Bitcoin Forum

Think about it. With the recent Germany 0% bitcoin-taxes-after-a-year news, the casascius coins become more valuable, because you can sell them with a high premium to a money launderer there. Why? because Casascius coins gurantee two things:

1.- A more than a year settlement of Bitcoins in the same address of the block chain.

2.- The relatively high confidence that the private key can only be used by the owner of the coin.

¿Thoughts?

What you say it's true..

Nevertheless I welcome this news as (AFAIK) the first official statement made by one of the EU States. It's not a surprise it comes from the first and bigger BTC adopters among Europe. What can discourage more a shop keeper who would like to accept bitcoins, more the uncertainity he has about the legal and fiscal implications of his choice? 

"Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes."

I've never expected such a liberal act from the German govt.
Maybe they want a backup when EUR will be completely screwed up, so if they have BTC ready at hand then can carry on with building the Fourth Reich (EUSSR) :).

Germans are smart people, they realise the importance of Bitcoin and keeping it untaxed. If only the rest of the world would follow...

Can you link to the news, for the lazy?

No, actually we do that with any kind of speculation. If you keep the speculative object for longer than a year, any gains in value are untaxed. Bitcoin is just another kind of pigs halves or concentrated orange juice.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=77.0

does casascius keep a copy of each private key that he produces? I've always wondered how trustworthy they are

That's what he says in his Q&A:

 Q. Do you keep a copy of the private key?  Who has had access to the private keys?

A. I did not keep the private keys, and I am the only person who has ever had control over the private keys.  I have either inserted the private keys into the coins myself, or have directly supervised others doing the same.  On the series 1 coins, the hologram manufacturer pre-printed the addresses onto the hologram labels, but they were only given the 8 characters you see, not the private keys themselves.
Q. It's impossible to prove you didn't keep the private keys, and with all the Bitcoin scams lately, why should I believe you?

A.  I have given out my real-world identity and have digitally signed a list of the Bitcoin addresses used in this project.  I have made it so that it if I were to perpetrate a scam, it would be possible to prove it and to hold me legally accountable - something no scammer wants to do.  You should demand the same from anyone handling your cryptocurrency.

Beautiful.

Right in the face of the hostile business environment that is the USA.

Is there any indication the German authorities want to see block chain records? I'd expect they want to see bank transfer receipts etc.

In any case, any cold storage wallet will satisfy 1, and offer better confidence only the owner can use the funds. Don't get me wrong, Casascius seems like one of the most trustworthy people here, but I still think it's bad protocol to trust anyone with your private keys if you don't want them to have the ability to spend your coins.