US-12619985-B2 - Hierarchy-based distributed ledger

Abstract

A computer-implemented method comprising receiving a request from a computer of a first of a first computing environment to execute a network operation transferring network operation data from the first data structure to a second data structure associated with a second computing device of a second computing environment; identifying, from a hierarchical model indicating relationships between data structures maintained through a blockchain, a third data structure of a third computing device in communication with the plurality of nodes maintaining the blockchain; retrieving at least one condition corresponding to the third data structure from the blockchain; determining the network operation data satisfies the at least one condition; and appending a first record to a second record of the blockchain.

Inventors

• Ryan MARSH

Assignees

• CITIBANK, N.A.

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20240903

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A method comprising: receiving, by a first computing device in communication with a plurality of nodes maintaining a distributed ledger from a computing device of a first computing environment of a first group entity associated with a first account, a request to execute a network operation transferring network operation data from the first account to a second account associated with a second computing device of a second computing environment of a second group entity and in communication with the plurality of nodes maintaining the distributed ledger, the request comprising an identification of the first account and the second account; identifying, by the first computing device from a hierarchical model indicating relationships between accounts maintained through the distributed ledger, a third account of a third computing device in communication with the plurality of nodes maintaining the distributed ledger in response to the hierarchical model indicating for the third account to be involved in network operations between the first account and the second account; retrieving, by the first computing device, at least one condition corresponding to the third account based on the identification of the third account from the hierarchical model; determining, by the first computing device, the network transaction data for the network transaction satisfies the at least one condition corresponding to the third account; appending, by the first computing device, a first record to a second record of the distributed ledger indicating the network operation transferring the network operation data from the first account to the second account in response to the determination that the network transaction data satisfies the at least one condition corresponding to the third account.
2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the third account from the hierarchical model comprises: identifying, by the first computing device, the third account from the hierarchical model stored in a database remote from the distributed ledger.
3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the third account from the hierarchical model comprises: identifying, by the first computing device, a third record of the distributed ledger responsive to the first record storing the hierarchical model.
4. 4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising: receiving, by the first computing device, the at least one condition corresponding to the third account; and inserting, by the first computing device, the at least one condition corresponding to facilitating network operations through the third account into the hierarchical model.
5. 5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein inserting the at least one condition into the hierarchical model comprises: appending, by the first computing device, a fourth record to a fifth record of the distributed ledger comprising the hierarchical model including the at least one condition corresponding to the third account.
6. 6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein appending the first record to the second record of the distributed ledger comprises: appending, by the first computing device, the first record to the second record of a public blockchain or a private blockchain.
7. 7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein appending the first record to the second record of the distributed ledger comprises: storing, by the first computing device, identifications of the first account, the second account, and the third account in the first record.
8. 8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining, by the first computing device, first account data of the first account and third account data of the third account satisfy one or more conditions based on the first account data and the third account data indicating the first account and the third account are each capable of performing the network operation.
9. 9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising: retrieving, by the first computing device, the first account data and the third account data from the distributed ledger comprises: retrieving, by the first computing device, a first account balance of the first account and a third account balance of the third account.
10. 10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein retrieving the first account data comprises: aggregating, by the first computing device, balances from any network operations that were recorded on the distributed ledger that involved the first account.
11. 11 . A system comprising: a first computing device comprising a network interface in communication with a computing device in a first computing environment of a first group entity associated with a first account and a plurality of nodes maintaining a distributed ledger, a memory device storing an instance of a distributed ledger, and a processor configured to: receive, from the computing device of the first computing environment of the first group entity associated with the first account, a request to execute a network operation transferring network operation data from the first account to a second account associated with a second computing device of a second computing environment of a second group entity and in communication with the plurality of nodes maintaining the distributed ledger, the request comprising an identification of the first account and the second account; identify, from a hierarchical model indicating relationships between accounts maintained through the distributed ledger, a third account of a third computing device in communication with the plurality of nodes maintaining the distributed ledger in response to the hierarchical model indicating for the third account to be involved in network operations between the first account and the second account; retrieve at least one condition corresponding to the third account based on the identification of the third account from the hierarchical model; determine the network operation data of the network operation satisfies the at least one condition; and append a first record to a second record of the distributed ledger indicating the network operation transferring the network operation data from the first account to the second account in response to the determination that the network operation data of the network operation satisfies the at least one condition.
