Patents by Inventor Steven A. Wright

Steven A. Wright has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20220245626
    Abstract: A computer implemented system and a method for providing user related data, such as reputational information, on users of a blockchain involved in transactions is detailed. The method includes an approach for evaluating fulfilment of transactions, particularly in the context of contracts, and then providing a record of that on the blockchain through reputational information. As a result, at a late time, this reputational information can be retrieved. Similar reputational information for other transactions can be retrieved and linked to the same user, for instance based on the use of a hash of the master public key for a user. Aggregate reputational information can be computed from the pieces of reputational information retrieved.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 17, 2022
    Publication date: August 4, 2022
    Inventors: Martin Sewell, Vera Vsevolozhsky, Craig Steven Wright
  • Patent number: 11405395
    Abstract: The computer-implemented invention provides a method and corresponding system for controlling access to and/or use of an internet-enabled resource. The invention uses an electronic ledger such as, for example, the Bitcoin blockchain. The resource may be an IoT device or system. Access to the resource is permitted or enabled upon provision of a cryptographic key e.g. a private key which corresponds to a public key which has been stored in memory. In one embodiment, the public key is stored in a DHT. Access to the resource is prevented or disabled by removing the public key from memory, and using a redeem script of a second blockchain Transaction to spend a tokenised output of a first blockchain Transaction. The second transaction detokenizes the token (or ‘coloured coin’) contained within the first Transaction. In order to prevent further access to the resource, an encrypted message is sent to the internet-enabled resource, wherein the message communicates a public key and the redeem script.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: nChain Licensing AG
    Inventors: Stephane Vincent, Craig Steven Wright
  • Publication number: 20220230147
    Abstract: A method and system of recording multiple transactions between a multiple of users on a blockchain (9), including a first transaction (22) from a first user (5) to a second user (7) and a second transaction (24) from the second user (7) to the first user (5). The blockchain may be, for example, the Bitcoin blockchain. The method may include receiving (110) a first request from a first node (15) associated with the first user (A) to transfer a first quantity of cryptocurrency associated with the first transaction (22) and receiving (120) a second request from a second node (17) to transfer a second quantity associated with the second transaction (24). The first transaction (22) is conditional on receiving (120) the second request and the second transaction (24) is conditional on receiving (110) the first request. The method also includes verifying (130) the first request and second request that includes determining both the conditional steps of receiving the first request and second request are satisfied.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 3, 2022
    Publication date: July 21, 2022
    Inventors: Craig Steven Wright, Stephane Savanah
  • Publication number: 20220224534
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure provides protocols, methods and systems which provides advantages such as the resistance of centralisation of mining on a blockchain network, preferably a Proof-of-Work blockchain. A method in accordance with an embodiment may comprise generating a plurality of non-parallelisable challenges (or “puzzles”) and allocating one of said plurality of challenges to each miner on the network. The miner uses an inherently sequential (non-parallelisable) algorithm to find a solution to his allocated challenge. The challenges are generated by a committee of nodes, and a new set of challenges is generated for each block.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 29, 2020
    Publication date: July 14, 2022
    Inventors: Craig Steven WRIGHT, John FLETCHER, Alexander Tennyson MACKAY
  • Publication number: 20220217004
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides methods and systems for ensuring the security of a blockchain and associated network, and for enabling the establishment of consensus regarding the state of the blockchain. A method of the disclosure may be implemented by one or more nodes on a blockchain network, using a non-parallelisable algorithm to calculate an output based on a computational difficulty parameter, a hash of at least one blockchain transaction; and/or a hash of at least one blockchain block header. The non-parallelisable, inherently sequential algorithm comprises at least one of the following operations or a combination thereof: a recursive operation, a modular exponentiation and/or a repeated squaring operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 28, 2020
    Publication date: July 7, 2022
    Inventors: Craig Steven WRIGHT, Jack Owen DAVIES, Alexander Tennyson MACKAY, Chloe Ceren TARTAN, Wei ZHANG
  • Patent number: 11381389
    Abstract: A method and devices for securely and privately generating a threshold vault address and distributed individual key shares reliant upon individually selected polynomial functions, without revealing the key shares and without ever reconstructing the private key. A digital asset stored at the threshold vault address may be used as an input to a transaction through generating a digital signature corresponding to the threshold vault address. Methods and devices are described for collaboratively generating the digital signature without reconstructing the private key or revealing individual key shares. Methods and devices are described for refreshing the distributed private key shares.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: nChain Holdings Ltd.
    Inventor: Craig Steven Wright
  • Publication number: 20220204121
    Abstract: A wireless active suspension system is disclosed. The system includes at least one sensor mounted to an unsprung mass of a vehicle, the sensor having a low power wireless communication capability, the at least one sensor to send a sensor data transmission. The system also includes a controller in wireless communication with the at least one sensor, wherein the controller receives the sensor data from the at least one sensor and communicates an adjustment command to modify at least one damping characteristic of at least one damper.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 23, 2021
    Publication date: June 30, 2022
    Applicant: Fox Factory, Inc.
