, which may save time and money.

[0232] In some embodiments, customer C1 may have an account with financial institution FI1. For example, customer C1 may have a savings account SA1 with financial institution FI1 with fiat $ on deposit. Customer C1 may also hold digital currency issued by financial institution FI1 and pegged to fiat $. The digital currency may be backed by fiat $ on deposit in omnibus account OA1 with financial institution FI1.

[0233] Additionally, customer C2 may have an account with financial institution FI2. For example, customer C2 may have a savings account SA2 with financial institution FI2 with fiat $ on deposit. Customer C2 may also hold digital currency issued by financial institution FI2 and pegged to fiat $. The digital currency may be backed by deposits of fiat $ in omnibus account OA2 with financial institution FI2.

[0234] verification Customers C1 and C2 may perform a transaction in which customer C1 pays customer C2 XDC$, a digital currency issued by financial institution FI1. In some embodiments, customer C1's digital wallet may hold a transaction block, or another suitable data structure, which may be used to verify funds for the transaction. As part of the transaction processing, the clearing mechanism (e.g., clearing mechanism 708 or 760, or another suitable clearing mechanism(s)) and financial institution FI1 may be notified of the transaction. Upon notification, the clearing mechanism and financial institution FI1 may insert a transaction block, or another suitable data structure, into their respective private distributed ledgers, as described in the embodiments discussed herein. The transaction block may indicate a transfer of XDC$, a digital currency issued by financial institution FI1, from customer C1 to customer C2. Customer C2 may hold XDC$, a digital currency issued by financial institution FI1, which is backed by X$ in omnibus account OA1.

[0235] In some embodiments, the clearing facility may verify the availability of funds to complete the transaction. The XDC$ digital currency issued by financial institution FI1 may be transferred from customer C1 to customer C2. As part of the transaction processing, the clearing facility may be notified of the transaction. Upon being notified, the clearing facility may send an update regarding the transaction to financial institution FI1. Both the clearing facility and financial institution FI1 may insert a transaction block or another suitable data structure into their respective private distributed ledgers, as described in the embodiments discussed herein. The transaction block may indicate a transfer of the XDC$ digital currency issued by financial institution FI1 from customer C1 to customer C2. Customer C2 may hold the XDC$ digital currency issued by financial institution FI1, which is backed by X$ in omnibus account OA1.

[0236] In some embodiments, a financial institution, payment mechanism, and / or another suitable verifying entity may verify a transaction based on one or more electronic signatures (e.g., a payer (e.g., customer C1) electronic signature, a payee (e.g., customer C2) electronic signature, and / or another suitable electronic signature). However, in some embodiments, electronic signature validation may occur prior to or independent of transaction validation. For example, validating entities may require that each attempted transaction be validated with an electronic signature before the transaction is allowed to proceed for validation.

[0237] In some embodiments, transaction verification may include determining availability of digital currency to complete the transaction, sufficiency of funds to exchange for digital currency, and / or other suitable conditions. For example, if the payer does not have a sufficient amount of digital currency required to complete the transaction, the transaction may be denied. In another example, if the payer has authorization to use an available amount of fiat currency equivalent to a sufficient amount of digital currency, and the payer authorizes (or was previously authorized, such as when the payer's account was opened or updated) the available amount of fiat currency to exchange for a sufficient amount of digital currency required to complete the transaction, the transaction may proceed. In some embodiments, not all payers are authorized to use the benefits of the automatic determination and exchange of equivalent fiat currency to digital currency. Authorized payers may be determined based on the payer's creditworthiness, the length of the payer's relationship with the payer's financial institution, the time-average balance of the payer's account, and / or other suitable indicators. In embodiments in which the payer does not have access to this benefit, the transaction may be denied and transaction information for the transaction may not be recorded based on a verification result indicating insufficient digital currency. The validation aspects described herein and in other aspects of the disclosure may be implemented on a private distributed ledger, a public distributed ledger, or a combination thereof.

[0238] According to some aspects, the verification steps described herein may be performed in any sequence and order.

[0239] Simultaneous exchange In some embodiments, both the clearing facility and financial institution FI1 may simultaneously or nearly simultaneously confirm the availability of funds to complete the transaction. Digital currency of XDC$ issued by financial institution FI1 may be transferred from customer C1 to customer C2. As part of the transaction processing, the clearing facility and financial institution FI1 may be notified of the transaction. Upon notification, both the clearing facility and financial institution FI1 may insert a transaction block or another suitable data structure into their respective private distributed ledgers, as described in the embodiments discussed herein. The transaction block may indicate a transfer of digital currency of XDC$ issued by financial institution FI1 from customer C1 to customer C2. Customer C2 may hold digital currency of XDC$ issued by financial institution FI1, which is backed by X$ in omnibus account OA1.

[0240] In some embodiments, the clearing facility may determine that funds are not available to complete the transaction. The clearing facility may query financial institution FI1 to determine whether customer C1 has fiat $ funds to cover the transaction. If customer C1 does not have sufficient funds in his / her savings account SA1 with financial institution FI1, financial institution FI1 may terminate or request termination of the transaction. Additionally or alternatively, financial institution FI1 may notify the clearing facility, which may terminate or request termination of the transaction.

[0241] If customer C1 has sufficient funds in his / her savings account SA1 to cover the transaction and customer C1 is pre-certified to transfer funds from his / her savings account SA1 to the digital currency issued by financial institution FI1, the financial institution may transfer funds from savings account SA1 to omnibus account OA1, so that customer C1 has a digital currency balance of XDC$ equal to X$. Financial institution FI1 may insert a transaction block or another suitable data structure into its private distributed ledger, as described in the aspects discussed herein. Financial institution FI1 may notify the clearing facility, which may insert a suitable transaction block into its private distributed ledger to complete the transaction.

[0242] If customer C1 has sufficient funds in his / her savings account SA1 to cover the transaction and customer C1 has not been pre-certified to transfer funds from his / her savings account SA1 to the digital currency issued by financial institution FI1, the financial institution may contact customer C1 to obtain approval to transfer funds from savings account SA1 to omnibus account OA1. If customer C1 approves the transfer, financial institution FI1 may transfer the funds so that customer C1 has a digital currency balance of XDC$ equal to X$ and may insert a transaction block, or another suitable data structure, into its private distributed ledger as described in the aspects discussed herein. Financial institution FI1 may notify the clearing facility, which may insert a suitable transaction block into its private distributed ledger to complete the transaction. If customer C1 rejects the request to transfer funds or cannot be contacted, financial institution FI1 may terminate or request the termination of the transaction. Additionally or alternatively, financial institution FI1 may notify the clearing house, which may then terminate or request that the transaction be terminated.

[0243] In some embodiments, both the clearing facility and financial institution FI1 may simultaneously, or near simultaneously, determine that funds are not available to complete the transaction. The clearing facility may inquire with financial institution FI1. Financial institution FI1 may determine whether customer C1 has fiat $ funds to cover the transaction and attempt to complete the transaction as described above. If funds are not available and / or approval from customer C1 is not obtained, financial institution FI1 may terminate or request termination of the transaction. Additionally or alternatively, financial institution FI1 may notify the clearing facility, which may terminate or request termination of the transaction.

[0244] Transaction Processing In some instances, transactions are processed by a clearing house such as The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) or The National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC).

[0245] In some examples, transactions may be processed by entities such as government entities, such as the Department of the Treasury or the Federal Reserve Board, payment processors (e.g., Visa®, Mastercard®, Amex®, Paypal®, Square®, Zelle®, etc.), technology companies (e.g., Microsoft®, IBM®, Amazon®, etc.), and / or banking syndicates (VISA®, MASTERCARD®, AMEX®, PAYPAL®, ZELLE®, and SQUARE® are registered trademarks of Visa Inc., Foster City, California, USA; Mastercard Incorporated, Purchase, New York, USA; American Express Company, New York, New York, USA; Paypal, Inc., San Jose, California; Early Warning Services, LLC, Scottsdale, Arizona; and Square, Inc., San Francisco, California, respectively).

[0246] In some embodiments, once the transaction is complete, customer C2 holds XDC$ in digital currency issued by financial institution FI1 in its digital wallet, which is backed by X$ in omnibus account OA1. Customer C2 may continue to hold the XDC$ from financial institution FI1. In some embodiments, if customer C2 does not specify an order for handling the digital currency, an order may be established by the clearing house or its financial institution. For example, the order may be established by disbursing digital currency from financial institutions different from the customer's financial institution first, using digital currency from financial institutions with the lowest ratings first, another suitable constraint, or a combination thereof.

[0247] Customer C2 may specify the order of spending from the digital wallet. For example, customer C2 may specify that digital currency from other financial institutions is to be spent before spending digital currency issued by financial institution FI2, which is customer C2's financial institution. Additionally or alternatively, customer C2 may specify that digital currency is to be spent in a reverse order depending on the financial institutions' financial resources or another suitable measure. For example, digital currency issued by smaller or less creditworthy financial institutions may be spent first to avoid the risk that their digital currency will not be accepted at a later date. Additionally or alternatively, customer C2 may specify a custom order in which digital currency should be spent and / or transferred from customer C2's digital wallet.

