Systems, methods, and program products for an application programming interface generating a blended digital math-based assets index

• US 10,002,389 B1
• Filed: 11/27/2017
• Issued: 06/19/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gemini IP LLC (IPNav)
• Original Assignee: Winklevoss IP LLC
• Inventors: Winklevoss, Cameron Howard, Winklevoss, Tyler Howard, Greebel, Evan Louis, Moriarty, Kathleen Hill, Xethalis, Gregory Elias
• Primary Examiner(s): Ziegle, Stephanie
• Assistant Examiner(s): Anderson, Mike
• Application Number:
  US15/822,955
• Time in Patent Office: 204 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

Systems, methods, and program products for providing an exchange traded product holding digital math-based assets are disclosed. Shares based on digital math-based assets may be created using one or more computers by determining share price information based upon quantities of digital math-based assets held by a trust, electronically receiving a request from an authorized participant user device to purchase a quantity of shares, electronically transmitting a quantity of digital math-based assets to one or more destination digital asset accounts for receipt of digital math-based assets from the authorized participant based on the determined share price information and the requested quantity of shares, and electronically issuing shares to the authorized participant.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, by one or more trust computers, a request for a blended digital math-based asset price for a digital math-based asset, wherein the blended digital math-based asset price is based on respective pricing data available from a plurality of reference digital math-based asset exchanges, the plurality of reference digital math-based asset exchanges being operatively connected to a decentralized digital asset network that uses a decentralized electronic ledger in the form of a blockchain maintained by a plurality of physically remote trust computer systems to track at least one of asset ownership or transactions in a digital math based asset system;

requesting, by the one or more trust computers, from one or more application program interfaces associated with the plurality of reference digital math-based asset exchanges, electronic digital math-based asset pricing data associated with a first period of time for the digital math-based asset from the plurality of reference digital math-based asset exchanges;

receiving, by the one or more trust computers, from the one or more application program interfaces, the electronic digital math-based asset pricing data;

calculating, using the one or more trust computers, a blended digital math-based asset price for the first period of time using a volume weighted average of the electronic digital math-based asset pricing data from the plurality of reference digital math-based asset exchanges for the first period of time;

storing, by the one or more trust computers in one or more databases, the blended digital math-based asset price for the first period of time;

accessing, by the one or more trust computers from a blended price database, a plurality of prior blended digital math-based asset prices each associated with a respective prior period of time;

aggregating, by the one or more trust computers, the blended digital math-based asset price for the first period of time with the plurality of prior blended digital math-based asset prices to update a digital math-based asset price index to include respective blended digital math-based asset prices for the prior periods of time and the first period of time; and

applying, by the one or more trust computers, the digital math-based asset price, index as a benchmark for a derivative product.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the digital math-based asset is bitcoin.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the digital math-based asset is based on a mathematical protocol for proof of work.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the mathematical protocol is open source.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the mathematical protocol includes a one-way cryptographic algorithm.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the digital math-based asset is based on a mathematical protocol for proof of stake.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the mathematical protocol is open source.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the digital math-based asset is based on a cryptographic mathematical protocol.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of reference digital math-based asset exchanges comprises at least four exchanges.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of reference digital math-based asset exchanges comprise a plurality of qualified digital math-based asset exchanges.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of qualified digital math-based asset exchanges are determined based at least in part by calculating, using the one or more trust computers, the volume, of transactions made from the plurality of reference digital math-based asset exchanges during a prior time period and selecting a fixed number of the reference digital math-based asset exchanges with the highest volume during the prior time period.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the blended digital math-based asset price for the first period of time is electronically published via a website using the application program interface.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the volume weighted average is an exponential volume-weighted average.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the volume weighted average is an exponential volume-weighted moving average.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the electronic digital math-based asset pricing data for each of the plurality of qualified digital math-based asset exchanges are in the same flat currency.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the same flat currency is U.S. Dollars.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the blended digital math-based asset price is used as a benchmark for a financial instrument.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the financial instrument is an exchange traded product.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

requesting, by the one or more trust computers, from the one or more application program interfaces associated with the plurality of reference digital math-based asset exchanges, electronic digital math-based asset pricing data associated with a second period of time for the digital math-based asset from the plurality of reference digital math-based asset exchanges;

receiving, by the one or more trust computers, from the one or more application program interfaces, the electronic digital math-based asset pricing data associated with the second period of time;

calculating, using the one or more trust computers, a blended digital math-based asset price for the second period of time using a volume weighted average of the electronic digital math-based asset pricing data from the plurality of qualified exchanges for the second period of time;

storing, by the one or more trust computers in one or more databases, the blended digital math-based asset price for the second period of time;

accessing, by the one or more trust computers from the blended price database, a plurality of prior blended digital math-based asset prices each associated with a respective prior period of time;

aggregating, by the one or more trust computers, the blended digital math-based asset price for the second period of time with the plurality of prior blended digital math-based asset prices to update the digital math-based asset price index to include respective blended digital math-based asset prices or the prior periods of time and the second period of time; and

applying, by the one or more trust computers, the updated digital math-based asset index as the benchmark or a derivative product.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 19, further comprising the step of:

publishing, by the one or more trust computers to one or more other computers, at least the blended digital math-based asset price for the first period of time and the blended digital math-based asset price or the second period of time.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the derivative product comprises a derivative product of a type selected from the group consisting of:

an exchange traded derivative product, a fund, a company, an exchange traded fund, a note, an exchange traded note, a security, a debt instrument, a convertible security, an instrument comprising a basket of assets including one or more digital math-based assets and an over-the-counter product.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the calculating of a blended digital math-based asset price excludes at least some of the pricing data from each of the plurality of reference digital math-based asset exchanges for the first period of time.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the volume weighted average comprises a time-weighted and volume-weighted mean of the pricing data for the first period of time.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the digital math-based asset is based on a mathematical protocol for a hybrid of proof of work and proof of stake.

25. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the digital math-based asset is based on a mathematical protocol for proof of stake velocity.

26. The computer-implemented method of claim 25, wherein the mathematical protocol relies upon ownership of respective digital math-based assets as a function of duration of ownership.

27. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the digital math-based asset is based on a mathematical protocol for proof of burn.

28. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein a number of digital math-based assets in the decentralized digital assert network is limited.

29. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein a number of digital math-based assets in the decentralized digital assert network is not limited.

30. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein a specified number of digital math-based assets in the decentralized digital assert network is added into circulation during a defined time period.