Since September 21, payments giant PayPal has published four patent applications. Previously in March 2022, the company had submitted an application related to blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Currently, they are waiting for a decision with no time limit to be given. Three of PayPal's patent applications were published on September 21, while the latest was published on September 28.
Patent For Off-Chain NFT Marketplace
In the document, PayPal revealed its plans to introduce a new system that would allow users to buy and sell NFTs through third-party custodian services.
In the description of their patent application, PayPal describes a vision where NFT trading can be customized to suit user needs and even conducted off-chain.
“Off-chain transactions can be handled in an 'omnibus wallet' associated with the service provider and containing both buyer and seller wallets: Therefore, no transfers are registered on the blockchain and there is no need to broadcast those transactions to the blockchain network or pay associated gas fees with these on-chain transactions."
Omnibus wallet is a custodial service, which holds the wallets of sellers and buyers, allowing them to exchange NFTs without fees.
Cross-Chain Transaction Solution Patent
The third patent application discusses the concept of an additional online transaction processor. The goal of this processor is to simplify payments between users and businesses operating at different network layers, both Layer-1 (L1) and Layer-2 (L2), so that the process is more efficient.
This feature will be useful when, for example, someone has funds in Arbitrum, but a particular business only accepts them on the Ethereum network. It can be used as a cross-chain solution that makes it easier for buyers and sellers to interact, or as a cross-chain bridge provided by PayPal.
Patent For Omniverse Platform
In other documents, there is a concept referred to as omniverse, which in this context refers to products that relate to multiple metaverses.
PayPal announced that it is developing an “online transaction handler” that will provide recommendations on which digital assets users should purchase, based on the user's blockchain preferences and which metaverses they interact with most frequently.
In this context, potential use cases are providing information about specific digital items and assets or providing data for other similar services.
Decentralized Validator Election Patent
In a new document published last Thursday, PayPal revealed technology that allows it to directly commit transactions to the blockchain "to a specified number of miners or validators."
This opens up a wide range of potential use cases, including the possibility of operating validators or miners yourself, collaborating with specific market players such as partner companies, or even providing intermediary services that connect specific validators or miners with interested parties.
Where is PayPal's Expansion in the Crypto Industry Headed?
It is possible that this giant company will present its own crypto services such as an NFT marketplace or cross-chain solutions. However, the alternative is that PayPal will provide an infrastructure framework that other businesses can utilize.
Keep in mind that this is just a patent application, which does not commit the company to actually launching such a service. However, this patent application clearly shows PayPal's enthusiasm for entering the blockchain world.