    Inventors: Everet Owen ERICKSEN, Andrew DIAO, Mike FRAGUGLIA, Evan PETERSON, James T. PICKETT, Christian Jonathan Steven WRIGHT, Dean ARMSTRONG
  • Patent number: 11373152
    Abstract: A method of creating, redeeming and transferring tokens associated with tokens on a peer-to-peer distributed ledger. The method includes including metadata associated with the token in a redeem script, wherein the redeem script is associated with a transaction of cryptocurrency on the peer-to-peer distributed ledger. One aspect of the invention provides a method of issuing and/or transferring a token, comprising the steps of generating a blockchain transaction (Tx) having an output (TxO) related to a quantity of cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, and a hash of a redeem script. The redeem script comprises metadata which in turn comprises a token. The token is a representation of, or a reference to, a tokenised entity. The redeem script also comprises at least one (preferably two or more) public cryptographic keys. The metadata is provided in the redeem script at a location which is designated in the underlying blockchain protocol as a location for a cryptographic key.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: nChain Holdings Limited
    Inventors: Craig Steven Wright, Stephane Savanah
  • Patent number: 11366882
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method and system for encrypting an executable of a computer software for installation using a distributed hash table and a peer-to-peer distributed ledger. This may be the Bitcoin blockchain or an alternative implementation. The method may include determining a generator value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2022
    Assignee: nChain Holdings Limited
    Inventors: Craig Steven Wright, Stephane Savanah
  • Patent number: 11356280
    Abstract: A method of encrypting data at an electronic device where the electronic device is associated with a key device. Each device is associated with an asymmetric cryptography pair, each pair including a first private key and a first public key. Respective second private and public keys may be determined based on the first private key, first public key and a deterministic key. A secret may be determined based on the second private and public keys. The data at the electronic device may be encrypted using the determined secret or an encryption key that is based on the secret. Information indicative of the deterministic key may be sent to the key device where the information may be stored.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: nChain Holdings Ltd
    Inventors: Craig Steven Wright, Stephane Savanah
  • Patent number: 11349645
    Abstract: A method (300) and system (1) of determining a common secret for two nodes (3, 7). Each node (3, 7) has a respective asymmetric cryptography pair, each pair including a master private key and a master public key. Respective second private and public keys may be determined based on the master private key, master public key and a deterministic key. A common secret may be determined at each of the nodes based on the second private and public keys. In one example, a node (3, 7) may determine the common secret based on (i) a second private key based on the node's own master private key and the deterministic key; and (ii) a second public key based on the other node's master public key and the deterministic key. The invention may be suited for use with, but not limited to, digital wallets, blockchain (e.g. Bitcoin) technologies and personal device security.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: nChain Holdings Ltd.
    Inventors: Craig Steven Wright, Stephane Savanah
  • Patent number: 11347838
    Abstract: This invention relates generally to blockchain implementations and is suited for, but not limited to, use with the Bitcoin blockchain. The invention relates to a technical solution for managing a voting, counting, selection and/or decision making process. It can be used for the implementation of automated processes such as device/system control, process control, distributed computing and storage and others. The invention provides an event detecting, monitoring and/or counting mechanism. The event may be, for example, a vote, decision or selection which is made by a given entity. The invention provides a counting solution in which a computing resource, running simultaneously and in parallel to the blockchain, manages a loop-based operation. The computing resource continuously monitors the state of the blockchain as well as any other off-blockchain input data or source. The execution of the loop is influenced by the state of the blockchain.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: nChain Holdings Ltd.
    Inventors: Craig Steven Wright, Stephane Savanah
  • Patent number: 11347834
    Abstract: Implementations disclose methods and systems for facilitating an automated user login into a first application hosted by a first-screen device. A method includes detecting, by a second-screen device, a message transmitted by the first-screen device over a network; determining, based on the message, that the first application hosted by the first-screen device is requesting user authentication for the automated user login; presenting, via a second application hosted by the second-screen device, a prompt for user input indicating user acceptance of the automated user login; receiving the user input indicating the user acceptance of the automated user login; and responsive to the user input, transmitting an authentication code from the message to the server device to perform the user authentication for the automated user login into the first application.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: Google LLC
    Inventors: Julien Marchand, Sophia Bong, Daniel Kaemmerer, Allan Mills, Jaee Patwardhan, Steven Wright, Sana Mithani, Nicolas Klein, William Denniss
  • Publication number: 20220164435
    Abstract: This invention relates generally to blockchain implementations and is suited for, but not limited to, use with the Bitcoin blockchain. It can be used for the implementation of automated processes such as device/system control, process control, distributed computing and storage and others. The invention provides a solution which uses a blockchain to control a process executing on a computing resource. In a preferred embodiment, the computing resource, running simultaneously and in parallel to the blockchain, manages a loop-based operation. The computing resource continuously monitors the state of the blockchain as well as any other off-blockchain input data or source. The execution of the loop is influenced by the state of the blockchain. Each iteration of the loop that is executed by the computing resource is recorded in a transaction that is written to the blockchain. It is stored as a hash within the transaction's metadata.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 3, 2021
    Publication date: May 26, 2022
    Inventors: Craig Steven Wright, Stephane Savanah
  • Patent number: 11341484
    Abstract: The invention presents a solution in which blockchain Transactions are created to implement the functionality of a logic gate. The invention may be implemented on the Bitcoin platform or an alternative blockchain platform. The transaction includes a locking script which comprises instructions selected so as to implement the functionality of a logic gate such as OR, AND, XOR, NOT and so on. In some examples, the instructions may be provided in a hashed form. When the script is executed (because a second transaction is attempting to spend the output associated with the locking script) the inputs will be processed by the conditional instructions to provide an output of TRUE or FALSE. The second transaction is transmitted to the blockchain network for validation and, if determined to be valid, it will be written to the blockchain. Validation of the second transaction can be interpreted as a TRUE output. Thus, the locking script of the first transaction provides the functionality of the desired logic gate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: nChain Holdings Ltd.