12. 12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to identify the third account from the hierarchical model by: identifying the third account from the hierarchical model stored in a database remote from the distributed ledger.
13. 13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to identify the third account from the hierarchical model by: identifying a third record of the distributed ledger responsive to the first record storing the hierarchical model.
14. 14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to: receive the at least one condition corresponding to the third account; and insert the at least one condition corresponding to the third account into the hierarchical model.
15. 15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the processor is configured to insert the at least one condition into the hierarchical model by: appending a fourth record to a fifth record of the distributed ledger comprising the hierarchical model including the at least one condition corresponding to the third account.
16. 16 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to append the first record to the second record of the distributed ledger by: appending the first record to the second record of a public blockchain or a private blockchain.
17. 17 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to append the first record to the second record of the distributed ledger by: storing identifications of the first account, the second account, and the third account in the first record.
18. 18 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to: determine first account data of the first account and third account data of the third account satisfy the at least one condition based on the first account data and the third account data indicating the first account and the third account are each capable of performing the network operation.
19. 19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the processor is configured to retrieve the first account data from the distributed ledger by: retrieving a first account balance of the first account and a third account balance of the third account.
20. 20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the processor is configured to retrieve the first account data by: aggregating balances from any network operations that were recorded on the distributed ledger that involved the first account.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of priority as a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 18/585,813 filed Feb. 23, 2024, which claims the benefit of priority as a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/537,445, filed Nov. 29, 2021, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 17/096,620, filed Nov. 12, 2020, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD This application relates generally to implementing a hierarchical data structure using blockchain-based and other forms of distributed or shared ledger technology. BACKGROUND As the processing power of computers allows for greater computer functionality and the Internet technology era allows for interconnectivity between computing systems, many institutions are shifting towards distributed ledger-based technology to store and maintain the integrity of transaction data. While distributed ledger-based storage methods may require more computational resources than conventional methods (e.g., a central database), the immutability of the data within the distributed ledger enables operators to have peace of mind that the data in the distributed ledger is accurate and will not be changed. In some instances, large organizations that manage transactions between many legal entities may use distributed ledger-based technology to keep track of the transactions. The legal entities may fall under the same corporate umbrella, or they may be within completely separate corporations but have some form of counterparty relationships, each of the legal entities may maintain its own traditional or distributed ledger to keep track of any transactions it performs and its current financial status. The use of traditional ledgers results in duplication and may be deemed to be inefficient. Additionally given the large amount of computational resources that are required to maintain just one distributed ledger, maintaining separate distributed ledgers for many legal entities may incur a large processing burden for each entity. The processing burden may require a corporation to utilize more processors and memory and, in some cases, may cause the corporation to maintain data warehouses or server farms that are dedicated to storing the transaction data. Such processing may also incur increased electricity usage given the amount of energy nodes expend as they verify block instances each time they add a new block to the respective distributed ledger. This problem may be exacerbated as the number of legal entities and corresponding distributed ledgers that fall under the organization increases given the large number of nodes that are often needed to maintain the integrity of individual distributed ledgers to stop malicious parties from gaining control of the data. SUMMARY For the aforementioned reasons, there is a need for a method to maintain a centralized distributed ledger that is accessible to multiple legal entities without requiring each legal entity to maintain its own distributed ledger. The method aims to provide functionality that enables each legal entity to contribute to the distributed ledger while maintaining the privacy of any transactions to which it commits. Disclosed herein are systems and methods for creating a hierarchy-based distributed ledger that enables related legal entities to append transactions using a rule and/or hierarchy-based method. The systems and methods may also enable transactions to be added to the distributed ledger without a quorum of all of the nodes that maintain the distributed ledger verifying the authenticity of the transaction. Implementations of the systems and methods described herein may integrate hierarchy files and scripted executable code (e.g., workflow tools or smart contracts), or distributed ledger addresses into a central distributed ledger so nodes that maintain the distributed ledger may more easily determine how to authenticate transactions between internal nodes. For example, if an investor node and an issuer node of the distributed ledger seek to enter into a transaction, the investor node may submit a transaction request to the other nodes that maintain the distributed ledger and the nodes may check the hierarchy and/or the rules of a workflow or smart contract to determine the requirements for the transaction to be approved (e.g., for a block instance to be appended to the blockchain). The nodes may determine that only a set of nodes at a predetermined tier of the hierarchy above the investor node needs to approve of the transaction for the transaction to be authorized. The set of nodes may use workflow or smart contracts that are stored on the distributed ledger to check to make sure the terms of any transaction conform to established rules of the legal entities. Because of the hierarchy and rule-based model, the systems and methods described herein may eliminate the need for individual legal entities to