The cryptocurrency market is booming this morning after a slew of crypto-positive announcements have hit the media. Is a crypto bull run upon us?

Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) (BTC) is eyeing the $7,500 mark, and Ethereum (available on Coinbase) is just under $500. Stellar (XLM) and Cardano (ADA) are leading the market today as both coins are seeing over 20% price gains.

Mastercard, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo all announced this morning that they are pursuing new blockchain-related patents. This very well could be the reason why investors are buying into crypto this morning.

Wells Fargo Tokenization System Patent

Cointelegraph reported this morning that The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) just published a patent filing for the San Francisco-based bank, Wells Fargo. The publication states that the newly published application details a system in which any type of ‘data element’ could be located, protected, and accessed by means of tokenization.

As the patent filing outlines, tokenization uses encryption mETHods to process an originally unrestricted data element into a corresponding restricted token that can only be retrieved by a specific user. The retrieval is also known as ‘detokenization.’

Wells Fargo explains the protection of the data on its system by means of tokenization:

“Unlike the limited, anonymous signatures supported by existing systems, this tokenization manifest supports single signers, multiple signers, or co-signers to store information publicly without loss of confidentiality of any sensitive content.”

Bank of America External Data Validation Patent

Cointelegraph also reported this morning that the Bank of America also filed a blockchain-related patent that was released by the USPTO today.

Bank of America’s patent proposes using blockchain technology to track resource information and to confirm resource transfers. According to Fortune, Bank of America currently has 45 live blockchain patents pending.

Both Bank of America and Wells Fargo banned crypto purchases via their banks’ credit cards earlier this year, so these crypto and blockchain patents are a bit surprising. Do you think the announcement of these blockchain patents could be behind the current crypto bull run?