Financial services giant Wells Fargo has filed a patent application that describes a “tokenization system” for protecting sensitive financial information on the blockchain.
According to the filing published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on July 17, the proposed system will use tokenization to protect information objects of any type format – graphic images, database value, or document. The tokenized content can then be provided to a “Tokenization Service Provider” that can recover the original content protected by the token – or “detokenize” the content – for an authorized requestor.
“The tokenization schema processes the unrestricted content into a corresponding restricted token. The token can include an embedded URL, where the URL is a link to submit a request to the Tokenization Service Provider to view the token as the unrestricted content,” the document reads.
“The system and methods described herein allow for the confidentiality of multiple occurrences of data within an information object to be protected from unauthorized access using a managed tokenization process that also provides data integrity, origin authenticity, and technical non-repudiation. The systems and methods address the requirement to protect data even when it is stored in a publically accessible environment, such as the cloud, within a blockchain or distributed ledger, in a flexible way that is file and data element neutral.”
The patent application from Wells Fargo marks yet another effort to move towards a tokenized and secure future.
Joseph Weinberg, Chairman of Shyft – a blockchain-based identity ecosystem for cybersecurity, believes that tokenization could help facilitate financial inclusion.
“Tokenization is a powerful tool in facilitating the secure sharing of trusted and compliant data. In addition, tokenization systems hold the potential to level the playing field when it comes to access to capital and financial services, particularly for the 3.5 billion global citizens who are considered “unbanked” or “underbanked”,” he said.
“To leverage this potential, we’ve recently launched a partnership with Polymath, the world’s first security token creation platform. And through this partnership, we plan to work toward a shared goal of building a future that is more financially inclusive and secure.”
Not just the financial sector, but tokenization could help transform a number of industries that are currently struggling to break even.
South Korea’s leading provider of blockchain news and trends, TokenPost, announced its own cryptocurrency “TokenPost Coin” or TPC" earlier this year. CEO Sonny Kwon sees great potential in what blockchain technology can do for the media industry.
“In order for media to survive and serve its value in our society, it has become crucial to adopt blockchain technology,” he said, adding that “tokenization” of media is necessary for the industry to survive.
