SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ELECTRONICALLY CIRCULATING A CURRENCY

• US 20100306092A1
• Filed: 12/22/2009
• Published: 12/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Open Payment Network Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CapitalWill LLC
• Inventors: Wilkes, Bradley
• Granted Patent: US 8,630,951 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

Virtual currency notes may be derived from one or more currency notes deposited at a currency reserve and/or from an asset held by a depository institution. A transaction provider may provide for ownership and/or transfer of the notes by various entities. Ownership of virtual currency notes may be transferred between entities while the depository institution maintains the asset associated therewith. A virtual currency note may be transferred to a transfer account, which may cause an amount equivalent to the virtual currency note to be deposited therein. After the transfer to a transfer account, the transferred virtual currency note may be removed from electronic circulation and/or transferred to another entity.

Claims

1. A system for electronically circulating a currency, comprising:

a computing device comprising a processor and a computer-readable storage medium, the computing device comprising a transaction provider resident on the computer-readable storage medium and in communication with a deposit institution holding an asset having a value, the transaction provider configured to generate in the computer-readable storage medium a plurality of virtual currency notes, wherein each virtual currency note is assigned a respective unique currency identifier (UCNID) and has a respective value, wherein a sum of the values of the virtual currency notes does not exceed the value of the asset, and wherein the transaction provider is configured to assign ownership of a selected one of the plurality of virtual currency notes to a first entity having a unique entity identifier (UEID),

wherein the transaction provider is configured to provide for transferring ownership of the selected virtual currency note from the first entity to a second entity while maintaining the asset in the deposit institution.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the asset is one of a deposit account, an investment account, a money market account, and a mutual fund account.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the asset has an insured value, and wherein the sum of the values of the virtual currency notes does not exceed the insured value of the asset.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the asset is held by a custodian, and wherein the transaction provider is configured to maintain a circulating value of the virtual currency notes to be less than or equal to the value of the asset, and wherein the circulating value of the currency notes comprises a difference of a sum of the virtual currency notes of the asset and a sum of virtual currency notes owned by the custodian.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the asset is held by a custodian, and wherein the transaction provider is configured to maintain the circulating value of the virtual currency notes to be less than or equal to the value of the asset as scaled by a scaling factor.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the scaling factor is less than one.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the transaction provider is configured to assign ownership of the selected virtual currency note by associating the UCNID of the selected virtual currency note with the UEID of the first entity in the computer-readable storage medium.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein transferring the selected virtual currency note to the second entity comprises associating the UCNID of the selected virtual currency note with a UEID of the second entity in the computer-readable storage medium.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein ownership of the selected virtual currency note is transferred from the first entity to the second entity responsive to the transaction provider receiving a transfer request, and wherein the transaction provider is configured to authorize the transfer request and to transfer ownership of the selected virtual currency note from the first entity to the second entity if the transaction request is authorized.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein authorizing the transaction request comprises the transaction provider verifying that the first entity is the owner of the selected virtual currency note by comparing the UEID associated with the UCNID of the selected virtual currency note in the computer-readable storage medium to the UEID of the first entity.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein a UEID comprises one of an email address, a uniform resource identifier (URI), a uniform resource locator (URL), a uniform resource name (URN), and a distinguished name (DN), and wherein a UCNID comprises one of a URI, a URL, a URN, and a DN.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the second entity is associated with a financial account, and wherein transferring ownership of the selected virtual currency note to the second entity comprises transferring an equivalent value of the selected virtual currency note into the financial account.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the transaction provider is configured to provide an invoice specifying a payee, and wherein when an entity transfers ownership of the selected virtual currency note to the invoice, the transaction provider is configured to associate the selected currency note with the invoice and to transfer ownership of the selected currency note to the payee specified in the invoice.

14. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions to cause a computing device comprising a processor and memory to perform a method for electronically circulating a currency, the method comprising:

generating a plurality of virtual currency notes, each virtual currency note having a respective unique currency note identifier (UCNID) and being associated with a currency denomination, wherein each virtual currency note is associated with an asset having a value;

assigning ownership of a selected one of the plurality of virtual currency notes to a first one of a plurality of entities, wherein assigning ownership of the selected virtual currency note to the first entity comprises associating the UCNID of the selected virtual currency note with the first entity; and

transferring ownership of the selected virtual currency note from the first entity to a second one of the plurality of entities, wherein ownership of the selected virtual currency note is transferred by associating the UCNID of the selected virtual currency note with the second entity.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the selected virtual currency note is associated with a first asset, and wherein a sum of the virtual currency notes associated with the first asset does not exceed a value of the first asset.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the selected virtual currency note is associated with a first asset, and wherein a circulating value of the first asset is less than or equal to a value of the first asset, and wherein the circulating value of the first asset comprises a sum of one or more virtual currency notes associated with the first asset less a sum of one or more virtual currency notes associated with the first asset and owned by a custodian of the first asset.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the selected virtual currency note is associated with a particular currency note deposited in a depository institution, wherein the denomination of the selected virtual currency note is the same as a denomination of the particular currency note, and wherein ownership of the selected virtual currency note is transferred while maintaining the particular currency note in the depository institution.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the second entity is associated with a financial account, and wherein transferring ownership of the selected virtual currency note to the second entity comprises depositing an equivalent of the virtual currency note into the financial account.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, where transferring ownership of the selected virtual currency note to the second entity further comprises associating the selected virtual currency note with another one of the plurality of entities.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein transferring ownership of the selected virtual currency note to the second entity further comprises removing the selected virtual currency note from electronic circulation.

21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, the method further comprising maintaining an invoice specifying the second entity as a payee thereof, wherein transferring ownership of the selected virtual currency note comprises associating the selected virtual currency note with the invoice and transferring ownership of the virtual currency note to the payee specified in the invoice.

22. A method for electronically circulating a currency, the method performed by a computing device, having a processor and computer-readable storage medium and comprising:

generating a plurality of virtual currency notes, each having a unique currency note identifier (UCNID), being assigned a currency denomination, and being associated with an asset held by a custodian;

in the computer-readable storage medium, assigning ownership of a selected one of the plurality of virtual currency notes to a first entity;

receiving a request to transfer ownership of the selected virtual currency note from the first entity to a second entity; and

assigning ownership of the currency note to the second entity by associating, in the computer-readable storage medium, the UCNID with the second entity while maintaining the asset with the custodian.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the asset associated with the selected virtual currency note is a currency note.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein a sum of a plurality of virtual currency notes associated with a particular asset does not exceed a value of the particular asset.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein a particular asset has an insured value, and wherein a sum of the plurality virtual currency notes associated with the particular asset does not exceed the insured value.

26. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

determining a circulating value of a particular asset associated with a plurality of virtual currency notes, wherein the circulating value comprises a sum of the plurality of virtual currency notes less a sum of virtual currency notes associated with the particular asset that are owned by a custodian of the particular asset; and

maintaining the circulating value of the particular asset less than or equal to a value of the particular asset.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein the asset is a deposit account.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the second entity is associated with a financial account, and wherein transferring ownership of the selected virtual currency note comprises transferring an equivalent of the denomination of the virtual currency note into the financial account.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising associating the selected virtual currency note with a third one of the plurality of entities.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising removing the selected virtual currency note from electronic circulation.