Cryptographic and fiat currency mechanics

Abstract

A system and method for creating a forked version of an original fiat currency in a digital ledger based on stake in the original fiat currency. Stake can be verified using proof of cash systems involving anti-spoofing, anti-counterfeiting, and remote verification and transaction functionality. Stake can further or otherwise be verified using proof of balance systems involving verification of one or more balances using a service of a financial institution or data provider. These systems, together or separately, can be utilized to implement a cryptographic currency and application platform enabling financial transaction and general computing capabilities, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for creating a forked version of an original fiat currency in a digital ledger based on stake in the original fiat currency, the system comprising:
 a balance interface module configured to:
 receive, from a remote computing device, data indicating that a portion of the original fiat currency was associated with a first user at one or more elapsed times within a staking period; 
 a proof of balance engine configured to: 
 designate the staking period representing a window of time; 
 determine, based on the data received, an external stake in the original fiat currency attributed to the first user, wherein the external stake represents an amount of ownership in the original fiat currency; 
 calculate a first stake of ownership for the first user in the forked version of the original fiat currency by applying a first conversion rate to the external stake; 
 alter, after commencement of the staking period, a state of the digital ledger to record the first stake of ownership, wherein the first stake of ownership enables participation in a consensus protocol for the digital ledger that assigns voting power in proportion to stakes in the forked version of the original fiat currency; and 
 identify a snapshot of the digital ledger corresponding to a conclusion of the staking period, wherein at least a portion of the first stake of ownership in the forked version of the original fiat currency is programmatically unlocked based on identifying the snapshot. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , the balance interface module further configured to:
 calculate, during the staking period, a size of the external stake in the original fiat currency based on a plurality of stake values corresponding to segments within the window of time, wherein weights assigned to the segments are either equal or varied, and wherein calculating the size of the external stake is performed using at least one selected from a group consisting of smallest stake size, greatest stake size, mean stake size, median stake size, and most frequent stake size.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , the balance interface module further configured to:
 receive, after altering the state of the digital ledger and during the staking period, a set of data from the remote computing device indicating that a portion of the original fiat currency was associated with a second user at one or more elapsed times; and   the proof of balance engine further configured to:
 verify authenticity of at least a subset of the set of data based on a defined validation procedure; 
 determine, based on the authenticated subset of the set of data, a second stake in the original fiat currency attributed to the second user; 
 calculate a size of the second stake in the original fiat currency based on a plurality of stake values of the second user corresponding to segments within the defined window of time; and 
 alter, after altering the first state of the digital ledger, a second state of the digital ledger based on the size of the second stake in the original fiat currency. 
   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , the balance interface module further configured to:
 receive, in advance of an advance staking period representing a second defined window of time preceding the defined window of time, authorization to verify a second stake in the fiat currency;   receive, after a commencement of the second defined window of time, a set of data indicating that a second portion of the original fiat currency was associated with the first user at a second set of times;   the proof of balance engine further configured to:
 designate the advance staking period representing the second defined window of time preceding the defined window of time; 
 verify, based on a defined validation procedure, authenticity of at least a subset of the set of data received; 
 determine, based on the authenticated subset of the set of data, a size of a second stake in the original fiat currency attributed to the first user based on a plurality of stake values of the first user corresponding to a set of segments within the second defined window of time; and 
 alter a second state of the digital ledger to reward the first user for early participation based on the size of the second stake in the original fiat currency during the advance staking period. 
   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein multi-currency staking is supported, the balance interface module further configured to:
 receive, from the remote computing device, a set of data indicating that a portion of the second fiat currency was associated with a second user at a second set of elapsed times;   the proof of balance engine further configured to:
 designate a second staking period for a second fiat currency, wherein the second staking period represents a second defined window of time; 
 verify, based on a defined validation procedure, authenticity of at least a subset of the set of data received; 
 determine, based on the authenticated subset of the set of data, a size of a second stake in the second fiat currency attributed to the second user based on a plurality of stake values of the second user corresponding to a set of segments within the second defined window of time; and 
 identify an exchange rate between the first fiat currency and the second fiat currency; and 
 alter a second state of the digital ledger based on (i) the size of the stake in the second fiat currency and (ii) the exchange rate. 
