How to issue non-fungible tokens

Abstract

The present disclosure discloses a method for minting a non-fungible token (NFT) that includes multimedia or document data and context information associated with the multimedia or document data. More specifically, the method includes establishing a connection to at least one terminal and receiving data from the terminal, validating the data received from the terminal and the context information associated with the data, and issuing an NFT associated with the data and the context information.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a method for issuing non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that include multimedia or document data and associated contextual information. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventional NFT issuance technologies issue NFTs only for multimedia data or document data, making it easy to verify forgery or tampering of data after it is issued as an NFT. However, there is a problem in that it is not possible to determine what history the multimedia data or document data has before it is issued as an NFT, when, where, and by whom it was originally created, and whether it has value as a record of a specific event. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] The present disclosure aims to solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0004] The purpose of the present disclosure is to issue a non-fungible token (NFT) by including in multimedia data and / or document data information associated with the multimedia data and / or document data as well as the situation or environment in which the data was created. This makes it possible to issue and register an NFT that can guarantee not only whether the data has been lost or tampered with, but also whether the data has value as a reliable record of a specific event.

[0005] Furthermore, based on this reliability, new added value can be created by grouping individual NFTs for specific events into group NFTs and issuing them. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, a method of issuing (interchangeably used herein as "minting") a non-fungible token (NFT) according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may include establishing a connection to at least one terminal and receiving data from the terminal, verifying the data received from the terminal and status information associated with the data, and issuing an NFT associated with the data and the status information.

[0007] In some embodiments, the method may further include requesting that at least a portion of the issued NFTs be registered in a first network. The method may further include requesting that at least a portion of the NFTs registered in the first network be registered in a second network. The step of requesting that at least a portion of the NFTs registered in the first network be registered in a second network may be performed at least intermittently or periodically at regular intervals.

[0008] The first network may be a private network and the second network may be a public network. The public network may be a blockchain network and the private network may be a sidechain network.

[0009] The NFT may include both the data and the status information.

[0010] The NFT may include information associated with the context information and the data. In such an embodiment, the NFT may be recorded on a blockchain network and the data may be stored on a separate public network. The separate public network may be a cloud server.

[0011] The information associated with the data may include a hash associated with the data. The information associated with the data may include a link to where the data is stored.

[0012] The situation information may include one or more of GPS location information, time information, information about the terminal, and user information.

[0013] The status information may include time information, and the step of verifying the data and its associated status information may include verifying whether the time at which the data was received from the terminal is within a predetermined time range of the time included in the time information.

[0014] The contextual information may include evidence that a particular person was present when the data was created. The evidence that a particular person was present may be a digital signature received from the particular person.

[0015] In some embodiments, the method may further include determining whether one or more predetermined criteria are met by evaluating the verified context information, wherein the predetermined criteria may be set prior to receiving the data from the terminal or after receiving the data from the terminal and completing the step of verifying the context information associated with the data.

[0016] The step of determining whether one or more predetermined criteria are met may include determining whether the data relates to a particular event.

[0017] In some embodiments, the method may further include bundling multiple individual NFTs together and issuing them as a group NFT.

[0018] The group NFT may be issued by grouping the individual NFTs generated according to one or more predetermined criteria. The group NFT may be issued first, and then the individual NFTs may be linked to the group NFT. The individual NFTs may be linked sequentially in a predetermined order. The predetermined order may be chronological order.

[0019] The terminal may include a camera device and the data may include still images or video captured using the camera device. In such an embodiment, the situation information may include metadata of the still images or video.

