Private NFT Transfer Using Zero-Knowledge Proofs and Dual Blockchains

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Solution Overview

Problem

Blockchain networks lack sufficient privacy for non-fungible token (NFT) transactions, revealing the identities of participants, which poses security risks and competitive threats, and conventional privacy approaches are inadequate for securely distributing digital assets.

Innovation Solution

Utilizing a private blockchain separate from the public blockchain to mint and transfer NFTs, employing token secrets encrypted by both the issuer and recipient, and generating zero-knowledge proofs to verify ownership without revealing identities, with data on the public blockchain using Merkle trees and synthetic transactions to maintain privacy.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If blockchain transactions are conducted on a public blockchain, then transparency and verifiability are improved, but privacy and security of participants are worsened

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetransparency and verifiabilityVSAvoidprivacy and security risks

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the blockchain system into two distinct layers: a public blockchain for verifiable transaction recording and a private blockchain for confidential transaction execution. This segmentation allows transparency requirements to be met on the public layer while privacy requirements are satisfied on the private layer, resolving the contradiction between transparency and privacy protection.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a private blockchain as an intermediary layer between participants and the public blockchain. This intermediary enables transactions to be conducted privately first, then selectively verified on the public blockchain without exposing sensitive participant information, thus maintaining both privacy and verifiability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Measurement precision

If NFT transactions are conducted on a public blockchain, then transaction verifiability is improved, but participant identity revelation is worsened

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetransaction verifiabilityVSAvoidparticipant identity information

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts sensitive identity information from the public transaction record by conducting the actual NFT transfer on a private blockchain. Only non-sensitive transaction metadata is published to the public blockchain for verification, thereby maintaining transaction verifiability while preventing identity revelation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent moves the sensitive transaction execution to a different dimension (private blockchain) while keeping the verification function on the public blockchain. This dimensional separation allows verifiability to be maintained without compromising participant privacy.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

3Object-affected harmful factors

If conventional privacy approaches are used for digital asset distribution, then privacy protection is improved, but security and verifiability are worsened

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprivacy protectionVSAvoidsecurity and verifiability

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the advantages of private blockchain (privacy protection) with public blockchain (security and verifiability) into a unified hybrid system. This combination allows digital asset distribution to maintain both privacy and security simultaneously, overcoming the limitations of conventional approaches that must choose one over the other.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentUS12483408B2Anonymous non-fungible token transfer using private blockchain

Publication Date: 2025.11.25 CAPITAL ONE SERVICES LLC

AI summary

Methods, systems, and apparatuses are described herein for protecting the privacy of parties conducting Non-Fungible Token (NFT) transfers by conducting separate NFT transactions on a private blockchain separate from a public blockchain. An issuer and recipient may generate a token secret, and the issuer may send a create token transaction request comprising a unique token identifier, the token secret, and zero-knowledge proof data. Based on that request, an NFT may be minted on a private blockchain. A recipient may request the token by providing the unique token identifier and a zero-knowledge proof generated, by the recipient, based on the token secret. Based on comparing the zero-knowledge proof and the zero-knowledge proof data, the NFT may be sent to the recipient. A hash corresponding to a recipient address and the unique token identifier may be stored in a public blockchain.