   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the portion of the original fiat currency associated with the first user comprises funds in an account at a financial institution, wherein the data received is a financial record disclosing a balance of the account at one or more times, and wherein determining the external stake comprises verifying that the data was transmitted by the remote computing device with access to records of the account at the financial institution. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the portion of the fiat currency associated with the first user comprises at least one specific serialized banknote, wherein the remote computing device is a mobile device associated with the first user, wherein the data received is at least one selected from a group consisting of sensor data captured by the mobile device while scanning the banknote and an output from programmatic analysis of sensor data captured by the mobile device while scanning the banknote, and wherein determining the external stake comprises verifying that the mobile device is associated with the first user. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 the mobile device configured to:
 execute one or more authentication events, wherein consequences of the authentication events are captured during the scanning of the banknote; and 
 the proof of balance engine further configured to: 
 programmatically detect, in the sensor data, presence of one or more anti-spoofing indicators and presence of one or more anti-counterfeiting indicators, wherein at least a single detected indicator relates to an authentication event of the one or more authentication events. 
   
     
     
         9 . A method for creating a forked version of an original fiat currency in a digital ledger based on stake in the original fiat currency, comprising:
 designating a staking period representing a window of time;   receiving, from a remote computing device, data indicating that a portion of the original fiat currency was associated with a first user at one or more elapsed times within the staking period;   determining, based on the data received, an external stake in the original fiat currency attributed to the first user, wherein the external stake represents an amount of ownership in the original fiat currency;   calculating a first stake of ownership for the first user in the forked version of the original fiat currency by applying a first conversion rate to the external stake;   altering, after commencement of the staking period, a state of the digital ledger to record the first stake of ownership, wherein the first stake of ownership enables participation in a consensus protocol for the digital ledger that assigns voting power in proportion to stakes in the forked version of the original fiat currency; and   identifying a snapshot of the digital ledger corresponding to a conclusion of the staking period, wherein at least a portion of the first stake of ownership in the forked version of the original fiat currency is programmatically unlocked based on identifying the snapshot.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 calculating, during the staking period, a size of the external stake in the original fiat currency based on a plurality of stake values corresponding to segments within the window of time, wherein weights assigned to the segments are either equal or varied, and wherein calculating the size of the external stake is performed using at least one selected from a group consisting of smallest stake size, greatest stake size, mean stake size, median stake size, and most frequent stake size.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 receiving, after altering the state of the digital ledger and during the staking period, a set of data from the remote computing device indicating that a portion of the original fiat currency was associated with a second user at one or more elapsed times;   verifying authenticity of at least a subset of the set of data based on a defined validation procedure;   determining, based on the authenticated subset of the set of data, a second stake in the original fiat currency attributed to the second user;   calculating a size of the second stake in the original fiat currency based on a plurality of stake values of the second user corresponding to segments within the defined window of time; and   altering, after altering the first state of the digital ledger, a second state of the digital ledger based on the size of the second stake in the original fiat currency.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 designating an advance staking period, representing a second defined window of time preceding the defined window of time;   receiving, in advance of the second defined window, authorization to verify a second stake in the fiat currency;   receiving, after a commencement of the second defined window, a set of data indicating that a second portion of the original fiat currency was associated with the first user at a second set of times;   verifying, based on a defined validation procedure, authenticity of at least a subset of the set of data received;   determining, based on the authenticated subset of the set of data, a size of a second stake in the original fiat currency attributed to the first user based on a plurality of stake values of the first user corresponding to a set of segments within the second defined window of time; and   altering a second state of the digital ledger to reward the first user for early participation based on the size of the second stake in the original fiat currency during the advance staking period.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein multi-currency staking is supported, the method further comprising:
