Bitcoin Forum

Hi everyone!

It’s been a long while since I last visited and posted here. We’ve been busy with our business at Ballet, and now we have something fun to share with this amazing community here:

https://i.imgur.com/GiwjqeJ.png

We are happy to announce here that Ballet will soon be launching the sale of physical bitcoins, similar to the loaded Casascius coins of the early days, but this time in a metal, credit card form factor (just like the Ballet cold storage wallets). This new product is called the Loaded PURE Bitcoin, and buyers will receive actual “physical” bitcoin in the mail, held and stored safely in these loaded cards. What Mike Caldwell had to stop with Casascius coins ten years ago, we are now restarting at Ballet!

There are four denominations available, which are 0.1, 0.025, 0.01, and 0.005 BTC.

This new way to buy bitcoin allows you to skip the hassle and risks of using an exchange. (And also there’s no need to request to withdraw the BTC from the exchange after the purchase!) No account creation is needed although there is still a need for KYC for higher value transactions. This Ballet product is a truly safe and convenient way to invest in and accumulate bitcoin, by directly holding it in physical cold storage. Your keys, your bitcoin.

Due to regulatory restrictions, the product is initially only available for sale in 25 states in the United States. (These 25 states are: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. This list is subject to change, and we will continue to work on expanding the coverage area to additional states in the future.)

If you reside in one of the states where this is available, we would greatly appreciate it if you could help us test the product and purchase process, by giving it a try and sharing your feedback on the experience.

After the order is placed, we will send you the PURE Bitcoin card. Once you have received the package, please use the Ballet Crypto app to confirm that you have received the card, and then the bitcoin will be loaded onto the card. (For a few states, the cards will be shipped pre-loaded for compliance reasons, and those shipments will be insured accordingly.)

We accept payment by credit card, debit card, and ACH bank transfer. Payment by wire transfer will also be added soon. We will also consider adding payment by BTC if there’s sufficient interest. Please note: the bitcoin price is locked in at the time of purchase. (Due to the volatile nature of bitcoin prices, refunds and returns are not accepted, but we will offer a buy-back policy for people to sell back their bitcoin purchase if they’re not satisfied with the product.)

To place an order for “Loaded PURE Bitcoin”, please visit:
https://bitcoin.ballet.com

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at:
support@ballet.com

Hope you like this new product, and that you can help us test it! Please share your comments and feedback here in this thread. Long live Bitcoin!

thanks,
Bobby

very nice to see this as an option! really like all my ballet pieces 8)

Congrats on getting regulatory compliance to sell these in the US 8)

I have asked a few people at ballet and have yet to get a clear answer

will these vary in appearance on the card or packaging from the pure wallets of the same denomination that are unloaded?

w00t :o it is really a very beautiful collection, which i will definitely treat myself.

---

with such a collection i would hope that these wallets should be different from the rest in every aspect
but we wait for the answer from bobbyclee ;)

Hi Bobby,

Are these "virgin loaded" cards, similar to the original BTCC chips and coins that were loaded directly from a block reward, and if not, can you offer cards created that way?

Good to see you back in action with a new product :)

Thanks,
-buck

How many will be made of each or are these unlimited?

  Hi Bobby...long time no see around here!

     Glad to hear you are coming out with these physical Bitcoins. It would be more interesting if this was pure mint BTC coming right from the miners rewards to be loaded on these cards just like the BTCC.

  Also special sleeves for these would also make a big difference as well when being presented.

   Other than that looking forward to your answers on this...cheers

That would be very appealing!

 I am pleased with your new product and commitment to tearing down the walls of regulation. I hope in the future you attempt to recapture the essence of what made physical bitcoin so special to begin with. Rarity and scarcity are the heart of driving sales. Icluding things like dates, mintage, and unique characteristics is the reason why customers become return buyers. Its the reason why your BTCCs are atill so highly sought after. I understand that you're juggling mass production and mainstream adoption and i hope that you can find a way to implement the chaacteristics that make me want to keep my ballet wallet in a glass case. I look forward to your new products and seeing what you come up with.

