Techniques to incentivize a blockchain network to prioritize state changes

Abstract

Disclosed embodiments include techniques to increase the probability that network validators will include a specific transaction in a target block of a blockchain. The method includes creating and signing in real-time a transaction and loading copies of the transaction at agent nodes connected to a network of peer nodes. An agent node can obtain an indication of an opportunity to write the transaction to a target block. The method can further include broadcasting the transaction to the network of peer nodes based on the obtained indication of the opportunity to write the transaction, to improve a probability of having the transaction written to the target block.

1 . A method for increasing a probability of having a transaction written to a target block of a blockchain, the method comprising:
 loading a plurality of copies of a transaction at a plurality of agent nodes connected to a network of peer nodes;   obtaining, by an agent node, an indication of an opportunity to write the transaction to a target block; and   propagating copies of the transaction to the network of peer nodes based on the obtained indication of the opportunity to write the transaction, to improve a probability of having the transaction written to the target block.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the copies of the transaction are propagated to a subset of peer nodes that includes a peer node selected as a validator node to write a transaction to the target block. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the indication of the opportunity to write the transaction to the target block is sent by a subset of peer nodes. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the indication is of another block of the blockchain relative to the target block. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of agent nodes is globally distributed such that each agent node is located at a different geographic region that includes a different subset of peer nodes. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the blockchain is a decentralized public blockchain. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each agent node is configured to independently monitor a peer node and propagate a transaction to the peer node. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each agent node is configured to independently monitor a peer node, propagate a transaction to the peer node, and attempt to be selected by the network of peer nodes to write a transaction to a block of the blockchain. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein an agent node is randomly selected as a validator node to write a next block of the blockchain. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein any agent node that wins an auction for an opportunity to write a transaction to a block of the blockchain is selected as a validator node to write a next block of the blockchain. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each agent node is operable to adapt based on changing conditions of the network of peer nodes. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  propagating the copies of the transactions further comprises:
 responsive to obtaining the indication of the opportunity to write the transaction, broadcasting the copies of the transaction by the agent node to any peer nodes in a geographic region that includes the agent node. 
 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising, prior to propagating the copies of the transactions:
 monitoring the network of peer nodes to determine a probability that the target block will be created at a pre-selected point in time or at a pre-selected point in time relative to a previous block. 
 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 sharing obtained information among the plurality of agent nodes. 
 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein propagating copies of the transaction comprises:
 calculating when to broadcast the copies of the transaction based on an analysis of:
 a plurality of transactions written in prior blocks of the blockchain; 
 a time delay between when a transaction is received and written to a block of the blockchain; 
 a characteristic of a pending transaction or transaction written to a block of the blockchain; 
 a characteristic of a block that is not included in the blockchain; 
 a propagation time for each agent node to receive information indicative of a transaction, creation of a block, a change of validation fees, a change of a quantity of validators, or a statistic of the network of peer nodes; or 
 a test transaction sent to the network of peer nodes to test, monitor, and gather data about conditions of the network of peer nodes. 
   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein propagating copies of the transaction comprises:
 calculating when to broadcast the copies of the transaction based on an analysis of a threshold of fees required for a transaction to be written to the target block by a validator including any of current validator rewards, changes in validator rewards, or changes in validation difficulty in response to an increase or decrease in a quantity of active validators.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the transaction is pre-signed or created and signed in real-time. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising, prior to propagating the copies of the transaction:
 setting an optimal fee associated with the transaction to a value greater than any fee associated with other transactions available to write to the target block. 
 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the optimal fee is determined by:
 estimating computational resources that the transaction will use;   analyzing fees collected by validators; and   analyzing fees included in other transactions.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the target block is associated with a point in time at which the transaction is to be written to the blockchain. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the transaction is a purchase of a limited supply of assets of an initial offering. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the transaction is one of a temporally ordered set of transactions available for writing to the target block. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the blockchain implements a decentralized asset exchange such that the transaction indicates a purchase or sale of an asset. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a peer node selected as a validator node is operable to select which of a plurality of transactions is written to the target block. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the obtained indication is of a previous block of the blockchain on which a transaction was written. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the target block is a next block or subsequent block of the blockchain. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a network latency of the network of peer nodes is greater than a network latency of the plurality of agent nodes. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising, prior to propagating the copies of the transactions:
 prioritizing the transaction from a plurality of different transactions for the network of peer nodes. 
 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein propagating copies of the transaction further comprises:
 calculating a point in time to broadcast the transaction based on an analysis of a group of peer nodes with pooled resources that increase a probability that the group of peer nodes will write a next block of the blockchain.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein propagation of the transaction depends on a group of peer nodes with pooled resources that increase a probability that the group will write a next block of the blockchain. 
     
     
         31 . A server computer comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the server computer to:
 load a plurality of copies of a transaction at a plurality of agent nodes connected to a network of peer nodes; 
 obtain an indication of an opportunity to write the transaction to a target block; and 
 propagate copies of the transaction to the network of peer nodes based on the obtained indication of the opportunity to write the transaction, to improve a probability of having the transaction written to the target block.