[0248] Additionally or alternatively, Customer C2 may request that digital currency XDC$ issued by Financial Institution FI1 be transferred to digital currency issued by Financial Institution FI2, Customer C2's financial institution, which may then transfer an equivalent amount of fiat currency to omnibus account OA2 and issue the digital currency XDC$ issued by Financial Institution FI2 to Customer C2.

[0249] Additionally or alternatively, customer C2 may request that digital currency issued by financial institution FI1, XDC$, be transferred to an equivalent amount of fiat currency $, which financial institution FI2 may transfer to customer C2's savings account SA2.

[0250] In some embodiments, when customer C2 requests a transfer of digital currency XDC$ issued by financial institution FI1 to digital currency issued by financial institution FI2, financial institution FI2 may transfer an equivalent amount of fiat currency to omnibus account OA2 and issue digital currency XDC$ issued by financial institution FI2 to customer C2. In this case, financial institution FI2 may acquire ownership rights to X$ in omnibus account OA1 at financial institution FI1 (backing digital currency XDC$ issued by financial institution FI1). Financial institution FI2 may continue to hold these rights until settlement with financial institution FI1. Additionally or alternatively, the clearing facility may close the transaction block such that financial institution FI1 releases X$ from omnibus account OA1 to bank funds for financial institution FI2. Additionally or alternatively, the clearing facility may establish a carryover balance between FI1 and FI2. Until settlement is triggered by time or balance, the clearing facility may follow settlement rules based on timing and / or balance limits for transactions between financial institutions.

[0251] In some embodiments, when customer C2 requests to transfer the digital currency XDC$ issued by financial institution FI1 to an equivalent amount of fiat currency $, financial institution FI2 may transfer the equivalent amount of fiat currency $ to customer C2's savings account SA2. In this case, financial institution FI2 may acquire ownership rights to X$ (which backed the digital currency XDC$ issued by financial institution FI1) in omnibus account OA1 at financial institution FI1. Financial institution FI2 may continue to hold these rights until settlement with financial institution FI1. Additionally or alternatively, the clearing facility may close the transaction block such that financial institution FI1 releases X$ from omnibus account OA1 to bank funds for financial institution FI2. Additionally or alternatively, the clearing facility may follow settlement rules based on timing and / or balance limits for transactions between financial institutions.

[0252] In some embodiments, financial institutions do not send digital currency to each other. Instead, financial institutions send fiat currency to each other to settle transactions involving digital currency. A financial institution may hold digital currency issued by another financial institution (e.g., if it was received as part of a transaction or for another suitable reason that the financial institution receives another financial institution's digital currency). The clearing house and financial institution may close transaction blocks and track balances between the financial institutions using their respective private distributed ledgers. There may be one or more rules for when a particular financial institution needs to settle with another financial institution. In some or most cases, settlement does not occur every time a customer transaction is initiated. Balances owed between financial institutions may rise and fall based on customer transactions. However, settlement between financial institutions may occur based on time and / or balance size triggers. For example, settlement may involve the actual transfer of fiat currency from one financial institution to another to reduce the balances owed to each other to zero or another suitable threshold.

[0253] Digital Currency Checks In some embodiments, a digital currency check may be issued for an amount of digital currency specified by a first customer of a financial institution for transferring that amount of digital currency from the first customer to a second customer of the same or a different financial institution. The second customer may deposit the digital currency check with the financial institution, which may credit the second customer's account with the amount of digital currency specified on the digital currency check. In some examples, the second customer's financial institution may credit the second customer's account by depositing the amount of digital currency in the second customer's digital wallet. In some embodiments, the second institution may process the digital check. As part of the transaction processing, the first customer's financial institution and / or the first customer's financial institution's check processing company may be notified of the transaction. In some embodiments, the financial institution and / or its check processing company may determine that funds are not available to complete the transaction. The first customer's financial institution may be queried to determine whether the first customer has funds of digital currency to cover the transaction. If the first customer does not have sufficient funds in an account and / or digital wallet with the financial institution, the first customer's financial institution may terminate or request that the transaction be terminated. Additionally or alternatively, the first customer's financial institution may notify the check processing company, which may terminate or request that the transaction be terminated. The digital currency check may be delivered via one or more of a text message, email, QR code, barcode, and / or the like.

[0254] If the first customer has sufficient digital currency in its account (e.g., digital currency account, digital wallet, etc.) to cover the transaction, the first customer's financial institution may transfer the digital currency from the account associated with the first customer to the omnibus account. The first customer's financial institution may insert a transaction block or another suitable data structure into a private distributed ledger as a private transaction on a public blockchain as described in the embodiments discussed herein, and / or the like. The first customer's financial institution may notify the clearing facility, which may insert a suitable transaction block into its private distributed ledger to complete the transaction.

[0255] In some embodiments, the second customer's financial institution may require the transaction to be successfully processed before crediting the second customer's digital currency account.

[0256] According to some embodiments, the public and private keys of the digital wallets may be used to receive or send digital currency checks issued by customers of the financial institution. For example, both a first customer and a second customer may have respective digital wallets. The first customer and the second customer may have received their respective digital wallets in accounts at a desired financial institution. The first customer may send digital currency checks for a particular amount of digital currency from the first customer's digital wallet to the second customer's digital wallet using the private key for the digital currency issued by the particular institution.

[0257] To issue a digital currency check from their digital wallet, a user may electronically sign the check, authorizing the use of a private key corresponding to their digital wallet, which may be used for transactions and storing blocks of transactions in the private distributed ledger (e.g., to deposit the associated digital currency from a first customer's digital wallet to a second customer's digital wallet).

[0258] deposit According to some embodiments, the digital wallet may include a digital currency savings account. In some embodiments, the digital wallet may be linked to a digital currency savings account. For example, a user may deposit an amount of digital currency into a digital currency savings account. Over time, the digital currency savings account may accumulate additional amounts of digital currency based on a deposit interest rate. In some examples, the digital currency deposit interest rate may be lower than the interest the user pays on the digital currency that he or she borrowed.

[0259] In some embodiments, financial entities may offer incentives, such as digital currency and assets, in return for liquidity provided by users. For example, users may lock up digital assets in certificates of deposit (CDs) and / or savings accounts (e.g., staking), and / or users may lend them to those seeking credit, as described herein. In return, users may receive at least a portion of the interest accrued by lending the digital currency and / or assets to others.

[0260] In another example, the digital currency may be backed by fiat currency. For example, a financial institution may maintain in an omnibus account an amount of fiat currency equivalent to the amount of digital currency previously issued by the financial institution. The omnibus account may be used to back the issued digital currency. When a user deposits digital currency into a digital currency savings account or CD, the financial institution may lend the fiat currency backing the deposited digital currency and provide interest based on the fiat currency accumulated from the interest on the loan. Alternatively, the financial entity may convert the fiat currency accumulated from the interest on the loan into an equivalent amount of digital currency and transfer that amount to the digital currency savings account or CD.

[0261] In some embodiments, a financial entity may place limits on how frequently a user may withdraw digital currency from a digital currency savings account. In some embodiments, a financial entity may place limits on the amount of digital currency a user may withdraw from a digital currency savings account during a given period of time. In some embodiments, a financial entity may provide options or place limits on the period during which a user may not spend money deposited for a CD.

[0262] automatic replenishment According to some aspects, a digital wallet may be connected to a financial entity, to a financial account, and / or to another digital wallet, and may automatically receive funds from the entity, account, and / or another wallet to which it is connected. For example, a digital wallet may have a periodic auto-replenishment setting. The setting may be time-based (e.g., a time set by a user) or balance-based (e.g., when the balance of the digital wallet falls below a threshold), and funds from the entity, account, and / or wallet may be automatically transferred to the digital wallet after a certain period of time has passed or when the digital wallet has a balance below a threshold.

[0263] In some examples, a digital wallet may be configured to hold a currency different from the currency of the digital wallet. In some examples, funds may be converted into the currency of the digital wallet. For example, if a digital wallet contains a first digital currency and is linked to a second wallet having funds in a second digital currency, during an automatic transfer, the second digital currency may be converted and / or exchanged into an equivalent amount of the first digital currency before being deposited into the digital wallet. In another example, if a digital wallet is linked to a financial account having funds in fiat currency, during an automatic transfer, the fiat currency may be converted and / or exchanged into an equivalent amount of the digital wallet's digital currency before being deposited into the digital wallet.

[0264] For example, a transfer may be initiated on a computing node that participates in the distributed ledger and stores one or more transaction blocks representing a private transaction of the digital currency for a company(s) that uses the digital currency. The computing node may be configured to receive a private transaction to transfer an amount of the digital currency from a first wallet, generate a new transaction block representing the private transaction, transmit the new transaction block to other computing nodes participating in the distributed ledger, receive a validity indication for the new transaction block, and insert the new transaction block into the distributed ledger of the financial entity.

[0265] In another example, a purchase may be initiated on a computing node participating in a public blockchain for the digital currency of the business(es) using the digital currency. The computing node may be configured to receive a private transaction from a customer to send an amount of the digital currency and generate a new transaction block that can only be processed by the client owning the transaction.

[0266] Prepayment According to some aspects, the digital wallet may be configured to allow for early deposits. For example, a deposit, such as from an employer, may be available prior to processing of payment (e.g., via ACH). In some examples, one or more entities may advance funds. For example, the entities may be financial entities as described herein, such as financial institutions, financial technology companies, government entities (or government agencies or government-regulated financial institutions), payment processing companies, technology companies, cloud companies, clearing houses, banking syndicates, entities with banking charters, and / or any suitable entities.

