An application published by USPTO (the US Patent and Trademark Office) indicates that the financial services provider Mastercard has filed a patent to increase the anonymity of transactions with Blockchain. This will improve the anonymity of transactions conducted on a blockchain.
According to the filing, the use of more than one or more intermediary addresses to obscure the destination and the source of money used during a transaction Blockchain can be used to increase anonymity among the entities associated with Blockchain protocols.
Multiple anonymisation requests
The technical solution proposed by Mastercard would include more "request for anonymity"[s]"Created to render transactions anonymous, rather than just for the user behind a single portfolio, the solution would ensure that only the transfer funds and funds received from a smaller number of Blockchain addresses involved in a very high volume of transactions with multiple users, thus making such data harmless.
According to Mastercard, a portfolio analysis would provide little or no data on the real user behind a single portfolio.
Every transaction on the blockchain can be traced
Mastercard indicates that while many individuals "are moving" towards blockchain-based digital currencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and others, for the perceived "significantly high level" of anonymity that these networks can provide, "the immutable nature of Blockchain's ledger is built so that every transaction can be "traced and tracked down in the genesis block." This seems strange considering the fact that Blockchain was designed to improve anonymity.
Bitcoin (BTC) Price today – BTC / USD
This is a fact that Mastercard recognizes. The financial services provider suggests:
"This is contrary to the main reason why many users use a blockchain (which is anonymity)"Any data collected by a Blockchain may, after it has been accumulated and analyzed, reveal the user behind each individual portfolio or at least provide data on them, including geographic location, spending habits and interests, to name some: The deposit continues:
"The current attribution and communication structure in Blockchain technology applications such as Bitcoin requires the identification of where each transaction is issued and ends, in an attempt to keep the register creating a technical problem of competing interests in technology".
Mastercard is not the first company to solve the problem of anonymity in Blockchain systems
This is not the first time that a company has taken the commitment to address the problem of anonymity in Blockchain applications. In addition to Mastercard, there are also two high-profile privacy-focused digital resources with the same problem. Both networks have been designed with the same concerns as Mastercard regarding Blockchain systems. These networks include Zcash (ZEC) and Monero (XMR).
Zcash (ZEC) uses ZKP (Zero-knowledge proofs) technology, which is the alternate algorithm for authenticating distributed ledger entries. One in which the parties involved in a transaction provide proof of validity. However, any other information will remain encrypted, including the identity of the user. On the other hand, Monero (XMR) uses stealth addresses to mask user identities by activating a sender to set occasional random addresses based on the recipient's published address from the transaction.