Computer-implemented systems and methods for performing computational tasks across a group operating in a trust-less or dealer-free manner

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12021971-B2
Application number	US-202217901794-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 1, 2022
Priority date	Dec 13, 2017
Publication date	Jun 25, 2024
Grant date	Jun 25, 2024

Abstract

A method is presented for secure determination of a solution (S) to a computational task by a pooled resource or group having a plurality of participants (P), the group operating in a trust-less, or dealer-free, system or manner. Access to a resource or reward is offered in exchange for the solution. Individuals generate their own key pair and use their public key to establish with the group an initial shared public key that they can all use to find a solution to the task. The resource or reward can be secured by the verified shared public key. Because the private keys of each participant were used in the determination of the initial shared public key that lead to the solution then participants must then collaborate to unlock the resource or reward because the corresponding shared private key can only be generated by all participants or a pre-agreed threshold of participants.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
establishing or joining a group of participants;
determining, by the group of participants, an elliptic curve generator (G) and an output pattern;
determining, by each participant, a respective secret share of a shared secret key based on a set of values provided by the group, wherein each participant of the group of participants provided a respective value to the set of values;
broadcasting, by each participant, a respective public key share calculated using the respective secret share and said elliptic curve generator;
summing the public key shares to provide a shared public key:
verifying the public key based on the determined secret share;
performing, by the group of participants, a search for the output pattern in parallel, comprising by multiplying a first random number by the elliptic curve generator to generate a temporary public key, and determining a new public key by adding the temporary public key to the public key;
checking whether the new public key is indicative of matching the output pattern, wherein when the new public key is not indicative of matching the output pattern, the search is repeated using a second random number;
sending, when the new public key is indicative of matching the output pattern, the first random number to the group of participants; and
verifying, by each participant of the group of participants, that the new public key is indicative of matching the output pattern by multiplying the first random number by the elliptic curve generator and adding the public key.

2. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, from a client (C) or participant (P), the output pattern and a client public key (pk c ) derived from a client's secret key (sk c ), wherein the client's public key is used in generating the output pattern.

3. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the output pattern requires at least one group member to find a solution that, when processed, produces a Cryptocurrency address having a specified pattern.

4. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the output pattern originates from a third-party or another participant, and wherein the third-party generated a third-party secret key (sk c ) and provides to the group a corresponding third party public key (pk c ), wherein pk C =sk C ×G, and G is the elliptic curve generator, and receiving the third party public key (pk c ), and determining the output pattern using the third party public key (pk c ) with an incremental variable (i) used for regenerating the new public key, such that pk=pk C +i×G when the output pattern is determined, sending to the third-party the incremental variable (i) that enabled determination of the solution, such that the third party can verify the solution using their random secret key (sk c )
sk=sk C +i,
where pk=sk×G due to elliptic curve point multiplication.

5. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the group of participants generate a secret corresponding to a collection of secret shares including the secret share through a secure multiparty computation (MPC).

6. The computer-implemented method to claim 1 , wherein the public key is established amongst the group using Shamir's secret sharing scheme.

7. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the output pattern is received from a client (C) or participant (P), said output pattern being to find a private key for a Cryptocurrency address having a specified pattern therein.

8. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , the method further comprises sharing, with the group one or more intermediate results that are demonstrable of a computational resource applied to the output pattern.

9. The computer-implemented method according to claim 8 , wherein the one or more intermediate results correspond to a portion of the output pattern.

10. The computer-implemented method according to claim 8 , wherein the one or more intermediate results have a proportional level of difficulty, and one or more participants assess a computational resource applied by a fellow participant based on a frequency and/or the difficulty of intermediate results submitted.

11. A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed, configure a processor to perform the computer-implemented method of claim 1 .

12. An electronic device comprising:
an interface device;
one or more processor(s) coupled to the interface device; and
a memory coupled to the one or more processor(s), the memory having stored thereon computer executable instructions which, when executed, configure the one or more processor(s) to perform the method of claim 1 .

13. A hardware node of a blockchain network, the node configured to perform the method of claim 1 .

14. A blockchain network having a hardware node according to claim 13 .

Assignees

• Nchain Licensing Ag

Inventors

• Trevethan Thomas

Classifications

• H04L2209/46

  Secure multiparty computation, e.g. millionaire problem · CPC title

• H04L9/085 Primary

  Secret sharing or secret splitting, e.g. threshold schemes · CPC title

• H04L2209/56

  Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash · CPC title

• H04L9/14

  using a plurality of keys or algorithms · CPC title

• G06Q2220/00

  Business processing using cryptography · CPC title