[0020] The terminal may comprise a smartphone. Effect of the Invention

[0021] In the present disclosure, by issuing a non-fungible token (NFT) that includes not only multimedia data or other document data but also information associated with the situation or environment in which the data was created, it is possible to provide an advantage that it is possible to verify not only whether the data has been lost or tampered with, but also whether the data has value as a reliable record of a specific event. Furthermore, based on such reliability, it is possible to create new added value by grouping individual NFTs for a specific event and issuing them as a group NFT. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] A diagram showing an exemplary embodiment of an NFT according to the present disclosure, which includes multimedia data and information associated with the circumstances under which the multimedia data was created. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 illustrates an example embodiment of a process for receiving and validating multimedia data and contextual information before issuing and registering an NFT on a blockchain network. [Diagram 3]FIG. 1 illustrates an example embodiment of a network structure that may be used to implement the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 illustrates an example embodiment of a process for combining two or more NFTs to issue a group NFT and register it on a blockchain network. [Diagram 5] A diagram illustrating various data relationships between group NFTs and individual NFTs in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] A diagram illustrating various data relationships between group NFTs and individual NFTs in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] A diagram illustrating various data relationships between group NFTs and individual NFTs in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0023] The detailed description of the present disclosure described below refers to the accompanying drawings, which show specific exemplary embodiments in which the present disclosure may be implemented. These exemplary embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to implement the present disclosure. It should be understood that the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure that are different from one another are not necessarily mutually exclusive. For example, a specific shape, structure, and characteristic described herein with respect to one exemplary embodiment may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, it should be understood that the position or arrangement of individual components within each disclosed exemplary embodiment may be changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the detailed description that follows is not intended to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present disclosure is limited only by the appended claims and all equivalents thereof as appropriately described. Like reference numerals in the figures refer to the same or similar elements across the various aspects.

[0024] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in order to enable those skilled in the art to easily implement the present disclosure.

[0025] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an NFT including multimedia data and information associated with the situation in which the multimedia data was created. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the multimedia data or document data 10 may be created using at least one terminal. Here, the data 10 may be composed of one or more photo data, video data, audio data, or any combination thereof. The data 10 may also be composed of a document with an embedded photo or video. For example, the data 10 may include a photo or video of a specific event, a photo or video taken with a specific person (e.g., a celebrity, etc.), a photo or video taken using a medical device, a photo or video taken using a security device, a document including a photo or video of a contract content and / or a scene of a contract conclusion, or a will. For this reason, the terminal may be, for example, a device equipped with a camera device, or a device equipped with a camera device and a recording means and capable of recording video. An example of such a terminal may be a smartphone. The data 10 may include a still image or video taken using a camera device. In another embodiment, the terminal may be equipped with a document scanner, and the data 10 may include a scanned copy of a document obtained using the document scanner device. Unless otherwise stated, references in the drawings and specification to "multimedia information" or "multimedia data" also include document data or a combination of document data and multimedia data.

[0026] Context information 20 may be generated in association with data 10. Context information 20 may include one or more of GPS location information, time information, information associated with the device, or user information. In the camera device example above, metadata for still or video images may be included. Context information 20 may also include various content and context associated with associated data 10. Context information 20 is described in more detail below.

[0027] In conventional NFT minting technology, NFTs are issued simply for multimedia data or document data. Therefore, although it is easy to verify whether data has been counterfeited or tampered with after it has been issued as an NFT, there is a problem in that it is not possible to know what history the multimedia data or document data has undergone before it is issued as an NFT, when, where, and by whom it was first created, and whether it is worthy of being considered a record of a specific event after it is issued as an NFT. On the other hand, in the NFT minting method according to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, an NFT 30 is issued not only for multimedia data and / or document data, but also for situational information associated with the situation or environment in which the data 10 was created. Therefore, the data 10 issued as an NFT 30 is guaranteed to have value as a reliable record of a specific event, and is guaranteed not to have been counterfeited or tampered with between its initial creation and the minting of the NFT.

[0028] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a process for receiving multimedia data and status information, and then verifying the multimedia data and / or status information before issuing an NFT and registering it in a blockchain network. Referring to FIG. 2, according to an NFT issuing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a user terminal can generate multimedia data or document data and associated status information (S100), and a service providing server can establish a connection with at least one terminal and receive the multimedia data or document data and associated status information generated by the terminal (S300). Then, the service providing server can verify the multimedia data or document data and status information received from the terminal (S400). Based on the verification result, the service providing server can issue an NFT for the received multimedia data or document data and status information (S500).

