It appears the SEC did not dampen the Winklevoss twins’ spirit in denying them an ETF license. According to documents in the public domain, the brothers are holders of a “systems and methods for storing digital math-based assets using a secure portal” patent. The Winklevoss twins secured the patent in a period of high competition in the blockchain niche.
Plurality of private keys
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) handed the patent to Winklevoss IP LLC. The company is run under the twins’ leadership. In light of the patent, the company will now securely store cryptocurrency assets offline. However, this property does not deny access to any entity interested in the stored assets.
In the proposed cold storage system, there is digital asset account division into a “plurality of private keys.” This will notch up the safety of the assets stored. On this issue, the patent reads:
“Private keys for a multi-signature account may be stored as backups, e.g., in secure storage, which may be difficult to access, and may be used in the event that more readily obtainable keys are lost.”
As Coindesk reports, the patent lays out the procedure with which a network of computers can help store assets.
Winklevoss twins secure patent in strategic move
Further, the publication reports that traditional methods will help store security keys. First the computers will segment the keys into parts and later put them onto external memory devices. The patent suggests flash drives, CD or DVD as examples of external storage media for the passwords. Interestingly, the patent suggests antiquated means of key storage like a laminated card, sheet of paper, piece of plastic or papyrus, the original paper used in Pharaohnic Egypt.
Additionally, the patent urges isolation of the computer. However, the only time they can be together is during transfer of assets. Further, the documents detail that a blockchain network will be necessary during asset transfer. The computers will connect to a secure portal over a blockchain network to ensure secure transactions.
