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Title: Hijacking banknotes to create BTC notes and BTC banks Post by: Giulio Prisco on November 30, 2013, 09:27:14 AM A crazy idea that I just had (but perhaps it's not crazy and/or not new):
Banknotes (say, one dollar bills) could be given a value in BTC and used to pay in BTC. Anti-counterfeiting is already implemented, courtesy of the state. Take one dollar, choose a value of X BTC, send X BTC to an operator with the serial number of the banknote. The serial number goes to a database, and the operator will pay X BTC to the bearer of the dollar bill with that serial number. Developing validation smartphone apps is easy. Of course the problem is that the operator may take the money and go, or refuse to pay. Anybody can think of a solution, perhaps involving a distributed database and a "distributed operator"? Can the Bitcoin network itself function as distributed operator? Title: Re: Hijacking banknotes to create BTC notes and BTC banks Post by: Tacticat on November 30, 2013, 11:22:43 AM Would this be akin to... "colored dollars"?
Title: Re: Hijacking banknotes to create BTC notes and BTC banks Post by: Giulio Prisco on November 30, 2013, 11:48:15 AM Would this be akin to... "colored dollars"? Yes, if you like, dollars colored with a value in Bitcoin. Any ideas on how to solve the trust problem? Title: Re: Hijacking banknotes to create BTC notes and BTC banks Post by: Phinnaeus Gage on November 30, 2013, 02:46:04 PM Exactly what I thought upon reading the title of this thread. But, how do you go about making change when an item is not priced at exactly one bitcoin via a registered US dollar serial number?
Title: Re: Hijacking banknotes to create BTC notes and BTC banks Post by: TTBit on November 30, 2013, 06:45:41 PM This idea is launching in the next few days. We hope to set a standard so anyone can act as a 3rd party, such as coffee shops, bars, and trusted individuals. So you might not trust a guy living in Iowa to redeem btc, but if the local coffee shop was 3rd party, you can always use it to get a coffee. Title: Re: Hijacking banknotes to create BTC notes and BTC banks Post by: Giulio Prisco on November 30, 2013, 06:50:07 PM This idea is launching in the next few days. We hope to set a standard so anyone can act as a 3rd party, such as coffee shops, bars, and trusted individuals. So you might not trust a guy living in Iowa to redeem btc, but if the local coffee shop was 3rd party, you can always use it to get a coffee. WOW great, please say more! I am persuaded that the Bitcoin economy will really take off when everyone, everywhere, will be able to use BTC directly for small transactions like buying a coffee or food, without having to change to traditional currency first (which can be controlled and killed by the state). Title: Re: Hijacking banknotes to create BTC notes and BTC banks Post by: TTBit on November 30, 2013, 08:17:55 PM WOW great, please say more! I am persuaded that the Bitcoin economy will really take off when everyone, everywhere, will be able to use BTC directly for small transactions like buying a coffee or food, without having to change to traditional currency first (which can be controlled and killed by the state). Its what you described, but instead of the merchant requiring an active database of bills, all he does is post a public key, and anyone can send money to a bill under his public key. Bob's Bar and Grill doesn't need to have a database of dollar bills, or worry about disputes. Either the bill is in the blockchain, or it isn't. + Bob's Bar and Grill (Public Key) - A12345678B ($1 USD bill) - C47891235F ($1 USD bill) + Alice's Coffee shoppe (Public Key) - F78426288B ($1 USD bill) - E29887103A ($1 USD bill) A bit technical, and looking for a way to make it easy to understand. Thanks for the interest, will post here on launch! Title: Re: Hijacking banknotes to create BTC notes and BTC banks Post by: woodsandhillsplc on November 30, 2013, 09:20:39 PM Just to put my thoughts out there - if there is a risk of abuse, there will be abuse.
Is there a way you could do this that would absolutely 100% be risk/abuse free? Title: Re: Hijacking banknotes to create BTC notes and BTC banks Post by: Phinnaeus Gage on December 01, 2013, 06:57:50 AM Just to put my thoughts out there - if there is a risk of abuse, there will be abuse. Is there a way you could do this that would absolutely 100% be risk/abuse free? You can consider laminating the bills with writing and/or a QR-code printed on the laminate. http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6060/6328842439_4cb66c63a1.jpg Title: Re: Hijacking banknotes to create BTC notes and BTC banks Post by: Giulio Prisco on December 01, 2013, 07:58:19 AM Just to put my thoughts out there - if there is a risk of abuse, there will be abuse. Is there a way you could do this that would absolutely 100% be risk/abuse free? Nothing is "absolutely 100% risk/abuse free" - this as a generally applicable principle like the 2nd law of thermodynamics. What we can do, is to make things _more_ risk/abuse free, watertight, and reliable for practical use, but there will be always be holes. Title: Re: Hijacking banknotes to create BTC notes and BTC banks Post by: Sindelar1938 on December 01, 2013, 08:01:10 AM Very interesting idea
Potential killer app that can tip adoption decisively Title: Re: Hijacking banknotes to create BTC notes and BTC banks Post by: Giulio Prisco on March 11, 2015, 07:57:02 AM I am thinking again about this idea, which seems more and more appealing and useful.
In this scheme the rest of the world acts like a sidechain - x BTC are moven from the main blockchain to the sidechain, traded (as a whole) on the sidechain, then eventually brought back to the main blockchain. Of course it's impossible to trace the movements of the x BTC on the sidechain. TTBit did you implement the scheme that you described? |
