Microsoft Corporation, through its licensing arm, Microsoft Technology Licensing, was granted an international patent on March 26. The patent is for a cryptocurrency system using body activity data.
This patent granted to Microsoft was reportedly published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The publication also shows that the tech giant’s licensing arm had filed the application in June last year.
Leveraging body activity data in crypto mining system
The patent reveals a new cryptocurrency mining system that performs online functions. It aims to make use of search engines, chatbots and reading ads through involuntary body activities like brain waves and body heat. The patent also explains that this could potentially help a user compute and solve problems.
Further, the patent reveals that the system will exclude the need for technical mining machines.
The document went on to explain in detail how the mining process would work. Every time a user performed any online activity, checking out advertisements or using the internet, body activity invariably took place. it could be a brain wave or emitting body heat. this data can now be used in the mining process.
Besides, the implementation of this process shows that the server itself would assign a task to the user’s device connected to it. A special sensor will then indicate the body activity of the user. Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency system will verify if the body activity satisfies pre-set conditions. Ultimately, the user, whose body activity data is verified, gets cryptocurrency rewards from the system.
It is expected that this cryptocurrency mining system might be able to reduce computational energy for the mining process. There are also indications that this new system helps make the mining process faster.
The patent gives an illustration to demonstrate this in the document.
“For example, instead of massive computation work required by some conventional cryptocurrency systems, data generated based on the body activity of the user can be a proof-of-work. Therefore, a user can solve the computationally difficult problem unconsciously.”
Patents for cryptocurrency gain traction
The blockchain industry has gained traction as many technology companies look to experiment with cryptocurrency in order to grow their products and services. From January 2014 till October 2019, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted up to 227 blockchain-related patents.
Recently, IBM, another tech giant, was granted a patent for developing a so-called “self-aware token.” Also, CoinBase patented a method of letting customers make zero-transaction fee Bitcoin (BTC) payments using email addresses linked to wallet addresses. Last year, it received a patent for automated KYC verification as well.