[0267] investment According to some embodiments, a customer may invest using a digital wallet. For example, a user may connect his or her digital wallet, or a financial account that includes a digital wallet, to a brokerage firm and / or public market. When a customer invests by purchasing stocks, digital currency is transferred from the customer's digital wallet to the brokerage firm's and / or public market digital wallet.

[0268] In a transaction, a brokerage and / or public market requests a transfer of an amount of digital currency from a customer's digital wallet to a brokerage and / or public market digital wallet of the same or a different financial institution. The transaction may be recorded on the clearing house's private distributed ledger and the digital wallet may be updated. Digital currency may be transferred from a customer's digital wallet to purchase an investment (e.g., stocks) to a brokerage and / or public market digital wallet. The transaction may additionally be recorded on the financial institution's private distributed ledger. In some embodiments, one or both of the digital wallets may send the transaction to be recorded on the financial institution's private distributed ledger. The investment (e.g., stocks, options, cryptocurrencies, commodities, etc.) may then be updated to reflect the user's ownership interest.

[0269] In some aspects, the described systems and methods provide a measure of control over one or more entities (e.g., viewing control, corporate control, government control, etc.). For example, governments may use the described systems and methods to administer programs such as unemployment, welfare, health programs, food stamps, etc. In some embodiments, payees may receive funds allocated to them using digital currency cards, mobile applications, and / or web applications configured for payments in digital currency.

[0270] Government Benefit Deposit These funds may be automatically allocated to the recipient based on information regarding one or more government programs in which the recipient may be eligible to participate. In some embodiments, the recipient may receive funds for food assistance, such as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), related Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT), and / or other suitable benefits. According to some embodiments, the funds may be set with spending limits, and the user may only spend the amount specified by the limit. In some examples, spending limits may be set on the funds such that the user may only spend the funds at certain stores and / or on certain items (such as, for example, food, seeds, and plants). In some examples, pre-approval may be required to use and / or receive the funds.

[0271] In some embodiments, the recipient may receive funds for a Health Savings Account (HSA), Flexible Spending Account (FSA), and / or other suitable tax-advantaged programs. Additionally or alternatively, the recipient's health insurance payments, deductibles, requests, and / or other health-related payment actions may be performed using the systems and methods described herein.

[0272] In some embodiments, an entity (e.g., a company, a financial entity, a bank, etc.) may issue a gift card using the systems and methods described herein. The entity may be a financial institution, a clearing house, a payment processor, a digital wallet, a government, and / or the like. A recipient may receive a gift card in the form of a digital currency card, a mobile application, and / or a web application configured for payment in digital currency that may be spent only on goods and services issued and / or provided by the entity. For example, a recipient may receive a NIKE® gift card with digital currency that may be spent only on goods and services issued and / or provided by the company. Additionally or alternatively, a recipient may receive a universal gift card with one or more digital currencies that may be spent only on goods and services issued and / or provided by a particular company. According to some embodiments, the type of goods or services may be limited (e.g., clothing).

[0273] In some examples, the digital currency card may be a physical digital currency card, and in some examples, the digital currency card may be an e-gift card. In some examples, the digital currency card may be included in a digital wallet. The gift card may include a unique identifier (e.g., a barcode, a QR code, etc.) configured to identify the digital currency balance on the gift card. For example, a customer of a business having a gift card may use the card and / or the unique identifier to purchase goods and / or services. The business may then update the balance of the gift card to represent the remaining balance of digital currency after the purchase. In some examples, the card's unique identifier may associate the card with a digital currency account, and the balance of the digital currency account may be updated as described.

[0274] In some examples, a customer of the company may deposit the digital currency of the gift card into a digital currency account of the company and / or affiliated organization. During a purchase of goods and / or services, the company may transfer the amount of digital currency for the purchased goods and / or services from the digital currency account. The company may additionally record the transaction using a private distributed ledger, where the company may have access to the private distributed ledger. In some examples, the transaction may be recorded on a public blockchain as a private transaction such that only the company may access the transaction. For example, a purchase may be initiated on a computing node that participates in the distributed ledger and stores one or more transaction blocks representing a private transaction of the digital currency of the company(s) using the digital currency. The computing node may be configured to receive a private transaction to transfer an amount of digital currency from a customer, generate a new transaction block representing the private transaction, transmit the new transaction block to other computing nodes participating in the distributed ledger, receive a validity indication of the new transaction block, and insert the new transaction block into the distributed ledger.

[0275] In another example, a purchase may be initiated on a computing node participating in the public blockchain of the digital currency of the company(s) using the digital currency. The computing node may be configured to receive a private transaction from a customer to send an amount of the digital currency and generate a new transaction block that can only be processed by the client owning the transaction.

[0276] Tolerance According to some aspects, the digital wallet may be connected to a third party other than the user (e.g., the user's parent or guardian, the user's spouse, etc.), where the third party, such as a supervisory user, may be configured to control certain aspects and access certain information regarding the digital wallet. For example, the third entity may receive notifications and / or access information regarding the digital wallet's balance. In some examples, the third entity may impose restrictions on the digital wallet. For example, the third entity may set a threshold for the amount of currency in the digital wallet that may be spent.

[0277] According to some aspects, a digital wallet may be connected to a financial entity, to a financial account, and / or to another digital wallet of a third party, and the third party may transfer funds based on set parameters of the digital wallet. For example, if a digital wallet has a balance below a threshold set by the third party, the user's financial account and / or digital wallet may automatically transfer a predetermined amount of funds as described herein.

[0278] Automating savings and investments According to some aspects, the digital wallet may be configured to allow automatic payments using currency from the digital wallet. In some examples, a user of the digital wallet may automate deposits or investments. For example, the user may automate depositing or investing a specified rate or a specified amount of the currency of the digital wallet into the user's savings or investment account. In some examples, a user of the digital wallet may automate mandatory withdrawals, such as for taxes, alimony, child support, mortgage, rent, utilities, bills, and / or the like. A specified amount may be automatically withdrawn from the digital wallet.

[0279] In some embodiments, when a user makes a purchase with a digital wallet and / or digital currency card, the transaction may be rounded to the nearest dollar and any change may be automatically transferred to the user's investment account (e.g., Round Ups).

[0280] Rechargeable accounts According to some embodiments, the digital wallet may be replenished by loading an amount of currency onto the digital wallet and / or digital currency card. In some embodiments, the digital wallet and / or digital currency card may function as a prepaid digital wallet and / or digital currency card. In some embodiments, the wallet and / or card may not be linked or connected to another financial account.

[0281] In some embodiments, a company may track expenses using the systems and methods described herein. For example, expenses tracked may include travel, meals, etc., and qualifying actions may be tracked or pre-approved for specific categories, vendors, amounts, etc.

[0282] In some embodiments, an individual, such as a parent, may use the systems and methods described herein to track and / or control spending of their child, themselves (e.g., for budgeting purposes), or another suitable person. The individual may provide their child with a digital currency card, mobile application, and / or web application configured for payments in digital currency. The individual may specify particular vendors (e.g., movie theaters, restaurants, stores, etc.), categories (e.g., food, clothing, etc.), and / or other suitable criteria. The individual may exclude or limit spending on particular products and / or vendors. For example, the individual may limit a child's spending at STARBUCKS® to a preferred amount (e.g., $25 per month), or another suitable amount and / or time period.

[0283] For example, an individual may specify preferred criteria at the store and / or on a mobile or web application, and in some examples, when the child attempts a transaction that meets the specified criteria, the digital currency card, mobile and / or web application provided to the child may transfer digital currency from the digital currency card, mobile and / or web application to the merchant.

[0284] In some examples, a transaction may be recorded using a private distributed ledger. For example, a transaction may be initiated on a computing node that participates in the distributed ledger and stores one or more transaction blocks that represent a private transaction of the digital currency for a company(s) that uses the digital currency. The computing node may be configured to receive a private transaction to transfer an amount of the digital currency from a customer, generate a new transaction block that represents the private transaction, transmit the new transaction block to other computing nodes participating in the distributed ledger, receive a validity indication for the new transaction block, and insert the new transaction block into the distributed ledger.

[0285] In some examples, a transaction may be recorded on a public blockchain as a private or public transaction. For example, a purchase may be initiated on a computing node participating in a public blockchain for the digital currency of a company(s) that uses the digital currency. The computing node may be configured to receive a private transaction to send an amount of the digital currency from a customer and generate a new transaction block that can only be processed by the client that owns the transaction.

[0286] According to some embodiments, a child may attempt a transaction that does not meet specified criteria. A digital currency card, mobile and / or web application provided to the child may determine that the transaction does not meet the criteria and reject the transaction. The child and / or individual may be notified of the rejected transaction. For example, the digital currency card, mobile and / or web application may prevent the transaction from being recorded on the blockchain. In some examples, if a transaction is determined to fail to meet specified criteria, the computing node may prevent the generation of a new transaction block.

[0287] display According to some aspects, the mobile and / or web application may be configured to present information regarding one or more transactions to a user. For example, using the mobile and / or web application, a user may access one or more monthly statements and transaction information. In some examples, the transaction information may be sorted based on time period, by category, by payee and / or payer, by credit, by debit, and / or by benefits received. For example, benefits may include accrued interest, miles, and / or points.

