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Mastercard filed a patent application for a method to keep blockchain-based transactions anonymous. The patent application, published Thursday, describes a system of transactions on a blockchain that obscures the source and destination of funds to increase the anonymity of entities associated with blockchain addresses.
The patent application notes that the nature of a blockchain as an immutable ledger is such that every transaction can be traced back to the genesis block, making it possible for anyone to identify and view all transactions associated with a specific blockchain wallet.
This may be a problem for some users because such data could, as they are accumulated and analyzed, reveal at the end who is behind a portfolio or at least provide information about them, such as geographical position, interests, spending habits, etc.
"Therefore, there is a need for a technical solution to increase the anonymity of a portfolio and the user associated with it in a blockchain," reads the patent application.
The methods and systems discussed use intermediate addresses to obscure the source and destination of funds, so as to show the user only the transfer of funds and receive funds from a small number of addresses that are also involved in a considerable volume of transactions with various other users. This makes the data harmless, he says.
In some cases, the amounts themselves may also be obscured by the use of multiple transfers involving multiple addresses, further increasing the anonymity provided by the systems and methods.
The method is very similar to what is already provided by cryptocurrency tumblers or mixing services. Cryptocurrency tumblers mix cryptocurrency funds that are potentially identifiable or "contaminated" with others in order to obscure the path to the original source of the fund. Mixing helps protect privacy and can also be used for money laundering by mixing funds obtained illegally.
CipherTrace, a California-based security company based on blockchain and cryptocurrency, estimates that about $ 1.2 billion has been recycled through cryptocurrency and privacy-focused altcoin crates such as ZCash and Monero.
Mastercard has also filed previous patents that were delighted in blockchain and cryptocurrency. This year the company has rewarded several, including one for a blockchain partition method, which allows you to store multiple transaction types and formats and a method to link blockchain-based activities to currency accounts. fiat.
