TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention generally pertains to secure storage of codes used in commerce, and more specifically to improved security features for a currency laminate which is not susceptible to external detection, tampering and/or counterfeiting.

BACKGROUND ART

In the world of currency and financial instruments various symbols of value are utilized to facilitate acquiring, owning and transferring financial value. Examples of physical representation of cryptocurrency products that store value include denarium, bitnote, Suisse polymerbit, and cassascius coins, and cryptocurrency wallets. One feature that all of these have in common is the inclusion of a security feature, which is in the form of information that is usually beneath either a holographic sticker or a scratch-off material. These stickers or scratch-off materials are intended to be removed and therefore are located on an easily-accessible exterior surface of the token.

There are problems associated with these conventional security features. One of the most serious of the problems is tampering. Holographic stickers can be quickly and easily removed by using a hypodermic syringe to inject solvent under the sticker. Once the sticker is removed, a person can view the information that is beneath the sticker and then re-attach the sticker, usually with little to no indication that any tampering has occurred. Scratch-off materials are also similarly prone to tampering and/or counterfeiting. Furthermore, the hidden information below stickers or scratch off materials may be revealed by techniques such as x-ray, NMR, or electromagnetic or thermal analysis. Similarly, codes on separate pieces of paper inside of a protective envelope can be revealed by de-lamination of the envelope, and even replaced with false codes and then re-laminated without detection.

For bills, a sticker is deeply flawed for counting and sorting machines because it could come off, rendering the bill compromised. Similarly, scratch-off material cannot be handled very much without being compromised.

Another important distinction is that a sticker or scratch-off material makes the financial note essentially disposable. Makers of these products advise that a currency coin or bill could be compromised in any transaction and advise people to return the code to the blockchain as soon as they receive it, and to buy a new coin or bill if they want it in that form. This is a clear acknowledgement that the secure storage of the information in the currency instrument is not considered trustworthy. This disposability is a serious disadvantage and a cost, effectively making the bill or coin a one-exchange item.

A search of the prior art did not disclose any literature or patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention. However, the following U.A. patents are considered related:

PAT. NO.INVENTORISSUEDKR20160050876KyunOct. 31, 20142016/0371679GotoDec. 22, 20162016/358420McCullahDec. 8, 2016

The KR2016/0050876 publication discloses a bitcoin trading method capable of reinforcing security by storing a private key and a public key of a dealer which are necessary for bitcoin trading in a smart card held by the dealer and which is not in a web. The invention relates to using a public key and a private key stored in a smart card. The bitcoin trading method comprises: storing a pair of authentication keys including a public key and a private key of a dealer issued from a bitcoin trading management server in a smart card of the dealer; inputting bitcoin trading information including a public key of a trade partner in a trading terminal; transmitting the private key of the dealer stored in the smart card to the trading terminal; encrypting the bitcoin trading information with the private key of the dealer received from the smart card by the trading terminal, and by the bitcoin trading management server. According to the present invention, the bitcoin trading method may reinforce security by storing a private key and a public key of a dealer which are necessary for bitcoin trading and many use the existing infrastructure without investing additional costs.

The 2016/0371679 publication discloses a method of conducting a virtual currency transaction through payment cards. The method comprises steps of a payer providing a payment card with an encrypted address; associating the encrypted address to at least one virtual wallet having currencies; a payee receiving a predetermined amount of currencies from the virtual wallet by scanning the encrypted address; and the payee depositing the currencies into payee's virtual wallet.

The 2016/358420 publication discloses a method wherein an in-game currency (including digital or currency) or in-game resource is backed by or designated to represent a real world currency or a real world physical object. The in-game currency or in-game resource is backed with real currency, digital currency or a physical object using a percentage of the revenues from in-game purchases, game subscriptions or in-game advertising.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

A structure for secure containment of information (SSCI) that provides a significant improvement to the security and convenience of blockchain and other types of currency. In currency art, most currency coins and bills utilize either a holographic sticker or a scratch-off material on the surface, both of which are designed to be removable and are therefore not located within the structure of the coin or bill. For one type of physical bitcoin, a private key is printed on a piece of plastic with a scratch-off layer. The bitcoin is then placed inside an envelope made of layers of metal foil and plastic-paper polymer. The SSCI instead utilizes layers as an integral element of the instantiated information in the laminate and does not use a scratch-off layer or envelope. The SSCI also does not have a separate piece of plastic inside a laminate, unlike some other designs which are effectively just an envelope for code written on a separate piece of material.

Scratch-off material can also be tampered with and/or counterfeited. Holograms, or other sticker type items can be easily removed, thus exposing the information beneath the sticker, and then re-attached. An alternative for tampering would be to reattach a similar sticker. In both cases, the security of the product hinges upon one anti-counterfeiting feature. In contrast, the SSCI allows multiple anti-counterfeiting features to be broken in the process of delamination.

