Now assets can be recovered even if the private key is lost

It is possible to recover access to assets in case of loss of a private key thanks to a new method developed by Professor Kim Hyoung Joong’s team at the Graduate School of Information Security at Korea University.

Probably the worst thing for a cryptocurrency owner is to lose his private key. What to do in such a situation? You will not be able to pick up the key, because there is not enough modern computer power for this. We can only hope that the key will be found.

But, Professor Kim Hyoung-Joong (Graduate School of Information Security at Korea University) together with his team found a solution to the problem of access loss using a smart contract.

This method was patented by Professor Kim Hyoung-Joong and his team last year. However, only recently the technical documentation was published in the public access.

The technical documentation of the method is called “First-Ever Smart Contract Allowing Cryptoasset Recovery”. You already know how greedy I am for words a la “First”. I immediately check if this is true. This time the situation is twofold: this is the first patent, but the method was known earlier. And it’s very laconic.

In a normal transaction, funds are transferred directly from the sender to the recipient. In this case, if the recipient loses the private key, he or she will no longer be able to withdraw the assets

The solution of Professor Kim Hyoung-Joong’s team is to create a smart contract account between between the sender and the recipient. Now, the sender transfers assets to a smart contract account. This smart contract performs the function of a temporary storage, in which the conditions for the transfer of funds are prescribed. The recipient can request funds from the smart contract account at any time.

You ask: how will this help? Wait, there’s another feature. If the recipient loses the private key, then, depending on the conditions prescribed in the smart contract, different actions may happen. For example, after a pre-prescribed time has elapsed, the smart contract automatically opens the function of accepting requests for the transfer of assets (anyone can make a request). The recipient or his heirs can send a request to the smart contract, then the smart contract will transfer all assets to the backup account.

Professor Kim Hyoung-Joong also believes that the problem of losing a private key is not the only problem that can be solved using the new method. He emphasized, “It can also be used as a solution when a private key is lost in the process of sharing important data or information through blockchain.” In addition, he said, “The decentralized custody business can also use this smart contract like a custody DAO (decentralized autonomous organization).”

The new method will protect many crypto investors from the problem of losing a private key. Thanks to the new technology, children will be able to get money from the account of the gone parent without having a private key. But, unfortunately, it is no longer possible to return the coins that were lost before the invention of the new method.

Also, it is important to note that the new method, although it helps to recover access to assets, does not guarantee that it will be possible to make a refund. This is stated in the technical documentation.