Coinbase CEO Wins Patent to Develop Email Transaction Feature 

Top cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is on the cusp of bringing innovation to the crypto market, and the path to this development seems to have opened up. 

According to a filing from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), company chief executive Brian Armstrong has successfully patented a system that will help crypto holders conduct their transactions via email.

The patent, which was first filed in 2015, was awarded on December 17, and it describes a method which allows users to tie their wallet IDs to their Email addresses, thus helping them to make asset transfers seamlessly and without incurring transaction fees. 

Fee-Free, Seamless Transactions via Email 

As the patent’s abstract indicates, people have been using Email addresses as identifiers for their wallets within the system. However, this new method will couple a secured Bitcoin wallets development and management module with an Email module on a host computer system. The patent also showed that the invention would include the creation of a vault, whether for an individual or a group, that will store unclaimed Bitcoins can be stored. 

“Hot wallet functionality is provided that transfers values of some Bitcoin address to a vault for purposes of security. A private key of a Bitcoin address of the vault is split and distributed to keep the vault secure […] A vault has multiple email addresses to authorize a transfer of bitcoin out of the vault,” the patent added.

When a request is made to transfer Bitcoin out of a vault, links are sent to the user, although the transfer could take about two days to clear. 

The patent also showed that the proposed network would include a single node, which hosts cryptocurrency exchanges for users to control their Bitcoin trading for fiat currency. It will also provide an allowance for instant exchanges, which will make it easy for merchants and customers to “lock-in” a specific price in local currency for their digital asset, a feature which the company believes will help to reduce losses.  

Enhancing Accountability on Accounts 

The patent is the latest in Coinbase’s efforts to expand its service reach and provide a safe and regulated environment for customers to operate. The company got a separate patent award last month for a system that will help it to identify and flag accounts with subpar levels of regulatory compliance. 

As shown by a filing with the USPTO, the system will contain a scoring model that determines each account’s “compliance score,” based on several factors associated with the account in question. The system then automatically compares all of the accounts based on their respective compliance scores, thus identifying those that fail; to keep up with general standards. 

After the flagging unit identifies the non-compliant accounts, the system will assess them, enter a determination on whether they’re good or bad into a feedback system, and choose whether or not to close the account.