[0288] coupon According to some embodiments, a customer may receive credit card benefits such as coupons, cash back, and / or promotional codes after (e.g., as a result of) or before a purchase. These coupons may be applied to a purchase before the purchase. In some examples, before a purchase, a customer may use a coupon aggregation site (e.g., Rakuten®, Honey®, etc.) (RAKUTEN® and HONEY® are registered trademarks of Rakuten Group, Inc., San Mateo, California; and Paypal, Inc., San Jose, California, respectively). A customer may receive such coupons or promotional codes through email, by searching online based on the customer's location (e.g., geographic location), through a coupon aggregation site, and / or the like. A customer may accept the coupon and / or code and store it in their digital wallet for the next purchase associated with the coupon and / or code. When the customer makes the associated purchase, the coupon and / or code may be automatically applied to the purchase. The coupon and / or code may also be displayed.

[0289] According to some embodiments, a customer may receive digital currency and / or cash back after a purchase. In some examples, a user may scan or upload a purchase receipt to a digital wallet, a financial institution application, and / or a third party application linked to the digital wallet and receive cash back and / or digital currency for eligible purchases. In some examples, a user may make eligible purchases through a digital wallet, a third party application, and / or a financial institution application. An eligible purchase may be a purchase from a participating store. For example, a user may receive a commission or a portion of a commission from a store by making a purchase from the store.

[0290] Balance display According to some embodiments, the mobile and / or web application may display the balance of the digital wallet. In examples where the digital wallet may include more than one type of digital currency or fiat currency, the mobile and / or web application may display the balance of each type of digital currency and each type of fiat currency in the digital wallet. In examples where the digital wallet includes financial assets and / or financial instruments, the mobile and / or web application may display the assets and / or instruments.

[0291] identification According to some embodiments, a digital wallet may be used as a form of personal identification and / or may contain a personal identification.

[0292] In some aspects, the public and private key pair may be used to identify a user to a financial entity. The financial entity may perform challenge-response authentication using the user's private and public keys. For example, the financial entity may initially identify the user by querying the user for the public key. The financial entity may then send a value (e.g., a hash output) along with an encrypted message (encrypted with the user's public key). The user may decrypt the message using that value and the user's private key and send the decrypted message to the financial entity. The financial entity may verify and identify the user by comparing the user's decrypted message with a message sent by the financial entity.

[0293] In some examples, the digital wallet may store a unique value that identifies the user. For example, in response to a challenge, the digital wallet may transmit one or more unique values. The financial entity may compare the unique value to a stored value associated with the user to authenticate the user with the financial entity. According to some aspects, the unique value may be a government-issued value used on an identification tag (e.g., used to identify the user for travel, etc.). The identification value may be linked to information about the user (e.g., stored in a protected database accessible to a group of users). For example, a government-issued value may be used as part of a driver's license, as well as some (e.g., law enforcement agencies) using the government-issued value to identify information such as the height, weight, photo, and / or the like of the owner of the digital wallet. According to some aspects, the unique value may identify the user at a health care entity, such as a hospital, and / or for insurance (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, driver's insurance, private insurance, etc.).

[0294] Transfer of benefits As described herein, the financial institution may also provide benefits, such as digital currency issued by the financial institution, accrued interest, miles, and / or points. If the benefits are digital currency or legal tender, the user may deposit an equivalent amount of digital currency or legal tender into the digital wallet. If the benefits include points, the user may deposit an amount of digital currency and / or legal tender into the digital wallet determined to be equivalent to the number of points earned (which may be determined based on a predetermined conversion rate between points and digital currency or points and legal tender, for example). In some examples, benefits may be transferred from one digital wallet to another digital wallet using the methods and techniques described herein.

[0295] financing In some embodiments, a financial institution (e.g., a bank) provides financing (e.g., of digital currency). In some examples, financing may be provided through a digital wallet (e.g., a line of credit), through a credit card, or through an application (e.g., Zelle®) (ZELLE® is a registered trademark of Early Warning Services, LLC, Scottsdale, Arizona), or through a user's account through a bank or another entity. For example, this may be used to advance funding of the digital currency. It may also be used, for example, to advance funds to send to other digital wallets, for store cards, for medical purposes (e.g., CareCredit), and / or for loans (e.g., mortgage, auto, personal, capital expenditure (Cap Ex), inventory loans, invoices, equipment, merchant "cash advances," Small Business Administration (SBA)). Customers of the institution (e.g., companies, individuals, etc.) may use their credit accounts (e.g., of their digital wallets) to pay for items at merchants (e.g., stores) using the bank's digital currency, thereby borrowing money from the issuing financial institution. For example, there may be limitations on the amount of credit (e.g., a credit limit) such that a customer can only borrow a set amount of digital or fiat currency. The amount a customer needs to borrow is the available credit line of the digital wallet, and exceeding this line may result in fees being incurred.

[0296] According to some aspects, a user may make a purchase using a buy now pay later (BNPL) option (e.g., Affirm). For example, an institutional customer (e.g., a company, an individual, etc.) may make a purchase by using their credit account to pay for goods or services at a merchant (e.g., a store) using a bank's digital currency, with the customer borrowing money from the issuing financial institution in an amount equal to the entire purchase amount. The customer may pay for the purchase in one or more installments. For example, each installment may be a fraction of the purchase price. In some examples, the installment amount may be automatically debited from the customer's account after a certain period of time (e.g., such that the installments are paid monthly).

[0297] For example, a transaction may be recorded in the private distributed ledger and an issuing financial institution may send a payment to a merchant (e.g., a store) account at another bank. In some examples, the private distributed ledger stores one or more transaction blocks representing issued loans of digital currency issued by a financial institution for transfer to a customer. A computing node receives a transaction sending an amount of digital currency from a financial institution to a merchant at another financial institution. The computing node generates a new transaction block representing the transaction for addition to the private distributed ledger. The computing node sends the new transaction block to one or more computing nodes participating in the private distributed ledger. The computing node receives a validity indication of the new transaction block. If the indication is valid, the computing node inserts the new transaction block into the private distributed ledger, completing the transfer of the amount of digital currency.

[0298] In some examples, the financial institution may use the recorded transaction to maintain a record of the digital currency owed by the customer. In some examples, the financial institution may initiate or record a new transaction from the customer to the issuing financial institution to indicate the amount owed. The customer may reimburse the issuing financial institution by transferring an equivalent amount of fiat or digital currency to the institution using the techniques described herein. In some examples, the customer may also incur additional fees, such as interest accruing over time, late fees, etc.

[0299] According to some embodiments, a financial institution may issue digital currency by transferring the institution's digital assets and / or fiat currency to an omnibus account, which may then be deposited into the accounts of users who owe money to the issuing financial institution.

[0300] For example, a customer of a financial institution (e.g., a company, individual, etc.) may make a purchase by using his / her credit account in his / her digital wallet to pay for goods or services at a merchant (e.g., a store) and / or business (e.g., a supplier, manufacturer, etc.) using the bank's digital currency, thereby borrowing money from the issuing financial institution in an amount equal to the entire purchase amount. The financial institution may transfer the financial institution's fiat currency in an amount equal to the amount of the digital currency loaned (e.g., the price of the goods or services). The financial institution may then issue digital currency in the customer's account (e.g., the digital wallet) in the amount of the loan. The financial institution may then withdraw an equivalent amount of fiat currency from the omnibus account when the user pays the financial institution any portion of the amount borrowed.

[0301] Accumulation of trust In some embodiments, the systems and methods described herein are used to set up one or more programs that help consumers improve their credit scores. Consumers may be provided with digital currency cards, mobile applications, and / or web applications configured for payments in digital currency. Consumers' financial activities may be used to factor in increasing their credit scores (e.g., on-time payments, paying rent, paying utility bills, etc.).

[0302] In some embodiments, the systems and methods described herein are used to set up one or more programs that assist consumers with charitable giving. Consumers may send digital currency to make charitable donations. The program may track consumer tax deductions accordingly. For example, the program may work with a corporate matching program to maximize charitable giving with corresponding matches to consumer donations.

[0303] In some embodiments, the systems and methods described herein track not only the ownership of the digital currency, but also each user, including the digital currency received / converted, its source (e.g., credit), digital currency spent / sent / exchanged, and / or what the user did with the digital currency (e.g., debit). The system may provide reports, real-time access, monthly statements, tax statements, income / revenue reports, and / or other suitable information to the user or another party with permission to access such information. This user information and other suitable information described herein may be appropriately categorized and monetized (e.g., under the laws of the jurisdiction in which the information is collected or sold, or other suitable criteria). For example, the systems and methods described herein may set up unique capabilities that allow a clearing house, financial institution, or another suitable entity to track the spending of customers using digital currency across multiple financial institutions, and allow the customers to obtain statements, access reports, and other suitable information.

[0304] In some embodiments, the systems and methods described herein track loans and repayments for lending institutions and / or borrowers. In some embodiments, loans or other embodiments described herein are fulfilled using smart contracts, where self-executing agreements with terms and conditions between buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, etc. are written directly into lines of code. The code, and the agreements contained therein, may also exist across the distributed ledger(s) discussed herein.

