Vehicle digital key management on a blockchain

A method for managing use of a vehicle by a vehicle management system, the method comprising:

• creating a non-fungible token (NFT) for the vehicle including data of the vehicle at a time of manufacture of the vehicle, and storing the NFT for the vehicle on a blockchain of the vehicle management system;
• after a purchase of the vehicle, creating an NFT for an owner of the vehicle including data of the owner, and storing the NFT for the owner on the blockchain;
• creating an NFT for an operator of the vehicle including data of the operator, the operator assigned by the owner of the vehicle, and storing the NFT for the operator on the blockchain;
• and
• responsive to data inputted into an application of the vehicle management system by the owner, creating one or more smart contracts controlling at least one of access to the vehicle and a use of a functionality of the vehicle, the one or more smart contracts executable at one or more computing devices including a copy of the blockchain.

A method for controlling at least one of access to a vehicle and a use of a functionality of the vehicle by an operator of the vehicle, the method comprising:

• receiving, at the vehicle, a digital key transmitted by a computing device of an operator of the vehicle;
• executing an application stored in the digital key to install a copy of a blockchain of a vehicle management system and a streaming service at the vehicle, the streaming service configured to stream real-time event data of the vehicle to a contract executing virtual machine (VM) embedded in the copy of the blockchain;
• in response to a smart contract executing at the contract executing VM based on the real-time event data, the smart contract stored on at least one of a non-fungible token (NFT) of the operator and an NFT of the vehicle, receiving instructions from the contract executing VM for controlling the at least one of the access to the vehicle and the use of the functionality of the vehicle by the operator;
• and
• executing the instructions at an electronic control unit (ECU) of the vehicle.