Bank of America Filed 10 Cryptocurrency Patent Applications

The US Patent & Trademark Office published on Thursday 10 new patent applications filed by Bank of America (BoA). The applications were originally filed in June 2014.

The patent titles are:

• Cryptocurrency Offline Vault Storage System
• Cryptocurrency Transformation System
• Cryptocurrency Risk Detection System
• Cryptocurrency Transaction Validation System
• Cryptocurrency Electronic Payment System
• Cryptocurrency Suspicious User Alert System
• Cryptocurrency Aggregation System
• Cryptocurrency Online Vault Storage System
• Cryptocurrency Transaction Payment System
• Cryptocurrency Real-Time Conversion System

The above are in addition to two others, "Method for Integrating Cryptocurrency Transfer on a Social Network Interface" and "System and Method for Converting Cryptocurrency to Virtual Assets Whose Value is Substantiated by a Reserve of Assets", which were respectively published on December 3 and November 19 and filed in June 2014 and May 2015.

Interestingly, most of the cryptocurrency-related patents filed in recent years have dealt with the handling of Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrencies By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the netw By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the netw Read this Term as assets, not their underlying Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Read this Term technologies. BoA's patents fit into this trend.

One exception is the recent filing by Goldman Sachs, "Cryptographic Currency For Securities Settlement", which describes how a "SETLcoin" would carry out rapid asset transfers and eliminate counterparty risk.

BoA recently entered the blockchain race when it joined the R3-led consortium of banks developing the technology in collaboration.

The relative shortage of blockchain technology material may be due to the fact that most of the banks currently developing the technology are doing so in collaboration. There can also be a significant lag between the patent's filing and publication. As much of the activity in the blockchain space has been initiated over the past year, we may see more developments in 2016.