[0305] In some embodiments, some of the benefits provided by the described systems and methods may be described as follows, although the benefits are not so limited and other or different benefits may be achieved by using the described systems and methods. With regard to governments, in the United States, the Federal Reserve has a committee evaluating ways to digitize the US dollar. The Federal Reserve believes it is important that the US dollar continues to be considered the primary reserve currency, and by using a digital currency, the Federal Reserve could achieve significant savings in not printing and destroying cash. By having banks issue digital currency, the Federal Reserve could have full regulatory powers without the expense of developing and maintaining the system. The Federal Reserve could issue current and new special regulations for financial institutions on digital currency. Additionally, a transparent (e.g., known users) distributed ledger could dramatically limit the ability to use funds for illicit purposes. This could also give governments the power to impose restrictions on unregulated cryptocurrencies.

[0306] For financial institutions such as banks, payment costs may be significantly reduced as they do not need to move cash every time a transaction is made. The described system may provide consumers with immobile cash and attract new customers (such as Gen Z and millennials). This may also limit Herstatt risk and mitigate future competitive risks from the above and below. For example, stablecoin companies may no longer have the power to choose one financial institution. Additionally, since financial institutions will be in charge of issuing the digital currency, governments may not have to handle that aspect.

[0307] For consumers, the described system provides security, insurance, business acceptance, speed of receipt and payment, and / or the ability to control which bank's digital currency to choose or whether to choose fiat currency instead. For example, security may be improved by limiting spoofing because digital currency works on a "push" system, whereas traditional credit works on a "pull" system. In another example, a consumer's digital currency deposits may be insured because the digital currency is backed by FDIC insurance via funds held in an omnibus account with a financial institution.

[0308] For businesses, the described systems and methods may offer lower costs for payments compared to wire or credit and debit, the elimination of wire transfers may aid in speed of completion and associated costs, and / or limit fraud since digital currency cannot be counterfeited or arbitrarily reversed (e.g., credit chargebacks).

[0309] With respect to payment mechanisms, the described systems and methods may provide for charging banks and businesses to establish transaction rules, creating a hierarchical ranking system of financial institutions for digital currencies, keeping a ledger of digital currency issuance and transfers and conversions back to fiat currency, and / or facilitating payment calls between financial institutions. In some embodiments, a financial institution may be responsible for holding a cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin or other suitable cryptocurrency, such that the financial institution is responsible for the security of the cryptocurrency. The financial institution may issue digital currency backed by the cryptocurrency. This may protect consumer deposits from cryptocurrency exchanges accidentally losing funds or funds being stolen by bad actors.

[0310] Digital Currency Custodian In some embodiments, for example, if the digital currency is government-issued, the government entity that issued the digital currency may be responsible for holding the cryptocurrency or fiat currency, and therefore the government entity may be responsible for the security of the cryptocurrency or fiat currency. Government-issued digital currency may be backed by fiat currency or cryptocurrency, and may protect consumer deposits from cryptocurrency exchanges accidentally losing funds or funds being stolen by bad actors. As described herein, government entities include the United States Mint, the United States Bureau of Printing and Engraving, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the Internal Revenue Service, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, community development financial institutions, and / or the like.

[0311] In some embodiments, the company works with financial institutions, which may be responsible for holding cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin or other suitable cryptocurrency, such that the financial institution is responsible for the security of the cryptocurrency. The company may issue digital currency backed by the cryptocurrency. This may protect consumer deposits from cryptocurrency exchanges accidentally losing funds or funds being stolen by bad actors.

[0312] In other examples, the digital currency may not be held under the responsibility of any financial institution (e.g., a government entity, a bank, etc.) and instead may be held solely in a digital wallet. For example, the digital currency may be stored in a self-hosted and / or unhosted wallet that is not provided by a financial institution or public utility. For example, the digital currency may be stored in a self-hosted / unhosted wallet that resides on a customer's computer or offline. According to some aspects, the digital wallet may be hosted by an entity, such as a financial entity, a financial technology company, a government entity (or a government agency or government-regulated financial institution), a payment processing company, a technology company, a cloud company, a clearing house, a banking syndicate, an entity with a banking charter, and / or any suitable entity.

[0313] Non-limiting aspects of the described embodiments Various aspects are described in this disclosure, including but not limited to the following:

[0314] (1) A system for facilitating a private transaction between a first entity and a second entity using digital currency, the system comprising: The computing node is included in a plurality of computing nodes that participate in a distributed ledger, the distributed ledger stores one or more transaction blocks representing private transactions in a digital currency issued by a financial institution and pegged to a fiat currency, each computing node of the plurality of computing nodes stores and maintains a respective copy of the distributed ledger, and the computing nodes: Store and maintain a copy of the distributed ledger; receiving a private transaction to transfer an amount of digital currency from a first entity to a second entity; wherein the first entity and the second entity are associated with a financial institution; At least a first entity is associated with one or more public and / or private keys; and Based on the authorization from the first entity, at least a portion of the private transactions involving the digital currency are generated using one or more public and / or private keys for the first entity; the computing node further Generate a new transaction block representing the private transaction in the digital currency for addition to the distributed ledger; Sending a new block of transactions to multiple computing nodes participating in the distributed ledger; receiving a validity indication of the new transaction block from at least one of the plurality of computing nodes; wherein the validity indication includes a validity indication generated using one of the one or more public and / or private keys for a first entity involved in a private transaction involving the digital currency; and wherein the computing node further: and configured, based on the validity indication, to insert a new transaction block into the copy of the distributed ledger to complete a private transaction transferring the amount of digital currency from the first entity to the second entity. The system.

[0315] Digital Currency Issuance (2) A system as in (1), in which the financial institution is a government agency and the digital currency is a government-issued digital currency. (3) The system of (1), wherein the computing nodes are further configured to exchange an amount of digital currency issued by a financial institution for an amount of digital currency issued by a government. (4) The system of (1), wherein the computing nodes are further configured to exchange an amount of fiat currency for an amount of government-issued digital currency. (5) The system of (1), wherein the computing nodes are further configured to exchange an amount of a second government-issued digital currency for the amount of the government-issued digital currency. (6) The system of (1), wherein the computing nodes are further configured to exchange an amount of the second government-issued digital currency for an amount of fiat currency. (7) The system of (1), wherein the computing nodes are further configured to exchange an amount of the second government-issued digital currency for an amount of the digital currency issued by the financial institution.

[0316] Ledger usage authority (8) The system of (1), wherein one or more transactions in the distributed ledger are configured to be accessed by a third entity. (9) A system as defined in (8) in which the third entity is a government entity. (10) A system as defined in (8) in which the third entity is a bank. (11) The system of (8), wherein the third entity is a cloud provider, and the cloud provider is configured to store one or more transactions in the distributed ledger.

[0317] Digital Currency Issuance (12) A system as in (1) in which digital currency is issued by banks. (13) A system as in (1) in which the digital currency is issued by an entity with a banking charter.

[0318] Payments using blockchain applications (14) The system of (1), wherein the financial institution’s reserves include legal tender in an amount at least equal to the amount of the digital currency of the first entity and the second entity. (15) A system as defined in (8) above, in which the third entity is a partner company.

[0319] fiat reserve (16) A system in which the financial institutions are private banks. (17) A system as defined in (14) in which the financial institution is a government entity. Digital Currency Checks (18) A system as in (1), in which private transactions are represented by digital checks.

[0320] On-Chain Payments (19) A system as in (1), in which transactions are on-chain transactions. (20) A new block of transactions is generated at the financial institution and sent to the payment system for insertion into the payment system’s distributed ledger; or A new block of transactions is generated by the clearing house and sent to the financial institutions for insertion into the distributed ledger. (1) System.

[0321] Simultaneous exchange (21) A system as defined in (20), in which transactions are simultaneously inserted into a distributed ledger for financial institutions and a distributed ledger for payment institutions.

[0322] Transaction Processing (22) A new block of transactions is generated at the financial institution and sent to the fifth entity for insertion into the fifth entity's distributed ledger; or A new block of transactions is generated by a fifth entity and sent to the financial institution for insertion into the distributed ledger. System (1)

[0323] (23) A system as defined in (22) in which the fifth entity is a government entity. (24) A system as defined in (22), wherein the fifth entity is a payment processing company. (25) A system as in (22), in which the fifth entity is a technology company. (26) A system as defined in (22) in which the fifth entity is a cloud company. (27) A system as in (22) in which the fifth entity is a banking group.

[0324] (28) The system of (1), wherein the validity indication further includes an indication that the first entity has a sufficient amount of digital currency necessary to complete the private transaction, and the computing node further comprises: receiving an indication of invalidity of the new transaction block from one or more computing nodes; and Based on an indication of invalidity, including an indication that the first entity does not have a sufficient amount of digital currency necessary to complete the private transaction: determining that the first entity has authorization to use a sufficient amount of the digital currency and an equivalent available amount of fiat currency; Convert the available amount of fiat currency into a sufficient amount of digital currency required to complete the private transaction and transfer the available amount of fiat currency to an omnibus account at a financial institution; resubmitting the new transaction block to one or more computing nodes participating in the private distributed ledger; receiving a validity indication of the new transaction block from at least one of the plurality of computing nodes; and and configured, based on the validity indication, to insert a new transaction block into the copy of the distributed ledger to complete a private transaction transferring the amount of digital currency from the first entity to the second entity. The system. (29) The system of (28), wherein the exchange of the available amount of fiat currency for a sufficient amount of digital currency is approved by the first entity at a time prior to the private transaction, approved by the first entity at or after the private transaction, or rejected by the first entity at the time of the private transaction.

