Bitcoin Forum

It wasn't until today that I wish I was using Bitcoin to pay. I went to the supermarket to buy groceries, I got my change and went back home, I didn't empty my pockets immediately, it was an hour later or so. Once I did, I noticed 10 units of paper money were gone, but alas, middle of the day, 100% chance they were found. 10 units of paper money, not exactly my life's fortune, but still, I lost money. I tried to find somebody to blame, and I reached at the most logical conclusion, it was entirely my fault and my fault alone. I was simply too lazy to pull the zipper on my pocket.

I then realized, I could've avoided this with Bitcoin. As paper money is light, I couldn't have noticed when it fell, there would be no sound, nor a feeling of less weight. With Bitcoin, which is virtual and arguably weighs nothing you might think it would be the same, but not really. See, if I was using Bitcoin, whether a hardware wallet or my phone/tablet, I would've had a password on it and suppose I was using a hardware wallet with a password and I lost it, there would be a couple of things. It would weigh more than paper money, it would make some sound as it falls on the ground and would feel that my pocket weighs less. If I lost it while sitting, then no, but in all of these cases, once I got home and realized all of this, I would open up my computer with my backup or copy of my wallet and transfer the money out of the compromised wallet.

It would be nice if hardware wallets were simple(with password capabilities) and cost the same amount of money as an Arduino or Raspberry Pi or cheaper, this way you can buy a few of these and have a spare device if something happened to the previous.

interresting situation.

1) you use BTC paper money
2) lost or thief attack you
3) destroy BTC paper money when you try to defend...
4) go to home and scan "backup" of paper money (1 in your pocket, 1 in your home, 1 in your garden ?)
5) BTC paper money is now secure and unusable even if thief paste the little piece of BTC paper money
6) you don't have loose your BTC

Step 1: Buy a wallet for your paper money.
Step 2: Start using the wallet.

Of course, your bitcoins would not be lost providing that you had a backup somewhere and the person that presumably finds your supposed hardware wallet does not crack it before you regain access and shift your coins elsewhere.

Considering that not everybody who uses Bitcoin is tech savvy and understands how to crack the password, moreover if it's on a hardware wallet, I don't think there is anything to fear(at least it would be mighty difficult to do so). Especially if the password is sufficiently long.

Yeah, I suppose that's a fair point. The likely scenario is some average joe would pick it up, and depending on what it looks like they may call in the bomb squad to have it destroyed lol.

Still, the fiat wallet advice holds it own, right? :P

This makes it more likely that all your money would be stolen if someone were to rob you or if someone were to pickpocket you as these kinds of people usually go after a person's wallet.

Likelihood of being pick-pocketed is rather low. If somebody were to rob you they would just swipe the notes anyway, as well as your phone etc - so that point is moot.

The OP was all about losing money by dropping it and not noticing due to its properties. As a wallet owner myself, I take far greater care of its contents than I would if I were to have them loose in my pocket.

Seems like a legit observation to me, but if you lose your physical wallet, it would be the equivalent of lossing all of your bank accounts at once, assuming you have all of your BTC in that wallet. So one should start thinking about the fact you would need a couple of different wallets. I would keep the main wallet at home (the bank wallet) then a handy wallet with enough BTC to go through the day, like our current money wallets.

I was thinking someone else just gained 10 units of fiat
Your loss someones gain but aside from that there is always a fanny pack to make 99.9% certain it does not get lost :)
Although I prefer my pocket as well so it's very possible that money could fall out of it if I was not being vigilant.

But your right bitcoin would have a password so someone could find it but not use but with cash some kid could find it and then spend it so it depends on how well you secure your cash :).


Trezor
http://www.bitcointrezor.com/

I know about Trezor, but it's a far cry from being at the price level of an Arduino or Raspberry Pi.