 designating a second staking period for a second fiat currency, wherein the second staking period represents a second defined window of time;   receiving, from the remote computing device, a set of data indicating that a portion of the second fiat currency was associated with a second user at a second set of elapsed times;   verifying, based on a defined validation procedure, authenticity of at least a subset of the set of data received;   determining, based on the authenticated subset of the set of data, a stake in the second fiat currency attributed to the second user;   calculating a size of the stake in the second fiat currency based on a plurality of stake values of the second user corresponding to a set of segments within the second defined window of time;   identifying an exchange rate between the first fiat currency and the second fiat currency; and   altering a second state of the digital ledger based on (i) the size of the stake in the second fiat currency and (ii) the exchange rate.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the portion of the original fiat currency associated with the first user comprises funds in an account at a financial institution, wherein the data received is a financial record disclosing a balance of the account at one or more times, and wherein determining the external stake comprises verifying that the data was transmitted by the remote computing device with access to records of the account at the financial institution. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the portion of the fiat currency associated with the first user comprises at least one specific serialized banknote, wherein the remote computing device is a mobile device associated with the first user, wherein the data received is at least one selected from a group consisting of sensor data captured by the mobile device while scanning the banknote and an output from programmatic analysis of sensor data captured by the mobile device while scanning the banknote, and wherein determining the external stake comprises verifying that the mobile device is associated with the first user. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 executing one or more authentication events on at least one selected from a group consisting of the mobile device and a linked computing device, wherein consequences of the authentication events are captured during the scanning of the banknote; and   programmatically detecting, in the sensor data, presence of one or more anti-spoofing indicators and presence of one or more anti-counterfeiting indicators, wherein at least a single detected indicator relates to an authentication event of the one or more authentication events.   
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a plurality of instructions for creating a forked version of an original fiat currency in a digital ledger based on stake in the original fiat currency, the plurality of instructions configured to execute on at least one computer processor and enable the computer processor to:
 designate a staking period representing a window of time;   receive, from a remote computing device, data indicating that a portion of the original fiat currency was associated with a first user at one or more elapsed times within the staking period;   determine, based on the data received, an external stake in the original fiat currency attributed to the first user, wherein the external stake represents an amount of ownership in the original fiat currency;   calculate a first stake of ownership for the first user in the forked version of the original fiat currency by applying a first conversion rate to the external stake;   alter, after commencement of the staking period, a state of the digital ledger to record the first stake of ownership, wherein the first stake of ownership enables participation in a consensus protocol for the digital ledger that assigns voting power in proportion to stakes in the forked version of the original fiat currency; and   identify a snapshot of the digital ledger corresponding to a conclusion of the staking period, wherein at least a portion of the first stake of ownership in the forked version of the original fiat currency is programmatically unlocked based on identifying the snapshot.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17 , the plurality of instructions further configured to enable the computer processor to:
 calculate, during the staking period, a size of the external stake in the original fiat currency based on a plurality of stake values corresponding to segments within the window of time, wherein weights assigned to the segments are either equal or varied, and wherein calculating the size of the external stake is performed using at least one selected from a group consisting of smallest stake size, greatest stake size, mean stake size, median stake size, and most frequent stake size.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17 , the plurality of instructions further configured to enable the computer processor to:
 receive, after altering the state of the digital ledger and during the staking period, a set of data from the remote computing device indicating that a portion of the original fiat currency was associated with a second user at one or more elapsed times;   verify authenticity of at least a subset of the set of data based on a defined validation procedure;   determine, based on the authenticated subset of the set of data, a second stake in the original fiat currency attributed to the second user;   calculate a size of the second stake in the original fiat currency based on a plurality of stake values of the second user corresponding to segments within the defined window of time; and   alter, after altering the first state of the digital ledger, a second state of the digital ledger based on the size of the second stake in the original fiat currency.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17 , the plurality of instructions further configured to enable the computer processor to:
 designate an advance staking period, representing a second defined window of time preceding the defined window of time;   receive, in advance of the second defined window, authorization to verify a second stake in the fiat currency;   receive, after a commencement of the second defined window, a set of data indicating that a second portion of the original fiat currency was associated with the first user at a second set of times;   verify, based on a defined validation procedure, authenticity of at least a subset of the set of data received;   determine, based on the authenticated subset of the set of data, a size of a second stake in the original fiat currency attributed to the first user based on a plurality of stake values of the first user corresponding to a set of segments within the second defined window of time; and   alter a second state of the digital ledger to reward the first user for early participation based on the size of the second stake in the original fiat currency during the advance staking period.