[0325] verification (30) A system as defined in (29) which is further certified by one or more other entities to exchange available amounts of fiat currency for a sufficient amount of digital currency. (31) A system as in (1), in which, when the transaction is completed, the second entity receives the amount of digital currency issued by the financial institution, an amount of digital currency issued by another financial institution, or an amount of fiat currency equivalent to the amount of digital currency. (32) The system of (31), wherein a second entity receives the amount of digital currency issued by the financial institution in the digital wallet. Digital Currency Custodian (33) The system of (32), wherein the digital wallet is a self-hosted digital wallet.

[0326] (34) A system as in (1) in which a government entity is the administrator of the digital currency. (35) The system of (32), wherein the digital wallet includes one or more rules for spending digital currency issued by the financial institution before or after spending digital currency issued by another financial institution. (36) The system of (35), wherein one or more rules include a rule for automatically converting digital currency issued by an unauthorized financial institution into fiat currency.

[0327] (37) The system of (1), wherein the private transaction represents a split payment from a transaction involving a first entity and at least one other entity that provides a payment to a second entity. (38) A system as described in paragraph (1) in which the first entity is a donor and the second entity is a provider of goods or services, and the private transaction between the donor and the provider of goods or services is for a gift card issued by the provider of goods or services to be given to a third entity.

[0328] (39) The system of (38), wherein the third entity is a recipient and the third entity receives the gift card into a digital wallet for the recipient.

[0329] (40) An institution for facilitating digital currency transactions, which institution: The computing node is comprised among a plurality of computing nodes that participate in a distributed ledger, the distributed ledger storing one or more transaction blocks representing private transactions in one or more digital currencies, each computing node of the plurality of computing nodes storing and maintaining a respective copy of the distributed ledger, and the computing nodes: Store and maintain a copy of the distributed ledger; configured to receive a private transaction to transfer an amount of digital currency from a first entity associated with a first financial institution to a second entity associated with a second financial institution; Here, the digital currency is issued by a first financial institution and is pegged to a fiat currency, At least a first entity is associated with one or more public and / or private keys; and Based on the authorization from the first entity, at least a portion of the private transaction involving the digital currency is generated using one or more public and / or private keys for the first entity; and information regarding the transaction is sent to and / or received from the clearing house, the first financial institution, and / or the second financial institution and recorded on the distributed ledger, the distributed ledger for the first financial institution, and / or the distributed ledger for the second financial institution; and the computing node further configured to store, based on receiving, from at least one of the plurality of computing nodes, a validity indication generated using one or more public and / or private keys of a first entity involved in a private transaction involving the digital currency, in the distributed ledger, a new transaction block representing a private transaction to transfer the amount of the digital currency from a first entity at the first financial institution to a second entity at the second financial institution; The said institution.

[0330] (41) A method for facilitating private transactions between a first entity and a second entity using a digital currency issued by a financial institution and pegged to fiat currency, the method being implemented on a computing node included in a plurality of computing nodes participating in a distributed ledger, each computing node in the plurality of computing nodes storing and maintaining a respective copy of the distributed ledger, the method comprising: Store and maintain a copy of the distributed ledger; wherein the distributed ledger stores one or more transaction blocks representing private transactions in a digital currency issued by a financial institution and pegged to a fiat currency; the method further comprises: receiving a private transaction to transfer an amount of digital currency from a first entity to a second entity; wherein at least a first entity is associated with one or more public and / or private keys; and Based on the authorization from the first entity, at least a portion of the private transactions involving the digital currency are generated using one or more public and / or private keys for the first entity; the method further comprising: Generate a new transaction block representing the private transaction in the digital currency for addition to the distributed ledger; Sending a new block of transactions to multiple computing nodes participating in the distributed ledger; receiving a validity indication for the new transaction block from at least one of the plurality of computing nodes, where the validity indication includes a validity indication generated using one of the one or more public and / or private keys for the first entity, and the method further comprises: and inserting a new transaction block into the copy of the distributed ledger based on the validity indication to complete a transaction transferring the amount of digital currency from the first entity to the second entity. The method.

[0331] (42) A new block of transactions is generated at the financial institution and sent to the clearing house for insertion into the institution’s distributed ledger; or A new block of transactions is generated at the institution and sent to financial institutions for insertion into the distributed ledger. Method (41).

[0332] (43) The method of (41), wherein the validity indication further includes an indication that the first entity has a sufficient amount of digital currency necessary to complete the private transaction, the method further comprising: receiving an indication of invalidity of the new transaction block from one or more computing nodes; and Based on an indication of invalidity, including an indication that the first entity does not have a sufficient amount of digital currency necessary to complete the private transaction: determining that the first entity has the authority to utilize a sufficient amount of fiat currency equivalent to the available amount of the digital currency; Converting the available amount of fiat currency into a sufficient amount of digital currency required to complete the private transaction and transferring the available amount of fiat currency to an omnibus account at a financial institution; resubmitting the new transaction block to one or more computing nodes participating in the private distributed ledger; receiving a validity indication of the new transaction block from at least one of the plurality of computing nodes; and inserting a new transaction block into the copy of the distributed ledger based on the validity indication to complete a private transaction transferring the amount of digital currency from the first entity to the second entity. The method.

[0333] (44) The method of (43), wherein the exchange of the available amount of fiat currency for a sufficient amount of digital currency is approved by the first entity at a time prior to the private transaction, approved by the first entity at or after the private transaction, or rejected by the first entity at the time of the private transaction.

[0334] (45) The method of (41), wherein upon completion of the transaction, the second entity receives the amount of digital currency issued by the financial institution, an amount of digital currency issued by another financial institution, or an amount of fiat currency equivalent to the amount of digital currency. (46) The method of (45), wherein the second entity receives the amount of digital currency issued by the financial institution in the digital wallet.

[0335] (47) The method of (46), wherein the digital wallet includes one or more rules for spending digital currency issued by the financial institution before or after spending digital currency issued by another financial institution.

[0336] (48) The method of (47), wherein the one or more rules include a rule for automatically converting digital currency issued by an unauthorized financial institution into fiat currency.

[0337] (49) The method of (41), wherein the private transaction represents a split payment from a transaction involving the first entity and at least one other entity that provides a payment to the second entity.

[0338] (50) A method for a clearing facility to facilitate a digital currency transaction between a first entity associated with a first financial institution and a second entity associated with a second financial institution, the method being implemented on a computing node included in a plurality of computing nodes participating in a distributed ledger, each computing node in the plurality of computing nodes storing and maintaining a respective copy of the distributed ledger, the method comprising: Store and maintain a copy of the distributed ledger; where the distributed ledger stores one or more transaction blocks representing private transactions in one or more digital currencies, and the method also includes receiving a private transaction to send an amount of the digital currency from a first entity associated with a first financial institution to a second entity associated with a second financial institution; Here, the digital currency is issued by a first financial institution and is pegged to a fiat currency, At least a first entity is associated with one or more public and / or private keys; and Based on the authorization from the first entity, at least a portion of the private transaction involving the digital currency is generated using one or more public and / or private keys for the first entity; and Information regarding the transaction is sent to and / or received from the clearing house, the first financial institution, and / or the second financial institution and recorded on the distributed ledger, the distributed ledger for the first financial institution, and / or the distributed ledger for the second financial institution; and the method further comprises: and storing, based on receiving, from at least one of the plurality of computing nodes, a validity indication generated using one or more public and / or private keys of the first entity involved in the private transaction involving the digital currency, in the distributed ledger, a new transaction block representing a private transaction to transfer the amount of the digital currency from a first entity at the first financial institution to a second entity at the second financial institution. The method.

[0339] Digital Wallet (51) A digital wallet for one or more types of digital currency from one or more financial institutions, comprising: including one or more public and private key pairs for users who hold one or more digital currencies from one or more financial institutions, including digital currencies issued by financial institutions and pegged to fiat currencies; wherein the public and private key pairs are used by users to receive and / or send digital currency issued by the financial institution corresponding to the public and private key pairs and to record digital currency transactions on a private distributed ledger for the financial institution; The digital wallet.

[0340] coupon (52) The digital wallet of (51), wherein the digital wallet is configured to provide coupons and / or promotional codes to the user.

[0341] display (53) A digital wallet as defined in (51), wherein the digital wallet is configured to provide transaction information for one or more digital currencies, including a monthly statement of transactions. (54) The digital wallet of (51), wherein the digital wallet is configured to provide transaction information for one or more digital currencies, and the transaction information is filtered based on one or more parameters. (55) The digital wallet of (54), wherein the one or more parameters include a time period, a credit, a debit, benefits received, and / or a category.

[0342] automatic replenishment (56) A digital wallet as described in (51) above, in which a user uses a public / private key pair to automatically receive digital currency in response to an indication that a balance in one or more digital currencies is below a threshold. (57) A digital wallet according to (51) in which a user uses a public / private key pair to automatically receive digital currency after a specified period of time has passed.

