Bitcoin Forum

Hi Folks,

Newbie here.

I would like to have this - but I am not a programmer. There are BTC gifting websites, BTC vouchers, BTC coins & notes - but this is different. I want to give folks BTC, but stop them from loosing or spending them!

There are quite a few posts on the web about folks giving BTC and then the receiver reformatting their HD, or selling them because they've been told it's a Ponzi scheme etc.

I would like to be able to gift - say 1 BTC - to friends and relatives. I would send this to a BTC address, and then be able to send them a link to a chart showing how much the BTC is worth in their local currency over time. So they could see the value of their gift increasing (hopefully).

Then I could set a date, before which they cannot cash in their BTC. eg: they don't get the private key until then. Or indeed I can decide when to release their BTC.

The site where they view the graph, would promote BTC. It would have links to mtgox, and wallets etc. Plus a list of vendors who now take BTC. The site/pages would be sticky, as the recipient would keep coming back to see how their BTC are doing.

Plus I could (or anyone could) add BTC to their address on birthdays and Xmas etc. Indeed, their should be a button on the site so the recipient could email their friends & relatives, and ask for BTC as a gift. So there would need to be someway for the gifter to buy BTC easily and gift them. Could BTC be purchased with a mark-up?

Anyway, that's my idea, and I think it would be a GREAT gift and a great way for the community to promote BTC.

Thanks!

That's a great idea. It's like a trust.

Bitcoin Trust.

Thanks!

I just registered www.thebitcointrust.com

Anybody want to help me with this?

We could tie-in with www.blockchain.info to give folks their own (easy) online wallet and way to sell/buy BTC.

Hey,

I had this same idea the other day. I think I understand what your saying . So is it like people send them bitcoins as a gift which is then tucked away and can only be viewed from a distance right and not touched till you say so? I could help. I like the domain also good thinking.

This would be viable, using blockchain.info's Wallet API.
Could probably code a non-GUI version of this in a few days/weeks, but since I have a lot of stuff going on I won't.
I would recommend the programming language of the future: Node.js (nodejs.org)
Good luck.

-whiskers75

Ugh, no. For somebody getting into programming I would not suggest node.js. I'd suggest a basic lamp stack.

MiracleRiver

That is a GREAT idea.

You biggest hurdle is going to be trust.  Who holds these bitcoin private keys and how do you know that person/entity will be reputable and honest  and STILL in business when the trust comes due.

Some one could buy a child or a niece or nephew or grandchild BTC to use as a college fund.  

You just want to be certain that the accumulated value of that BTC(not counting price variation) is still available 5, 10, 18 years after you made the deposit.

That is easily solvable. Make the site a watch only wallet with no private keys and let the one giving the gift keep the private keys. That way he is always in control and decide when to give without trusting some central authority. The site will have 2 purposes: 1. Showing the data in an easy to understand format for the recipient 2. (optional) Transferring the private keys to the recipient when the time is due

I'm a graphics ninja. Would love to design.  Any ideas on which framwork you'll be using?

Also would suggest on hosting.  MediaTemple if you want quality hosting and ease of use for cheap (~$20/month).  Firehost if you wanna go pro (~$400/month for entry level hosting).  If you say the GD word, I'll kill you myself. (hint: they have obnoxious commercials, their owner is a ginger with no soul, and they define the oversell cliche).

Thanks for your replies - I DO think it's a really good idea.

I try and tell folks about BTC, but often their eyes just glaze over. Nothing like them seeing a graph going up (hopefully) each week to encourage them to buy BTC.

And yes, for security, the has to be a way of managing the private key info.

Option #1

Perhaps this way: sender enters a 10 character PW for their specific gift on the www.thebitcointrust.com account they sent up for the receiver. The sw then generates the keys, and before the sender sees the private key, it's encrypted with the PW, and stored on the server. There is no way for the system to see/store either the PW or the clear private key.

Then the sender sets a date to "release" the BTC to the receiver. At that point (3 years in the future?), the receiver gets an email and enters the PW on the site, and the private key is released (perhaps into their account with blockchain.info or such like). That way, even if the sender dies or disappears etc., the receiver still gets their BTC at a certain date.

Perhaps the encrypted private keys need to be stored somewhere else as well for total security. If the site did not work out, and we wanted to close it, then we would let everyone know and release the encrypted private keys.

I think that the receiver would have to know that they will be getting the BTC for sure, and that the sender could not ever withdraw the gift in the future - e.g.: when the 1BTC gift is now worth 5 Porches and 2 Rolls Royces :-)

Option #2

The sender generates the keys on www.bitaddress.org and then just sends us the public key. This is a good way to kick-it-off and there is total security for the sender. Simple as well.

I guess we could charge a small BTC fee for each "deposit". Plus there would be some ad revenue.

Here's a simple way to keep BitCoin in the minds of the media folk on TV, Newspapers, Web:

Setup the website above, and send 100 key media folk 1 BTC each. But lock them in for say 3 years.

Now they are FORCED to watch the price of BTC go up - and we all know that watching those graphs are addictive!

Now just imagine all the articles they will write and TV slots they will produce :-)

We can also do a website with all their photographs and names, with the BTC graph as the top. That way, even if they don't get or respond to our emails, they will eventually find their BTC on the web page.

How about doing the same for celebs! Now that's another great idea - and joe public will watch those pages no end. And that in turn is a news item in itself. And we can claim that all the big celebs own BTC :-)

We can also donate the BTC "retrospectively" so that we show the donation was made 6 months ago when the price was much lower; and so the graph is all the more effective.

Then in 3 years times all the celebs have to come to our BTC party to collect their million dollar BTC's.

Nice.