🏆 Coinbase wins patent for secure bitcoin payments system

In a patent filing, published Aug. 14th, 2018, the U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase outlined how it could develop a payment portal which would allow users to pay using bitcoin ($BTC) directly from their digital wallet. The system as described sets up a "key ceremony" that creates key shares that are combined into an operational master key – encrypted with the users' passphrases – that can be made publicly available and deleted after use. The operational master key is used for private key encryption during checkout, as well as for transaction signing when a payment is made. What the filing calls "freeze logic" is also employed in the process, a security measure that automatically halts transactions if an administrator chooses to suspend the system.