Cryptocurrency payment network

Abstract

The present technology provides a payment service for providing financial transactions between a customer and merchant wherein the customer can pay in any currency and the merchant can be paid in any currency. Furthermore, the present technology supports payment using cryptocurrency, while improving such transaction in a way that takes advantage of benefits of such transactions, like anonymity, while overcoming drawbacks such as delays in processing.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of conducting a transaction using a cryptocurrency in near real-time, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a payment service and from a computing device executing a digital wallet application associated with the payment service, a request to store a balance of cryptocurrency for a first account of a user, wherein the payment service includes:
 a first ledger associated with the first account of the user to record the balance of cryptocurrency for the first account, 
 a second ledger associated with the payment service to record the balance of cryptocurrency for the payment service, 
 a third ledger associated with a second account of the payment service to record the balance of cryptocurrency for the second account, and 
 a cryptocurrency wallet associated with the payment service to store cryptocurrency for expedited processing of transactions involving cryptocurrency; 
   conducting, by the payment service, a first transaction between the user associated with the first account and the payment service, wherein the first transaction causes transfer of an amount of cryptocurrency to the cryptocurrency wallet of the payment service;   recording the first transaction between the user and the payment service on a public block chain, whereby the public block chain registers an address associated with the payment service as being in possession of the amount of cryptocurrency;   storing, by the payment service, the cryptocurrency transferred in the first transaction in the cryptocurrency wallet, wherein the payment service records information regarding the chain of custody of the cryptocurrency and the amount of the cryptocurrency;   crediting the first account with the balance of the cryptocurrency at the payment service by reflecting the balance of the cryptocurrency in the first ledger, the balance corresponding to the amount of the cryptocurrency transferred to and stored in the cryptocurrency wallet, the balance indicating an entitlement to the amount of cryptocurrency;   receiving, by the payment service, a request from the first account of the payment service having the balance in cryptocurrency reflected in the first ledger, to pay a second account of the payment service a value using the cryptocurrency;   conducting a second transaction between the first account and the payment service, wherein the balance of the first account in the first ledger in cryptocurrency is reduced by the value, and a balance of the payment service in the second ledger in cryptocurrency is increased by the value;   conducting a third transaction between the payment service and the second account that results in a transfer of the value from the second ledger of the payment service to the third ledger of the second account, whereby the cryptocurrency remains stored in the cryptocurrency wallet of the payment service from the first transaction to the third transaction, and wherein a time taken to complete the second and third transaction is less than the time taken to confirm transfer of the cryptocurrency on the public block chain; and   recording, in near real-time the second transaction and the third transaction at the payment service.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the recording the second and the third transaction includes recording a transaction between the first account and the second account in a transaction log. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first account is represented by an alias in the recording of the transaction in the transaction log. 
     
     
         4 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon, the instructions being effective to cause at least one computing system to:
 store a cryptocurrency balance for a sender account in a first digital wallet at a payment service;   conduct a transaction transferring a value of the cryptocurrency balance from the sender account of the payment service to a recipient account of the payment service; and   confirm the transaction involving transfer of cryptocurrency between the sender account and the recipient account, by the payment service in near real-time, near real-time being a time less than required to confirm the transaction using a public block chain.   
     
     
         5 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 4 , wherein the first digital wallet is a sender digital wallet associated with the sender account within the payment service and stores cryptocurrency along with an input value identifying a chain of custody of the cryptocurrency. 
     
     
         6 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 5 , wherein the first digital wallet receives the cryptocurrency balance after receiving a message transferring cryptocurrency from a sender to the first digital wallet, and after confirming that the transfer from the sender to the first digital wallet has been recorded on the public block chain. 
     
     
         7 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 5 , wherein the recipient account includes a recipient digital wallet, and the instructions to transfer the value of the cryptocurrency balance from the sender account to the recipient account includes instructions to send a message from the sender digital wallet to the recipient digital wallet transferring the value. 
     
