Methods and systems of revoking an attestation transaction using a centralized or distributed ledger

Abstract

A method and system of revoking an attestation transaction regarding information of a user is provided. The method is implemented on a computer system having one or more physical processors configured by machine-readable instructions which, when executed perform the method, including generating a signed revocation transaction to revoke the previously attested information, wherein the information has been previously attested to in an attestation transaction stored within a centralized or distributed ledger at an attestation address, the centralized or distributed ledger providing a verifiable record of transactions; and sending the signed revocation transaction to the centralized or distributed ledger and revoking the attestation transaction by spending cryptocurrency associated with the attestation transaction.

I/we claim: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for digitally authenticating information, the method comprising:
 generating a key pair for a user that includes a public key and a private key;   receiving user information from the user in a request to perform attestation in accordance with an attestation protocol;   confirming authenticity of the user information in accordance with a validation protocol;   generating a first transaction based on the user information;   signing the first transaction with a public attest key associated with the user;   broadcasting the first signed transaction to a network for storage in a distributed ledger,   wherein said broadcasting causes a record indicative of the first signed transaction to be added to a blockchain corresponding to the distributed ledger;   verifying the existence of the first signed transaction in the distributed ledger; and   revoking the first signed transaction by broadcasting a second signed transaction to the network for storage in the distributed ledger.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 applying a hash function to the user information to create a hash;   combining the hash of the information with the public key to produce the public attest key; and   generating an attestation address based on the public attest key,   wherein the record indicative of the first signed transaction is stored at the attestation address.   
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein said confirming comprises:
 generating an electronic communication configured to prompt the user to verify an identity upon receipt;   transmitting the electronic communication to the user using contact information provided by the user; and   receiving an indication the user verified the identify upon receipt of the electronic communication.   
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the first signed transaction authorizes an expenditure of cryptocurrency by the user. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the user information includes personal identification information that uniquely identifies the user. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 sending a cryptographic nonce to the user to be signed by the private key;   receiving a signed version of the cryptographic nonce from the user; and   verifying that the user has control over the key pair by confirming the signed version of the cryptographic nonce can be decrypted with the public key.   
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving input indicative of a request to revoke the first signed transaction;   generating the second transaction based on additional user information; and   signing the second transaction with the public attest key associated with the user;   wherein said broadcasting of the second signed transaction revokes the first signed transaction by spending cryptocurrency associated with the first signed transaction.   
     
     
         8 . An electronic device comprising:
 a memory that includes instructions for digitally authenticating a user,   wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:   receive user information from a user in a request to perform attestation in accordance with an attestation protocol;   verify a user account based on the user information;   generate a transaction based on the user information;   sign the transaction with a first public key associated with the user;   generate a record indicative of the signed transaction; and   broadcast the record to a network for storage in a distributed ledger,   wherein said broadcasting causes the record to be added to a blockchain corresponding to the distributed ledger   
     
     
         9 . The electronic device of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
 apply a hash function to the user information to create a hash;   combining the hash of the information with a second public key associated with the user to produce the first public key,   wherein the second public key is part of a key pair that includes the second public key and a private key; and   generate an attestation address based on the first public key.   
     
     
         10 . The electronic device of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
 verify the existence of the record at the attestation address.   
     
     
         11 . The electronic device of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
 send a cryptographic nonce to the user to be signed by the private key;   receive a signed version of the cryptographic nonce from the user; and   verify that the user has control over the key pair by confirming the signed version of the cryptographic nonce can be decrypted with the second public key.   
     
     
         12 . The electronic device of  claim 11 , wherein said sending comprises sending the cryptographic nonce to a digital wallet associated with the user. 
     
     
         13 . The electronic device of  claim 8 , wherein the transaction involves a transfer of cryptocurrency out of a digital wallet associated with the user. 
     
     
         14 . The electronic device of  claim 8 , wherein the user information includes login information, and wherein said verifying includes validating the login information by comparing the login information against credentials for the user account. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium with instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, from a first computing device, information associated with a user;   verifying a user account based on the information;   generating a record of an activity involving the user based on the information;   signing the record with a public key associated with the user;   communicating the signed record to a second computing device for storage in a distributed ledger,   wherein said broadcasting causes the record to be added by the second computing device to a blockchain corresponding to the distributed ledger.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the activity is a business transaction between the user and another user that involves cryptocurrency. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the second computing device is one of multiple computing devices the receive the signed record, and wherein each of the multiple computing devices is configured to store the signed record at a specific address upon receipt of the signed record. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 applying a hash function to the information to create a hash;   producing the public key based on the hash of the information; and   generating the specific address based on the public key.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 generating a first electronic communication configured to prompt the user to verify an identity upon receipt;   transmitting the first electronic communication to the user using contact information provided by the user; and   receiving an indication the user verified the identify upon receipt of the first electronic communication.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 generating a second electronic communication configured to notify the other user that the identity of the user has been verified; and   transmitting the second electronic communication to the other user using contact information provided by the other user.