"As a wallet owner myself" lol

It is not entirely uncommon for people to lose their wallet, either because it falls out of their pocket when they sit down, take it out to pay for something, place it on their lap and forget about it, or a number of other reasons.

A wallet on a device would definitely have prevented the loss. Especially if the device and wallet are password protected. Once bit coin is used more widely it will be interesting to see what kinds of devices come to the market for carrying your bit coin more securely. Cell phones and tablets are nice, but something more wallet like would be good as well.

What do you mean by 10 "units"? I'm assuming 10 different bills, but you're not disclosing how large each bill was?

as above, who says units of fiat ?
was that to add dramatic effect ?

I once lost many units of BTC in a tragic boating accident. You see, fiat money is not alone in its propensity to be lost. BTC shares this quality as well. :)

You say that bitcoin could have prevented this, I agree.  So could a lot of other things though.

You say 10 units of fiat, I'm gonna assume 10 separate bills?  If so, that's a lot not to notice fall out of your pocket/wallet.

I keep all my money in my front pocket and carry a credit card.  I use the credit card to pay for everything.  Carry a small amount of cash for emergency situations.  I drop my credt card, it makes a pretty good noise that I can hear.  I lose that credit card, it's insured.

Seems to me this situation could have been easily preventable. Even without bitcoin.

What? Do tell!

Perhaps, but again, the OP was talking about losing monetary notes due to the physical properties. The fact is that anything can be misplaced, so I don't think that the argument of leaving it somewhere accidentally holds for this discussion :P

I suppose the great thing about the bitcoin hardware wallet is that the only thing you are losing is the hardware - you can recover your coins provided that the correct measures are taken. Definitely a big plus.

Yeah, thats the thing. Private keys can exist on more than one location, unlike physical bills. Provided I take the right precautions, if I lose my wallet(with Bitcoins) I can recover them as soon as I get home, which would be immediately. Physical bills don't share this trait.

While it's still possible to lose them, I at least get a fighting chance.

Your wallet falling out of your pocket would be due to it's physical properties.

Lol when I first saw the title I thought you were going to say you lost a billion dollars or something.

Credit cards solve this too. Problem if you lose the card you need to pay a fee to make a new one.

And once I lost 10 fiats, only to found then some months later in some pant

Agreed, but a slight inconvenience when shopping with such a card, and I mean in a supermarket, it takes too long, no joke. A line literally forms waiting a few minutes for the transaction to get confirmed, I would only use it in dire situations.

Cards?  Try cash.  I had to explain to the cashier for 20 minutes that they didn't give me the correct change.  I felt like an idiot arguing for that long.  I literally had to do the math on a piece of paper(change from a $50) for them to get it. 

With Bitcoin I could have just sent the exact amount.

That would suck most cashiers use their machines so it must have been a rough day to recalculate the amount &_&
My pet peeve is when the store doesn't update their registers and you pay more when something is on sale.

Hmm I wonder if Bitcoin would aggravate that or make it easier new QR each time hmm.

This.

This gives me an idea!  ;D

Sure, but I raised the point about using a fiat wallet because of this:


That is the same as a fiat wallet, you would be more likely to notice the wallet missing, than say a $10 bill for example.

"Units of fiat"  ;D I hope you're not talking in this way to non-bitcoiners though... wouldn't want to give the impression we're tinfoil-hatted people around here  ;)

Nobody uses wallets for smaller buy on shorter distances. When I wake up and imminently visit the store I rarely bring it, but I do bring my smartphone.
Hello Bitcoin app.

I take my cash wallet wherever I am going - apart from the gym, usually. I've never lost it - perhaps I am more careful than those that do leave it lying around lol.

I know people that don't use wallets, some of them occasionally lose things. I suppose it is preference. But if somebody i.e. the poster of the topic, loses paper money due to misplacement and not noticing then the logical option has to be a wallet.

Oh the sarcasm xD but no a hardware wallet, say on an android phone, would be just as easy to lose if it was to fall out of your pocket