[0343] Transfer of benefits (58) A digital wallet according to (51), wherein the digital wallet provides the user with consumer rewards, loyalty points, location-based rewards, and / or interest for using the digital wallet. (59) A digital wallet according to (58), in which provided consumer rewards, loyalty points, location rewards, and / or interest are transferred from a user's digital wallet to another user's digital wallet. (60) A digital wallet as described in (58) above, in which a user uses one or more of the provided consumer rewards, loyalty points, location-based rewards, and / or interest and receives digital currency in an amount equal in value to one or more of the provided consumer rewards, loyalty points, location-based rewards, and / or interest.

[0344] Automating savings and investments (61) A digital wallet as described in (51) in which a public / private key pair is used to automatically transfer digital currency to a user’s savings account. (62) A digital wallet according to (51) in which a public / private key pair is used to automatically send digital currency to another user's digital wallet.

[0345] Government Deposit Benefits (63) The digital wallet of (51), wherein a user uses a public and private key pair to automatically receive digital currency from a government entity, where the digital currency is a government benefit.

[0346] Tolerance (64) The digital wallet of (51), wherein the digital wallet is configured to allow a supervisory user to modify one or more controls corresponding to the digital wallet. (65) The digital wallet of (51), wherein the digital wallet is configured to allow a monitoring user to access information corresponding to the digital wallet. (66) A digital wallet as defined in (65), the information including the digital wallet balance and / or the digital wallet transaction history. (67) A digital wallet as described in (66), wherein one or more controls include notification settings, replenishment frequency, and / or digital currency limits.

[0347] Rechargeable accounts (68) A digital wallet according to (51), wherein the digital wallet is not linked to another financial account and wherein only digital currency received by the user therein can be used for sending.

[0348] Advance salary (69) A digital wallet according to (51) in which a user receives digital currency using early deposits using a public / private key pair. Ability to build trust (70) A digital wallet as defined in (51) above, in which receipt and / or sending of digital currency is used to determine a user's credit score.

[0349] investment (71) A digital wallet as described in (51), wherein the digital wallet is connected to a securities firm and / or a public market, and a user sends digital currency in exchange for investment assets using a public key / private key pair.

[0350] financing (72) A digital wallet as defined in (51) where a private distributed ledger is used to manage users’ credit lines.

[0351] Digital currency issuance (Government) (73) A system for facilitating a private transaction between a first entity and a second entity using a government-issued digital currency issued by a government agency, comprising: The computing node is included in a plurality of computing nodes participating in a distributed ledger, the distributed ledger stores transaction information representing transactions in a government-issued digital currency issued by a government agency and pegged to a fiat currency, at least one computing node of the plurality of computing nodes stores and maintains a respective copy of the distributed ledger, and the computing node: receiving a transaction to transfer an amount of government-issued digital currency from a first entity to a second entity; determining that the transaction was authorized by the first entity based on the electronic signature or identifier of the first entity; Generate new transactions representing transactions in the government-issued digital currency for addition to the distributed ledger; Sending new transaction information to at least one of a plurality of computing nodes participating in the distributed ledger; receiving an indication of validity of the new transaction information from at least one of the plurality of computing nodes; and and configured, based on the validity indication, to insert new transaction information into the distributed ledger to complete the transaction to transfer the amount of the government-issued digital currency from the first entity to the second entity. The system.

[0352] (74) The system of claim (73), wherein the first entity is a government agency and the second entity is a financial entity, and the financial entity issues digital currency based on the government-issued digital currency.

[0353] Ledger usage authority (75) The system of (73), wherein one or more transactions in the distributed ledger are configured to be accessed by a third entity. (76) A system as defined in (75) in which the third entity is a government entity. (77) A system as in (75) in which the third entity is a bank. (78) The system of (75), wherein the third entity is a cloud provider, and the cloud provider is configured to store one or more transactions in the distributed ledger. (79) A system according to (75), wherein the third entity is a payment mechanism. (80) New transactions are generated at a government entity and transmitted to another entity for insertion into the other entity's distributed ledger; or New transactions are generated by other entities and sent to the government agency for insertion into the distributed ledger; (73) The system according to (73).

[0354] (81) A system in which the other entity is a government entity. (82) A system of (80) in which the other entity is a payment processing company. (83) A system in which the other entity is a technology company. (84) A system in which the other entity is a cloud company. (85) A system in which the other entity is a banking consortium.

[0355] Issuance of digital currency (bank + bank charter) (86) A system for facilitating a transaction between a first entity and a second entity using digital currency issued by a bank or an entity with a banking charter, comprising: The computing node is included in a plurality of computing nodes participating in a distributed ledger, the distributed ledger stores transaction information representing transactions in a digital currency issued by a bank or an entity with a banking charter and pegged to a fiat currency, at least one computing node of the plurality of computing nodes stores and maintains a respective copy of the distributed ledger, and the computing node: receiving a transaction to transfer an amount of digital currency from a first entity to a second entity; determining that the transaction was authorized by the first entity based on the electronic signature or identifier of the first entity; Generate new transactions representing transactions in digital currency for addition to the distributed ledger; Sending new transaction information to at least one of a plurality of computing nodes participating in the distributed ledger; receiving an indication of validity of the new transaction information from at least one of the plurality of computing nodes; and and configured, based on the validity indication, to insert new transaction information into the copy of the distributed ledger to complete the transaction to transfer the amount of digital currency from the first entity to the second entity. The system.

[0356] Transaction Processing (87) New transactions are generated at a bank or banking charter entity and transmitted to another entity for insertion into the other entity's distributed ledger; or New transactions are generated by other entities and sent to the bank or banking charter entity for insertion into the distributed ledger; (86) system.

[0357] (88) A system in which the other entity is a government entity. (89) A system of (87) in which the other entity is a payment processing company. (90) A system in which the other entity is a technology company. (91) A system in which the other entity is a cloud company. (92) A system in which the other entity is a banking consortium. (93) A system as defined in (87) in which the other entity is a payment mechanism.

[0358] Digital Currency Custodian (94) A digital wallet for one or more types of digital currency from one or more financial institutions, comprising: includes one or more public and private key pairs for users who hold one or more digital currencies from one or more financial institutions, including digital currencies issued by financial institutions and pegged to fiat currencies, where: The digital wallet is a self-hosted digital wallet, Multiple computing nodes participate in a distributed ledger for financial institutions and / or payment institutions, The distributed ledger stores transaction information representing one or more transactions in digital currency, At least one of the compute nodes: A user receives a transaction to receive and / or send an amount of digital currency from the user or another user; generating a new transaction representing the transaction to be added to the distributed ledger; Sending the new transaction information to at least one of the plurality of computing nodes; receiving an indication of validity of the new transaction information from at least one of the plurality of computing nodes; and Based on the validity indication, inserting the new transaction information into the distributed ledger and completing the transaction; and One of the public / private keys of a digital currency pair is used by the user to receive and / or send digital currency from the user or other users and to record transactions in a distributed ledger for financial institutions and / or payment institutions; The digital wallet.

[0359] (95) A system as defined in (94) in which one or more financial institutions includes a government entity. (96) A system as defined in (94) in which one or more financial institutions include a technology company. (97) A system as defined in (94) in which one or more financial institutions includes a banking group. (98) A system as defined in (94) in which one or more financial institutions include a payment mechanism. (99) A system as described in (94) in which a government agency is the administrator of the digital currency.

[0360] financing (100) A digital wallet for one or more digital currencies from one or more financial institutions, comprising: one or more public / private key pairs for users who hold one or more digital currencies from one or more financial institutions that encompass lines of credit based on digital currencies issued by the financial institutions and pegged to fiat currency, where: Multiple computing nodes participate in a distributed ledger for financial institutions, The distributed ledger stores transaction information representing one or more transactions in digital currency, At least one of the compute nodes: receiving a transaction for a user to withdraw an amount of digital currency from the line of credit; Generate a new transaction representing the transaction for addition to the distributed ledger; Sending the new transaction information to at least one of the plurality of computing nodes; receiving an indication of validity of the new transaction information from at least one of the plurality of computing nodes; and Based on the validity indication, inserting the new transaction information into the distributed ledger and completing the transaction; and One of the public / private key pairs of the digital currency-based credit facility is used by the user to withdraw funds from the digital currency-based credit facility and record the transaction in the distributed ledger for the financial institution; The digital wallet.

[0361] Computer configuration example An example of the described systems and methods is shown in FIG. 8. Specifically, FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a computing node for a private distributed ledger, a public distributed ledger, or a combination thereof, according to some aspects of the techniques described herein. Specifically, the system 800 may include one or more processors 801 operable to generate a transaction block for a new financial transaction (e.g., element 804). Such information may be stored in a memory or maintained in a storage medium. In some aspects, the processor 801 may receive transaction information 802 including one or more entities involved in the transaction, the amount of the transaction, a timestamp of the transaction, and other suitable transaction information. In some aspects, the processor 801 may receive and / or generate relevant transaction information, such as one or more transaction blocks, from the distributed ledger 803 for the new financial transaction performed by at least some of the described systems and methods. The processor 801 may be configured to perform at least some of the described systems and methods and may generate a transaction block 804 based on the transaction information 802 and / or the distributed ledger 803.