[0029] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the method may further include a step (S200) of attaching a digital signature of the terminal user to the multimedia data or document data. By attaching the digital signature, the user terminal can prove the creation and ownership of the data. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the data from being tampered with by the owner or a third party. The digital signature may be based on various public key cryptography methods widely used in blockchain and other technologies.

[0030] Furthermore, at least a portion of the issued NFTs may be registered in a first network, and at least a portion of the NFTs registered in the first network may then be registered in a second network (S600). The first network may be implemented as a private network, and the second network may be implemented as a public network. For example, a blockchain network may be used as the second network, and the first network may function as a sidechain network of the blockchain network. The first network may function as a rollup network. By using the first network, the scalability of the network may be improved, and it may be easier to ensure the processing performance of the second network.

[0031] 3 shows an exemplary embodiment of a network structure capable of implementing the method of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 3, a terminal 1000 is connected to a first network 2000, which acts as a service providing server for the terminal 1000 and can function as a side chain network for a second network 3000. As mentioned above, the second network 3000 can include, for example, Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Avalanche (AVAX), Solana (SOL), etc. The present disclosure is not limited thereto, and various conventional blockchain networks may be used.

[0032] By registering the minted NFT on the blockchain, the NFT cannot be forged or tampered with, so that aspects such as the history of the contained data before the issuance of the NFT, proof of when, where and by whom it was created, and whether it can be trusted as a record of a specific event can be guaranteed by the service provider or an organization delegated or authorized by the service provider. After the issuance of the NFT, not only the core data but also the associated situational information can be safely maintained without the risk of forgery or tampering.

[0033] In some embodiments, all of the NFTs registered in the first network may be registered in the blockchain (i.e., the second network). In some other embodiments, the minted NFTs may be first registered in a private network (i.e., the first network) so that they can be managed at the service server level to prevent counterfeiting or tampering of the multimedia data or document data. Some of them may be selected and registered in the blockchain (i.e., the second network). This can reduce the cost and resources required to register NFTs in the blockchain. The selection of NFTs to be registered in the blockchain may be performed directly by the user who created the multimedia data or document data, or may be performed on the service server side. Alternatively, it may be performed by a third party.

[0034] On the other hand, in order to prove that the NFTs recorded in the first network are safely recorded without being forged or tampered with, information associated with some or all of the NFTs recorded in the first network may be registered in the blockchain (i.e., the second network). For this purpose, a list of NFTs recorded in the first network, a hash of each NFT, or a hash of all NFTs recorded in the first network may be registered in the blockchain at intermittent or regular intervals. Alternatively or additionally, summary information associated with some or all of the data stored in the first network may be registered in the blockchain (i.e., the second network). For example, in order to prove that there is no forgery or tampering, the hash included in the block header of the first network may be summarized for each block or for each predetermined number of blocks and recorded in the blockchain within a predetermined time.

[0035] In some embodiments, the NFT may be issued in a format that includes both core (e.g., multimedia) data and context information. In other embodiments, the multimedia data may be stored separately, and the NFT may be issued in a format that includes the context information along with a pointer (e.g., a URL (Uniform Resource Location)) that can identify where the multimedia data is stored. This can reduce the size of the NFT, thereby reducing the costs and resources required to register and maintain the NFT. The NFT may be registered on a blockchain network, and the multimedia data may be stored on another public network, such as a cloud server. However, the present disclosure also encompasses configurations in which the multimedia data remains in the user's terminal rather than on a public network.

[0036] If the multimedia data is stored on another public network or user terminal, the NFT recorded on the blockchain may include a hash of the multimedia data, so that even if the multimedia data itself is not registered on the blockchain, it is possible to later verify whether the multimedia data has been forged or tampered with by comparing the hash included in the NFT with the hash of the corresponding multimedia data stored on another public network or user terminal.

[0037] As described above, the situation information included in the NFT may include GPS location information, time information, information associated with the terminal, user information, etc. Furthermore, the information associated with the terminal may include unique information of the user terminal. For example, an IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity), a device ID, a device serial number, etc. may be used.

