A method of making a decision on a blockchain is disclosed. First public keys are received from each of a plurality of participants (A, B, C), wherein each first public key represents a possible selection by a participant and is related to a corresponding first private key by a cryptographic operation having a homomorphic property. The first public keys are combined to generate second public keys, wherein each second public key represents a possible decision based on a combination of possible selections. Third public keys, corresponding to the second public keys, are communicated to the participants. A voting blockchain transaction is generated (T.sub.c voting), wherein an input of the voting transaction is a script executable by means of a digital signature corresponding to a first private key of each of a plurality of the participants, wherein each first private key

Communication of information relating to an event is described, where the information is contained in a data field. Methods of communicating and obtaining the information are described, together with suitable apparatus for performing these methods. One or more elements of information relating to the event are obtained and used to determine a cryptographic record of the event. A first set of places in the data field are filled by a combination of some or all of each of the elements together with time information associated with the event. The cryptographic record is used to fill a second set of places in the data record. On reception of a message including the data field, the data field can be resolved into the first set of places and the second set of places. The time information associated with the event can then be determined and used to establish the whole or partial elements of information that were combined with the time information to fill the first set of places. Whole elements of information are then established from any partial elements. When these elements are all established, they can be used to calculate cryptographic record data which can be matched against the cryptographic record from the second set of places in the data field to determine that the elements of information are correct.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for reliable cryptocurrency rebroadcasting. According to certain embodiments, after an initial transaction broadcast disclosed systems listen to a blockchain to determine if the transaction was included in the blockchain. If, after a short time period, the transaction is not confirmed, a transaction database record for the transaction is locked to prevent inadvertent rebroadcast. While the record is locked, the transaction format and replay information are verified, and depending on the blockchain, is updated. For blockchains having a transaction fee, the system reviews recent transactions to determine appropriate fees and if needed, updates the transaction fee accompanying the transaction. Once the replay information is verified/updated, and the transaction fee is sized appropriately, the database record is unlocked and the transaction is rebroadcasted.

A mobile device with a display, processor(s), and memory: identifies a retail machine configured for wireless communications based on broadcasted information transmitted by the retail machine and including an identifier corresponding to the retail machine; transmits the identifier to a server and receives from the server an electronic communication including a promotional offer for products or services offered by the retail machine; displays the promotional offer; detects selection of a promotional offer; receives a notification from the retail machine that a product or service was provided by the retail machine for a user of the mobile device; transmits confirmation information associated with the notification to the server, receives promotion validation information from the server indicating validation of the promotional offer; and based on the promotion validation information, displays information confirming application of the promotional offer.

Validator nodes and methods of operating a validator node to process blockchain transactions. The validator node provides a plurality of mining nodes with access to a set of unconfirmed transactions, typically by providing a hash of those transactions, in exchange for a token from each of the mining nodes. If one of the plurality of mining nodes successfully mines a block containing the set of unconfirmed transactions, the validator node refunds the token to that mining node and retains the remaining tokens. If a miner other than one of the plurality of mining nodes successfully mines a block before any of the plurality of mining nodes is able to mine a block containing the set of unconfirmed transactions, then the validator node transfers to each of the plurality of mining nodes a modified token.

Disclosed are various embodiments for issuing virtual cards to client devices. Also disclosed are embodiments for provisioning a transaction terminal to process transactions with virtual cards. A zero-knowledge proof algorithm can be utilized to validate the transactions. A virtual card can be based upon a public key of a client device that is managed by a hardware security module.

A system, method, device, and platform for managing content utilizing tokens from a data platform. Providing an incentive for a user to generate content. The content is received from the user. The content is tokenized into one or more tokens. The tokenized content is distributed. The tokenized content is monetized based on a smart contract.

A digital gifting system and method utilizing a mobile device with a gifting application is disclosed. The mobile device is configured to receive from a gift sender a gift comprising an identifier of the gift sender, a custom content, and a gift amount, wherein the gift is only spendable if a phone number of the mobile device corresponds to a predetermined phone number associated with the gift; receiving a first selection from a user of the mobile device to accept the gift amount; displaying the identifier of the gift sender and the custom content; transmitting a first notification to the gift sender that the gift has been received by the user and the custom content has been displayed to the user; and after the gift amount has been spent by the user, transmitting a second notification to the gift sender indicating how the gift amount was spent by the user.

Proposed is a scalable and computationally light approach to validating blockchains called the Catastrophic Dissent Mechanism (CDM). CDM uses anonymous actors who are free to join and leave the system as they please. The mechanism gives all actors strong incentives to behave honestly, both as individuals, and as members of coalitions who might benefit in compromising the integrity of the blockchain. As a result, CDM offers users Strategically Provable Security (SPS). CDM provides a foundation to create an ecosystem of federated chains which can share heterogeneous tokens using different business logic. As a result, new instances of chains can be created to serve as inexpensive, scalable platforms for a wide variety of blockchain applications and to provide a path for existing instances to be upgraded or altered without the use of hard forks or breaking the rule that code is law.

Payment platforms such as point of sale terminals can send test transactions to an acquirer processor certification and analytics system for certification of the payment platform's readiness to perform financial transaction processing with payment networks. A payment platform sends a test transaction to an acquirer processor and receives a unique request identifier. The request identifier and a test identifier associated with the test transaction are sent to an analytics engine that retrieves data associated with the test transaction from the acquirer processor, and expected values based on the test identifier. The analytics engine performs a comparison and determines a certification result for the payment platform based on the comparison. Based on certification results, authorization or licenses can be granted to payment platforms to use payment networks of the acquirer processor.