Ford files cryptocurrency patent

The automotive giant Ford has just filed a patent for a cryptocurrency that would allow cars to communicate and cooperate with each other.

Submitted on Tuesday, the patent called “Vehicle-to-vehicle cooperation to marshal traffic” outlines several ways in which cars would be able to send signals to one another in a transactional manner.

The system is described as:

“This system would temporarily allow for particular cooperative vehicles (sometimes referred to as ‘consumer vehicles’) to drive at higher speeds in less-occupied lanes of traffic and also to merge and pass freely when needed. Other participating cooperative vehicles (sometimes referred to as ‘merchant vehicles’) voluntarily occupy slower lanes of traffic to [facilitate] the consumer vehicle to merge into their lanes and pass as needed.”

In essence, the system allows drivers to sell their time by choosing to move to a slower lane, accepting payment from vehicles that don’t want to overtake them.

Write: Sara Bauer