PayPal files patent for payment device that accepts digital currencies

The application, filed with the US Patent & Trademark Office, includes a lengthy description of how it manages virtual currencies and it specifically names bitcoin, Litecoin and Dogecoin. The application also describes physical characteristics of the device, and it includes an image of the device.

The application’s abstract describes a modular payment module. The module includes a chassis which has a modular device connector. A payment database in the chassis stores funding source information and security information.

A payment module engine in the chassis determines that the modular device connector has been connected to a device frame, and it retrieves identifying information from the device. The module then determines that the identifying information matches an authorized device identified by the security information in the database and, in response, enables the transmission of the funding source information to conduct a transaction.

 The virtual currency system includes a virtual currency wallet; a non-transitory memory including instructions to provide a virtual machine that is configured to give access to the wallet; and one or more hardware processors coupled to the card and the memory, wherein one or more processors read instructions from the memory to perform operations.