[0038] The service server may verify the multimedia data or document data received from the user terminal and the associated situation information. For example, it may be configured to verify that the time when the data was received from the terminal is within a predetermined time range from the time information included in the situation information. Thus, a condition may be set so that the created multimedia data or document data is issued as an NFT only if it is transmitted to the service server within a predetermined time. Alternatively or additionally, the unique information of the user terminal may be verified to verify whether the received multimedia data or document data was transmitted from a subscriber of the service or to identify who created the data. Alternatively or additionally, the unique information of the terminal, GPS location information, and time information may be comprehensively considered to verify whether the terminal created the multimedia data or document data while moving in a rational and / or normal pattern.

[0039] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the multimedia data may be created as a photo taken with a particular person, and the associated context information may include digital signatures received from the particular person in the photo. For example, if the photo includes persons A, B, and C, the service server may be configured to issue the context information as an NFT after verifying that the context information includes digital signatures of all three persons A, B, and C.

[0040] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a group NFT may be issued by bundling two or more of the issued NFTs. For example, based on the situation information included in the NFT, only NFTs associated with a specific event may be collected and issued as a new group NFT. For this purpose, the service server may further perform a step of evaluating the verified situation information to determine whether one or more predetermined criteria are met.

[0041] The predetermined criteria may be preset before the service server receives the data from the terminal, or may be set after the service server receives the data from the terminal and completes verification of the status information associated therewith.

[0042] Figure 4 illustrates an example embodiment of a process for combining two or more NFTs to issue a group NFT and register it on a blockchain network. Figures 5-7 illustrate various data relationships between the group NFT and individual NFTs according to example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0043] Referring to FIG. 4, an NFT issuance method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may further include a step of grouping multiple individual NFTs to mint a group NFT (S700), and a step of registering the issued group NFT in a private or public network, such as a blockchain network (S800).

[0044] According to an exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 5, after a group NFT 40 is initially created, one or more individual NFTs 30 that meet a predetermined criteria may be linked to the group NFT 40. For example, when a concert date for a singer is set, a service user who creates a group NFT for the concert and attends the concert may send the multimedia data that he or she created to the service server. The service server may verify the multimedia data received from the user and associated context information, such as GPS location information and time information. In response to determining that the data is related to the concert, the service server may issue individual NFTs for the multimedia data and context information, where each individual NFT may be configured to include a reference to the group NFT. Thus, the group NFT may include a large amount of data related to the concert, and the data is guaranteed to be a verified record of the concert.

[0045] Such bundled NFTs may be traded, in whole or in part, with someone else or replicated as a second group NFT, allowing users who generate and contribute individual NFTs to receive dividends for them, and allowing a person (or organization) with ownership rights in a group NFT to generate added value by collecting the individual NFTs and creating a group NFT.

[0046] Referring to FIG. 6, in a situation where individual NFTs 30 are initially sent to a service server, if someone determines that a group NFT 40 related to a particular event needs to be minted, at least some of the individual NFTs 30 may be bundled together and issued as a group NFT 40. In such a case, the group NFT 40 after issuance may include a list of references to the individual NFTs 30 contained therein. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Even if a group NFT is subsequently issued, the individual NFTs may be modified and reissued to include references to the group NFT to which they belong, resulting in a structure substantially similar to that shown in FIG. 5.

[0047] 7, the individual NFTs 30 may be individually linked in parallel to one group NFT 40, sequentially linked in series to one group NFT 40, or linked to one group NFT by a combination of parallel and series. The expression that the NFTs are linked sequentially or serially may mean that the first individual NFT 30-1 includes a reference to the upper level group NFT 40, the second individual NFT 30-2 includes a reference to the first individual NFT 30-1, the third individual NFT is sequentially linked to include a reference to the second individual NFT 30-2, and so on. In this configuration, if an intermediate individual NFT is later lost, it may be determined that the reliability of the corresponding group NFT cannot be guaranteed.

[0048] For example, if you are minting a group NFT for a thread of text messages you exchanged with someone, each exchanged message can be created as an individual NFT by including a reference to the previous message. So if someone later deletes or modifies a message in that thread, that fact will be easily evident. Therefore, making the entire conversation thread into a group NFT with successive NFTs linked to it may be possible to ensure that the entire content of this conversation has not been edited or modified.

