Cisco targets cryptocurrency mining with new patent

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California-based IT and networking company Cisco has been granted a patent for a crowd-sourced cloud computing application, which the company claimed could be used for cryptocurrency mining.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded the patent for a Cisco-developed system that allows customers to divide their excess processing power and create a cloud application, which can be used for different purposes such as cryptocurrency mining. The processing power can be shared with Internet Service Providers (ISPs), application providers, peers or even third parties, according to the company.

In its patent filing, Cisco said the crowd-sourced cloud computing model “is suitable for, among other things, offering distributed processing and services that can be optimized for speed, volume, scale and resiliency, cost, and regulatory compliance—for example, distributed neighborhood theft protection systems, or cluster, city or municipality county relevant services.”

“One such case involves Bitcoin mining, which may be very computational intensive and is typically more convenient for every participant when done in ‘mining pools,'” according to the company.

Cryptocurrency mining requires processing power, which can be very costly. By providing crowd-sourced cloud mining, Cisco said it aims to help cut down on the cost needed to mine cryptocurencies like BTC.

According to the filing, the easily-scaled system is suitable for offering distributed processing and services to neighborhoods and business entities given its resiliency to certain attacks. In addition, service providers can also “use geographic distribution to offload or optimize network loading, as well as to resell large-scale, low-cost computing and storage capacity.”

The network company has created numerous blockchain-based systems. Last month, Cisco was granted a patent for a blockchain-based confidential group messaging system. This system ensures secure communication when sending group messages or any other confidential information. They also received a blockchain-based patent for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The technology identifies different connected devices, monitors their activities and evaluates their trustworthiness when connected to a particular network.