US Patent 11836721 Protection of information in an information exchange

In some examples, an apparatus uses a blockchain to agree on a time in an information exchange network. A first node includes a processor communicatively coupled to a storage device including instructions. When executed by the processor, the instructions cause the processor to verify a time estimate from each of one or more other node, to determine a time match of a time estimate of the first node with the time estimates from the one or more other node, and if the time match is determined, to commit to the blockchain a transaction that includes a time stamp.