[0049] The user terminal, the service server, the nodes constituting the first network, and the nodes constituting the second network may be implemented using computer components having one or more processors and one or more memories. Operations, activities, and events performed by the user terminal, the service server, the nodes constituting the first network, and the nodes constituting the second network may be described by one or more program instructions stored in the memory and executed by the processor.

[0050] The exemplary embodiments according to the present disclosure described above may be implemented in the form of program instructions executable by various computer components such as a processor and recordable on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium may include, alone or in combination, program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like. The program instructions recorded on the non-transitory computer readable storage medium may be those specially designed and constructed for the present disclosure, or may be those well known and available to those skilled in the art of computer software. Examples of non-transitory computer readable storage media include hardware devices specially configured to store and execute program instructions, such as hard disks, floppy disks, magnetic tapes, optical recording media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, magneto-optical media such as floppy magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, flash memories, and the like. Examples of program instructions include machine language code, such as generated by a compiler, as well as high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter. The hardware devices may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform processes according to the present disclosure, or vice versa.

[0051] As described above, the present disclosure has been described with specific details such as specific components, example embodiments, and drawings, but these are provided only to facilitate a more general understanding of the present disclosure, and the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described example embodiments. Those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains can make various modifications and variations from the present disclosure.

[0052] Therefore, the spirit of the disclosure should not be limited to the above-described exemplary embodiments, and all modifications within the spirit and scope of the claims described below are within the spirit of the disclosure.

Claims

1. A method for issuing a non-fungible token (NFT), comprising: establishing a connection with at least one terminal and receiving data from said terminal; verifying data received from the terminal and status information associated with the data; issuing a NFT associated with the data and the status information; The method includes:

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising requesting that at least a portion of the issued NFTs be registered with the first network.

3. 3. The method of claim 2, comprising the step of requesting that at least a portion of the NFTs registered in the first network be registered in a second network.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the step of requesting that at least a portion of the NFTs registered in the first network be registered in the second network is performed at least intermittently or periodically at regular intervals.

5. The first network, as a service providing server, Establishing a connection with the at least one terminal and receiving the data from the terminal; verifying the data received from the terminal and status information associated with the data; The method of claim 2 configured to issue the NFT associated with the data and the status information.

6. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first network is a private network and the second network is a public network.

7. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the public network is a blockchain network and the private network is a sidechain network.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NFT includes both the data and the status information.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NFT includes information associated with the context information and the data.

10. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the NFT is recorded on a blockchain network and the data is stored on at least one of a separate public network or the terminal.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the isolated public network is a cloud server.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the information associated with the data includes a hash associated with the data.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the information associated with the data includes a link to a location where the data is stored.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the context information includes one or more of GPS location information, time information, information about the terminal, or user information.

15. the situation information includes time information, 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of verifying the data received from the terminal and the status information associated with the data includes verifying whether the time at which the data was received from the terminal is within a predetermined time range from the time included in the time information.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contextual information includes evidence that a particular person was present when the data was created.

17. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the evidence that a particular person was present is a digital signature received from the particular person.

18. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising evaluating the verified context information to determine whether one or more predetermined criteria are met.

19. 20. The method of claim 18, wherein determining whether the one or more predetermined criteria are met comprises determining whether the data relates to a particular incident.

20. The method of claim 1 , comprising aggregating a plurality of individual NFTs to issue a group NFT.

21. 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the group NFT is issued by grouping the plurality of individual NFTs that were generated according to one or more predetermined criteria.

22. 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the group NFT is issued and then the multiple individual NFTs are linked to the group NFT.

23. 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the plurality of individual NFTs are linked sequentially in a predetermined order.

24. 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the predetermined order is chronological order.

25. The method of claim 1 , wherein the terminal comprises a camera device, and the data includes still or video images captured using the camera device.

26. The method of claim 25 , wherein the context information includes metadata for the still or video images.

27. The method of claim 1 , wherein the terminal comprises a smartphone.

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