Italy Grants Patent for Cryptocurrency-Based Public Transportation Payments

AEP Ticketing Solutions, an Italian company based in Signa near Florence, has patented a system for paying public transportation fares with cryptocurrency. The patented technology was granted by Italy's Ministry of Enterprise and Production on July 1.

The system allows users to pay with digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Dogecoin for regular transit tickets, passes, tolls, and parking fees.

In the proposed model, a user's smartphone and the transit company will each have their own public addresses on the blockchain. When a passenger buys a ticket or pays a fee, the system creates a transaction that transfers funds from the user's wallet to the transit company's wallet.