     
         8 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 7 , wherein the instructions to transfer the value of the cryptocurrency balance from the sender account to the recipient account includes instructions to send a copy of the message to the public block chain to record the transfer, and wherein the instructions to confirm the transaction by the payment service include confirming the transaction prior to confirming that the transaction was recorded on the public block chain. 
     
     
         9 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 7 , wherein the recipient digital wallet is within the payment service, whereby the transfer of the value of the cryptocurrency balance from the sender account to the recipient account occurs within the payment service. 
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 4 , wherein the instructions to conduct the transaction include instructions to conduct the transaction in a first part and a second part,
 in the first part, the instructions cause the payment service to transfer the value in cryptocurrency from the sender account to the payment service; and   in the second part, the instructions cause the payment service to transfer currency from the payment service to the recipient account.   
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein in the second part, the instructions cause the payment service to transfer a currency other than the cryptocurrency from the payment service to the recipient account. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the first digital wallet is the sender digital wallet within the payment service, and wherein in the first part the transfer of the value in cryptocurrency includes instructions to:
 transfer cryptocurrency from the sender digital wallet storing the cryptocurrency to a payment system digital wallet, and   wherein in the second part, the transfer of currency from the payment service to the recipient account includes instructions to:   transfer cryptocurrency from the payment service digital wallet to a recipient digital wallet of the recipient account, wherein the cryptocurrency transferred from the payment service digital wallet to the recipient digital wallet is a cryptocurrency with a different chain of custody then the cryptocurrency transferred from the sender digital wallet to the payment system digital wallet.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 12 , including instructions to:
 record the transaction in the first part on the public block chain;   record the transaction in the second part on the public block chain; and   reflect the transaction between the sender and recipient as being successfully completed in near real time without confirming the transactions have been recorded on the public block chain.   
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 4 , wherein the first digital wallet is a payment service digital wallet, and the balance for the sender account is stored in a ledger, and
 wherein the transaction transferring a value of the cryptocurrency balance from the sender account to the recipient account includes instructions to update the ledger to reflect a reduced balance for the sender account, and an increased balance in the ledger for the recipient account, thereby the transaction is completed without transferring the cryptocurrency from the payment service digital wallet.   
     
     
         15 . A system comprising:
 at least one processor;   at least one computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon, that when executed are effective to cause the at least one processor to:   conduct a transaction between a sender account and a recipient account in near real time, wherein the transaction includes transferring a value in cryptocurrency from the sender account to pay the recipient account; and   recording the transaction in near real time, wherein near real time is less than the time required to confirm a transaction on a public block chain.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions to conduct the transaction include instructions to conduct the transaction in a first part and a second part,
 in the first part, the instructions cause a payment service to transfer the value in cryptocurrency from the sender account to the payment service; and   in the second part, the instructions cause the payment service to transfer currency from the payment service to the recipient account.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein in the second part, the instructions cause the system to transfer currency other than the cryptocurrency from the payment service to the recipient account. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the transfer of the value in cryptocurrency includes transferring cryptocurrency from a sender wallet storing the cryptocurrency in a payment service to a second wallet, wherein the transfer is reflected in the sender wallet and second wallet in near real time without requiring confirmation of the transaction from the public block chain. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , after the transfer is reflected in the sender wallet and second wallet, receive confirmation of the transaction from the public block chain. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the first digital wallet is the sender digital wallet within the payment service, and wherein in the first part the transfer of the value in cryptocurrency includes instructions to:
 transfer cryptocurrency from the sender digital wallet storing the cryptocurrency to a payment system digital wallet, and   wherein in the second part, the transfer of currency from the payment service to the recipient account includes instructions to:   transfer cryptocurrency from the payment service digital wallet to a recipient digital wallet of the recipient account, wherein the cryptocurrency transferred from the payment service digital wallet to the recipient digital wallet is a cryptocurrency with a different chain of custody then the cryptocurrency transferred from the sender digital wallet to the payment system digital wallet.