    Inventors: Craig Steven Wright, Stephane Savanah
  • Publication number: 20220156737
    Abstract: In accordance with the invention there may be provided a method and corresponding system for controlling the performance of a process conducted via a blockchain. The blockchain may or may not be the Bitcoin blockchain. The process may be a lending process. Advantageously, the invention provides a mechanism which enables the ultimate owner of a property or other asset to borrow funds against that asset, and sets out how this can be achieved in a manner which does not require the return to the investor(s) to be determined through the payment of interest. This makes it compliant with non-interest forms of lending. The invention provides a blockchain-implemented method (and corresponding system) of embedding data in a blockchain transaction (Tx). The method comprises the steps of deriving a public-key-private key cryptographic pair for the data; deriving a signature for the data using the public key-private key cryptographic pair; codifying the data to generate codified metadata for the data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 19, 2021
    Publication date: May 19, 2022
    Inventors: Craig Steven Wright, Stephane Savanah
  • Publication number: 20220148111
    Abstract: A method comprising: a second party receiving confirmation that a first party agrees to a statement; the second party receiving a piece of information after said confirmation, and after a cryptographic signature of the first party. To attest to this, the second party generates their own cryptographic signature by signing a portion of data comprising said piece of information or a transformation thereof. A network of nodes is then sent one or more transactions comprising the first and second signatures. Transactions are propagated across the network to be recorded in a blockchain on condition of meeting a validation condition. The validation condition for one of the one or more transactions comprises: the first signature is included in one of the one or more transactions, the second signature is included in one of the one or more transactions, and the second signature was generated by signing the particular portion of data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2020
    Publication date: May 12, 2022
    Inventors: Craig Steven WRIGHT, Owen VAUGHAN, Brock DOIRON
  • Publication number: 20220138738
    Abstract: The invention provides improved verification solutions for blockchain-implemented transfers. It is suited for, but not limited to, implementation in an SPV wallet. In accordance with one embodiment, a system or resource is provided which comprises a plurality of novel SPV verification components, the activities of which are coordinated by a coordination component. The system enables Bob to send Alice a payment transaction template (template Tx3) and requests: the full transaction data for all input transactions (Tx1, Tx2) comprising at least one output that Alice wants to spend as inputs to a transfer (Tx3); the Merkle path for all input transactions (Tx1, Tx2) linking them to their respective Merkle roots associated with their respective block headers; the completed transfer transaction (Tx3). Alice provides this information plus her signature.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2020
    Publication date: May 5, 2022
    Inventors: Craig Steven WRIGHT, Jack Owen DAVIES, Alexander Tennyson MACKAY
  • Publication number: 20220138737
    Abstract: The invention provides improved verification solutions for blockchain-implemented transfers. It is suited for, but not limited to, implementation in an SPV wallet. In accordance with one embodiment, a method, system or resource is provided which enables Alice to transfer an asset eg cryptocurrency or token to Bob across a blockchain. Alice stores complete transaction data relating to at least one blockchain transaction; and the complete Merkle path of the at least one blockchain transaction. This enables her to send Bob the full transaction data for all input transactions (eg Tx1, Tx2) comprising at least one output that she wants to spend as inputs to a transfer (eg Tx3); the Merkle path for all input transactions (Tx1, Tx2) linking them to their respective Merkle roots associated with their respective block headers; a transfer transaction (Tx3). Alice also provides her signature.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2020
    Publication date: May 5, 2022
    Inventors: Craig Steven WRIGHT, Jack Owen DAVIES, Alexander Tennyson MACKAY
  • Publication number: 20220129249
    Abstract: A method of pseudo-randomly generating data is disclosed. The method Comprises receiving first data items (s1? s2? . . . sN?) from a plurality of first participants and combining the first data items to generate second data (?isi?). A one-way function is applied to the second data to generate third data (?isi?), wherein the one-way function is adapted to receive input data and generate output data based on the input data, wherein the input data is not deducible from the output data and the one-way function.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 27, 2020
    Publication date: April 28, 2022
    Inventors: Craig Steven WRIGHT, Jack Owen DAVIES