Another form of information concealment, which may be called a “window”, is used in sending pin codes and other information. The code is printed on a first sheet of paper or plastic, and then a second sheet of paper, plastic or foil is attached to cover the code, with the adhesive in a rectangle or circle all around the code, but not on the code itself. In another related version, a window is made such that the sheet may be torn open to reveal the code on the first sheet. The tamper proofing in this case is based on the tearing of the second sheet to expose the code on the first sheet. In essence, the window is an envelope that is sealed on its edges and may be opened to reveal information.

There are several substantial differences between a window and the more secure SSCI:

1) In a window, there is no adhesion over the code itself. In the SSCI, adhesion is effected across the surface of the underlying sheet(s), and adhesion in some versions instantiates the code. The code is integrated into the structure which makes it harder to reveal covertly, and more difficult to overcome the security features.

2) It is easier to delaminate an edge of a window, and it is harder to detect such tampering, than to delaminate the entire laminate as in this invention. In instances of this invention where the adhesive itself creates a readable surface after delamination, tampering is further discouraged because the code is essentially not readable until irreversible delamination has occurred.

3) The need for a window to be readily tearable introduces structural weakness into the form. In the SSCI, both outer layers may be chosen for optimal strength and resistance to tearing.

4) The two sheets that form a window are not intrinsically resistant to tampering. An attack on the adhesive connecting the two sheets is possible. In the SSCI, the only way to open the product is to delaminate the sheets, materially and visually changing the appearance of the layers.

5) In the window, anti-tampering features can only be relevantly applied to the window itself, or perhaps to the code beneath the window. In the SSCI, delamination would substantially break numerous anti-tamper and security features over a wider area. This invention is far more difficult to counterfeit or defeat than the existing window devices.

6) The window is essentially limited to one layer of material information. In the SSCI, multiple layers of information, as well as decoy layers, may be laminated together.

The instant SSCI addresses these issues by providing a structure that implements new and unique containment of information as well as a method for producing the containment of information.

The SSCI includes a laminate with at least two layers, which can be made of a variety of material, with plastic and/or metal preferred depending on the functional application. The SSCI is constructed to contain information including a code, serial number, information feature, encryption key or personal identification number (PIN number). The information is located between the layers such that the information is not visible or detectable from outside the laminate. To access and reveal the information within the laminate, the laminate is de-laminated, thereby indicting that tampering has occurred to the laminate. When the SSCI is de-laminated, irreversible damage is done to multiple metal and plastic layers, such as turning the metal layer into flakes or powder in a random or selected pattern, folds and creases to the bill, breaking of the print layers, breaking of security threads such as color-shift threads, oxidation of layers, separation of print layers onto distinct surfaces, intentional tearing of layers, changed color of adhesive, and demetalization of holograms, if they are included.

The information within the laminate is a pattern incorporated into at least one of the layers. There are multiple ways of instantiating the information into or onto the layer(s). Examples of instantiation include placing material on the layer(s), placing material on the layer(s) and removing some of the material, placing adhesive material on the layer(s), placing release material on the layer(s), or utilizing magnetic domains.

At least one of the layers can also retain a pattern of electrically charged material or contain a pattern of chemically altered material with the pattern exhibiting the information. Additionally, at least one of the layers can contain information that is displayed as at least two visible colors, which are comprised of colored materials that have similar chemical structures.

The information within the laminate may provide access to open a lock, typically by means of an electronic device. The information may also provide account access to claim financial value, or to function as a private key for a blockchain. The laminate can utilize at least one blocking layer that restricts radiation and other interrogation methods.

One example of the SSCI structure is a five-layer design with the layers comprising in order: a first plastic layer that is transparent and includes indicia, a first layer of metal, a patterned adhesive material with areas of low adhesion, a second layer of metal, and a second transparent plastic layer. The method of assembling the SSCI comprises the first metal layer is vacuum deposited on the first plastic layer, the second metal layer is vacuum deposited on the second plastic layer, patterned release material is applied to the laminating adhesive and the thus patterned laminating adhesive applied between the two metal layers, with the metal surfaces of the first and second metal layers in contact with the patterned adhesive, thereby leaving the plastic surfaces of the two plastic and metal laminated layers exposed.

In view of the above disclosure the primary object of the invention is to provide a structure for secure containment of information that includes improved security features for currency, financial devices or other information devices.

In addition to the primary object, it is also an object of the invention to provide a structure for secure containment of information that:can be used for many types of currency,can be used for non-currency applications,is easy to implement,can be visually attractive and informative,does not interfere with the use of currency,can utilize a variety of security features,is cost effective from both a manufacturer's and consumer's point of view.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the preferred embodiment and the appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

