SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR UPDATING A DISTRIBUTED LEDGER BASED ON PARTIAL VALIDATIONS OF TRANSACTIONS

• US 20160260169A1
• Filed: 03/05/2015
• Published: 09/08/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (Goldman Sachs Group Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Goldman Sachs & Company (Goldman Sachs Group Incorporated)
• Inventors: Arnold, Matthew Timothy, Naeem, Zartasha
• Granted Patent: US 11,023,968 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/023 the neutral party being a clearing house
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/381 Currency conversion
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3829 involving key management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/401 Transaction verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 2220/00 Business processing using cryptography postage metering system using cryptography G06Q2250/05
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/128 Check-book balancing, updating or printing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/50 using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees

Abstract

The systems and methods described herein relate to processing financial transactions using a computer network that stores a distributed ledger, and particularly, to updating the distributed ledger based on data messages received from validation servers that each store a portion of the ledger corresponding to a respective asset. The systems and methods described herein employ the distributed ledger to control visibility of transactions to the general marketplace, but still provide swift and assured completion of transactions and visibility and audit capability for regulators.

Claims

1. A method for modifying a data table having a plurality of accounts in substantially real-time, the method comprising:

receiving, using control circuitry, a request to modify an account selected from the plurality of accounts, wherein the selected account comprises at least one asset;

determining an identity of a validator based on the received request and the at least one asset, wherein the validator is configured to validate the request in substantially real-time; and

modifying the data table in substantially real-time if the validator validates the request.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the data table is modified to process a payment transaction or a deposit transaction;

the at least one asset corresponds to a currency or a bond; and

the validator is an issuing-authority of the currency or the bond.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the issuing authority of the currency or the bond is a proxy for a central bank that issues the currency or a bond issuer that issues the bond.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the validator is a first validator and the at least one asset comprises a first and a second asset, the method further comprising:

determining an identity of a second validator based on the received request, wherein the second validator validates the request in substantially real-time for the second asset.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the data table is modified to process a foreign exchange transaction;

the first asset corresponds to a first currency and the second asset corresponds to a second currency; and

the first validator corresponds to a first issuing authority of the first currency, and the second validator correspond to a second issuing authority of the second currency.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

encrypting the plurality of accounts in the data table differently, so that a decryption process used by the first validator to access data of the first asset cannot be used to access data of the second asset.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the received request comprises modifications to several accounts in the plurality of accounts, the validator is a first validator of a plurality of validators, and each of the plurality of validators is associated with a different asset, the method further comprising:

determining a plurality of identities for the plurality of validators based on the received request, wherein each of the plurality of validators validates the request in substantially real time.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the validator determines whether to validate the request based on:

retrieving a published balance from the data table for the account and the at least one asset;

computing an available balance by reducing the published balance by shadow balances associated with pending and reserved payments;

approving the request when the available balance is greater than or equal to a transaction amount of the request; and

rejecting the request when the available balance is less than the transaction amount of the request.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the validator stores the shadow balances associated with pending and reserved payments and a redundant copy of the data table.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the validator determines whether to validate the request based on:

verifying whether a party associated with the account is authorized to perform the request.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the validator stores a redundant copy of the data table, the method further comprising:

in response to modifying the data table, sending modified portions of the data table to the validator.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the redundant copy of the data table is encrypted to prevent the validator from accessing data for an asset different from the at least one asset.

13. A system for modifying a data table having a plurality of accounts in substantially real-time, the system comprising:

a memory configured to store the data table; and

control circuitry configured to;

receive a request to modify an account selected from the plurality of accounts, wherein the selected account comprises at least one asset;

determine an identity of a validator based on the received request, wherein the validator is configured to validate the request in substantially real-time; and

modify the data table in substantially real-time if the validator validates the request.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein:

the data table is modified to process a payment transaction or a deposit transaction;

the at least one asset corresponds to a currency or a bond; and

the validator is an issuing-authority of the currency or the bond.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the issuing authority of the currency or the bond is a proxy for a central bank that issues the currency or a bond issuer that issues the bond.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the validator is a first validator, the at least one asset comprises a first and a second asset, and the control circuitry is further configured to:

determine an identity of a second validator based on the received request, wherein the second validator validates the request in substantially real-time for the second asset.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein:

the data table is modified to process a foreign exchange transaction;

the first asset corresponds to a first currency and the second asset corresponds to a second currency; and

the first validator corresponds to a first issuing authority of the first currency, and the second validator correspond to a second issuing authority of the second currency.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

encrypt the plurality of accounts in the data table differently, so that a decryption process used by the first validator to access data of the first asset cannot be used to access data of the second asset.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the received request comprises modifications to several accounts in the plurality of accounts, the validator is a first validator of a plurality of validators, each of the plurality of validators is associated with a different asset, and the control circuitry is further configured to:

determine a plurality of identities for the plurality of validators based on the received request, wherein each of the plurality of validators validates the request in substantially real time.

20. The system of claim 13, wherein the validator determines whether to validate the request by being configured to:

retrieve a published balance from the data table for the account and the at least one asset;

compute an available balance by reducing the published balance by shadow balances associated with pending and reserved payments;

approve the request when the available balance is greater than or equal to a transaction amount of the request; and

reject the request when the available balance is less than the transaction amount of the request.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the validator stores the shadow balances associated with pending and reserved payments and a redundant copy of the data table.

22. The system of claim 13, wherein the validator determines whether to validate the request by being configured to:

verify whether a party associated with the account is authorized to perform the request.

23. The system of claim 13, wherein the validator stores a redundant copy of the data table, and the control circuitry is further configured to:

send modified portions of the data table to the validator, in response to modifying the data table.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the redundant copy of the data table is encrypted to prevent the validator from accessing data that is of an asset different from the at least one asset.