[0362] An illustrative example of a computing device 900 that may be used in connection with any aspect of the disclosure provided herein is illustrated in FIG. 9. Specifically, FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a computing system that performs one or more functions of a computing node that participates in a private distributed ledger, a public distributed ledger, or a combination thereof, according to some aspects of the technology described herein. The computing device 900 may include one or more articles of manufacture that include one or more processors 901 and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (e.g., memory 902 and one or more non-volatile storage media 903). The processor 901 may control the writing of data to and reading of data from the memory 902 and the non-volatile storage medium 903 in any suitable manner. The processor 901 may execute one or more processor-executable instructions stored in one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media (e.g., memory 903), which may function as a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores processor-executable instructions executed by the processor 901 to perform any of the functions described herein.

[0363] As used herein, the terms "program" or "software" are used in a general sense to refer to any type of computer code or set of processor-executable instructions that may be employed to program a computer or other processor to perform various aspects of the embodiments as discussed above. It should be further understood that, according to one aspect, one or more computer programs that, when executed, perform the methods of the disclosure provided herein need not reside on a single computer or processor, but may be distributed in a modular manner among different computers or processors to perform various aspects of the disclosure provided herein.

[0364] Processor-executable instructions may be in many forms, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally, program modules include procedures, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Typically the functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.

[0365] The data structures may also be stored in one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media in any suitable format. Briefly, the data structures may be depicted as having fields that are related by location within the data structure. Such relationships may also be achieved by allocating storage to the field...

Claims

1. 1. A system for facilitating a private transaction between a first entity and a second entity using a government-issued digital currency issued by a government agency, comprising: The computing node is included among a plurality of computing nodes participating in a distributed ledger, the distributed ledger storing transaction information representing transactions in a government-issued digital currency issued by a government agency and pegged to a fiat currency, at least one computing node of the plurality of computing nodes stores and maintains a respective copy of the distributed ledger, and the computing node: receiving a transaction to transfer an amount of government-issued digital currency from a first entity to a second entity; determining that the transaction is authorized by the first entity based on an electronic signature or identifier of the first entity; Generate new transactions representing transactions in the government-issued digital currency for addition to the distributed ledger; Sending new transaction information to at least one of a plurality of computing nodes participating in the distributed ledger; receiving an indication of validity of the new transaction information from at least one of the plurality of computing nodes; and and configured, based on the validity indication, to insert new transaction information into the distributed ledger to complete the transaction to transfer the amount of the government-issued digital currency from the first entity to the second entity. The system.

2. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first entity is a government agency and the second entity is a financial entity, the financial entity issuing the digital currency based on the government-issued digital currency.

3. 10. The system of claim 1, wherein one or more transactions in the distributed ledger are configured to be accessed by a third entity.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the third entity is a government entity.

5. The system of claim 3 , wherein the third entity is a bank.

6. 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the third entity is a cloud provider, the cloud provider configured to store the one or more transactions in the distributed ledger.

7. The system of claim 3 , wherein the third entity is a payment mechanism.

8. New transactions are generated at the government agency and transmitted to other entities for insertion into the other entities' distributed ledgers, or New transactions are generated by other entities and sent to the government agency for insertion into the distributed ledger; The system of claim 1 .

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the other entity is a government entity.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the other entity is a payment processing company.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the other entity is a technology company.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the other entity is a cloud company.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the other entity is a syndication of banks.

14. 1. A system for facilitating a transaction between a first entity and a second entity using a digital currency issued by a bank or an entity with a banking charter, comprising: The computing node is included in a plurality of computing nodes participating in a distributed ledger, the distributed ledger stores transaction information representing transactions in a digital currency issued by a bank or an entity with a banking charter and pegged to a fiat currency, at least one computing node of the plurality of computing nodes stores and maintains a respective copy of the distributed ledger, and the computing node: receiving a transaction to transfer an amount of digital currency from a first entity to a second entity; determining that the transaction is authorized by the first entity based on an electronic signature or identifier of the first entity; generating new transactions representing transactions in the digital currency for addition to the distributed ledger; Sending new transaction information to at least one of a plurality of computing nodes participating in the distributed ledger; receiving an indication of validity of the new transaction information from at least one of the plurality of computing nodes; and and configured, based on the validity indication, to insert new transaction information into the copy of the distributed ledger to complete the transaction transferring the amount of digital currency from the first entity to the second entity. The system.

15. New transactions are generated at a bank or chartered entity and sent to other entities for insertion into the other entities' distributed ledgers, or New transactions are generated by other entities and sent to the bank or banking charter entity for insertion into the distributed ledger; The system of claim 14.

16. 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the other entity is a government entity.

17. 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the other entity is a payment processing company.

18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the other entity is a technology company.

19. The system of claim 15 , wherein the other entity is a cloud company.

20. 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the other entity is a syndication of banks.

21. 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the other entity is a payment mechanism.

22. A digital wallet for one or more types of digital currency from one or more financial institutions, one or more public and private key pairs for users who hold one or more digital currencies from one or more financial institutions, including digital currencies issued by financial institutions and pegged to fiat currencies, where: The digital wallet is a self-hosted digital wallet, A plurality of computing nodes participate in a distributed ledger for a financial institution and / or payment facility; The distributed ledger stores transaction information representing one or more transactions in the digital currency; At least one computing node of the plurality of computing nodes: A user receives a transaction to receive and / or send an amount of digital currency from the user or another user; generating a new transaction representing the transaction to be added to the distributed ledger; Sending new transaction information to at least one of the plurality of computing nodes; receiving an indication of validity of the new transaction information from at least one of the plurality of computing nodes; and Based on the validity indication, inserting the new transaction information into the distributed ledger and completing the transaction; and One of the public and private keys of the digital currency pair is used by the user to receive and / or send digital currency from the user or other users and to record transactions in a distributed ledger for financial institutions and / or payment institutions; The digital wallet.

23. 23. The system of claim 22, wherein the one or more financial institutions includes a government entity.

24. 23. The system of claim 22, wherein the one or more financial institutions include a technology company.

25. 23. The system of claim 22, wherein the one or more financial institutions include a syndication of banks.

26. 23. The system of claim 22, wherein the one or more financial institutions include a clearing house.

27. 23. The system of claim 22, wherein a government agency is the custodian of the digital currency.

28. A digital wallet for one or more types of digital currency from one or more financial institutions, one or more public and private key pairs for users holding one or more digital currencies from one or more financial institutions that include lines of credit based on digital currencies issued by the financial institutions and pegged to fiat currency, where: Multiple computing nodes participate in a distributed ledger for financial institutions, The distributed ledger stores transaction information representing one or more transactions in the digital currency; At least one computing node of the plurality of computing nodes: receiving a transaction for a user to withdraw an amount of digital currency from the line of credit; generating a new transaction representing the transaction to be added to the distributed ledger; Sending new transaction information to at least one of the plurality of computing nodes; receiving an indication of validity of the new transaction information from at least one of the plurality of computing nodes; and Based on the validity indication, inserting the new transaction information into the distributed ledger and completing the transaction; and One of the public / private key pairs of the digital currency-based credit facility is used by the user to withdraw funds from the digital currency-based credit facility and record the transaction in the distributed ledger for the financial institution; The digital wallet.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the digital wallet comprises software in the form of an application installed on the computer, mobile phone, and / or tablet itself.

30. The system of claim 28, wherein the digital wallet comprises a mobile wallet, a desktop wallet, and / or a hardware wallet.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the digital currency card, mobile application, or web application requires a personal identification number (PIN), password, biometric authentication, facial recognition, fingerprint, and / or eye scan.

32. The system described in claim 28, wherein the digital wallet is connected to a trusted third party via an application programming interface (API) and one or more public and private key pairs are managed by the trusted third party.

33. The system of claim 28, wherein the digital wallet includes hardware that stores one or more public and private key pairs.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the hardware includes a button that a user must physically press or touch to electronically sign a transaction.

35. The system of claim 33, wherein the hardware requires a user to submit a personal identification number (PIN), password, biometric authentication, facial recognition, fingerprint, and / or eye scan before the user can e-sign a transaction.

36. The system of claim 28, wherein the digital wallet provides the user with consumer rewards, loyalty points, and / or location rewards for use of the digital wallet.

37. The system of claim 28, wherein a user's reward level is determined based on a balance of digital currency maintained in a digital wallet and / or meeting one or more transaction thresholds.

38. The system of claim 28, wherein the digital wallet is configured to provide points, hotel stays, miles, coupons, and / or cash back rewards to the user.

39. The system of claim 28, wherein the digital wallet is configured to authenticate the identity of the user.

40. The system of claim 28, wherein the digital wallet includes an indication of a user's creditworthiness.

41. The system described in claim 28, wherein receipt and / or transmission of digital currency is used to determine a user's credit score.

42. The system described in claim 28, wherein transactions in which the user utilizes the credit line include buy now pay later transactions.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein the buy now pay later transaction allows the user to pay in one or more installments, each of the one or more installments representing a portion of the buy now pay later transaction.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein after a period of time, one or more installments are automatically debited and the distributed ledger is updated to reflect the current state of the buy now pay later transaction.

45. The system described in claim 42, wherein the financial institution deposits an amount of fiat currency equivalent to the credit line into the financial institution's omnibus account.

Images