Are they live on site

Nice product Bobby. Thanks for sharing this with us here on the forum and I echo Miner Jones' congrats. I will buy quite a few.

I see the very simple business case for these being generic and love that you are putting these out there for sale. However, this is a collectors forum so you know this crowd will clamor for scarcity (above the Bitcoin being scarce of course). I like Krog's suggestion of considering pure mined coin versions, which may already be the case, and CryptoGreatDane's and Cygan's suggestion for a numbered collector series or special characteristics to make them collectibles.

I'm buying all these regardless but those features would be nice additions.

Steeley

Happy to see this congrats Bobby!  ;D

Congrats on a cool new release.

Any estimates / plans to bring this to European Union, too?
And are solid-silver wallets a possibility in the near future?

These loaded cards are the same as the empty ones sold on the Ballet store, but these come in black packages, the empty ones in white. You can see the black packages here:

https://bitcoin.ballet.com/loaded-pure-bitcoin-0-005-btc
https://bitcoin.ballet.com/loaded-pure-bitcoin-0-01-btc
https://bitcoin.ballet.com/loaded-pure-bitcoin-0-025-btc

What amount required KYC?

These cards do not contain bitcoin from a newly-mined block. We will take your request under consideration, but please be aware that BTCC had its own mining pool, which made it easier to do.

These are a no brainer for anyone with low interest credit cards 😉

We don't have an estimate of when we will be able to offer this in the EU.

We do currently sell one pure silver product: https://store.ballet.com/collections/ballet/products/2021-pure-bitcoin-signature-set/

Yes.

https://bitcoin.ballet.com/

These are standard PURE Bitcoin physical bitcoin cards, so there won't be a limit on how many we produce.

Thank you for the feedback. We definitely put a high value on the preferences of avid physical bitcoin enthusiasts, but as you say, there are a lot of factors to balance when designing our products.

I am a big fan of Ballet.  Like what you guys are doing.

Not sure I see a tremendous difference in buying these versus just the wallets and funding myself,  other than being able to buy with fiat without going through an exchange.  It's a plus for sure, but would like to have seen these in coin form just to be a little different from the self funded metal wallets.

I realize it would be hard to fit all of the various elements onto something the size of a coin, but maybe the size of a 1 oz gold or silver bar?

All good, just one reporter's opinion/preference.  Keep up the good work Ballet!

That is aim of Ballet... to make crypto easy. (Think that might even be their motto)
They are making it so that the average person can buy/get into crypto without having to jump through hoops.

  If thats the case then its a great idea for sure. ALso wonder why they never did one in Bitcoin orange? Maybe for another time and another type of card?

   Just a suggestion I am sure other would agree Orange is a good color as well...cheers!

they  did orange but as the plastic ones not the metal.

  Ahh yes they did...forgot about that one....It does come out damn good in Bitcoin Orange. Again it would be more appealing to me as  collector to have BTC loaded directly loaded from a miner just like BTCC used to...but like MJ said, this is great for people who do not want to go thru the hassle of jumping thru hoops in getting BTC easily. Agree

Great Job! I only hear good things from Ballet. It is a little more expensive to buy prefunded pieces, but there are tons of people that will pay the premium just so they won't have to try to figure out everything to get into crypto. They can just buy a physical already funded. :) That is valuable to a lot of people. Thanks for providing a safe and reliable product for people to choose from.

Hi everyone,

Thank you for expressing interest in our latest product, Loaded PURE Bitcoin. Regrettably, we have encountered certain issues during the beta launch phase. Financial institutions are declining a substantial proportion of credit and debit card transactions on our website due to regulatory restrictions on the cryptocurrency industry.

We have observed that some of our customers attempted to make payments using credit cards, but unfortunately, their transactions were declined. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and kindly request that you consider placing your order again using ACH bank transfer if you remain interested in the product.

Thank you,

Ballet Team

another reason to say fuck banks - acting as if the people's money is the property of the bank. People should be able to spend their damn fiat any way they want.

good luck at resolving this.

Well, the political climate for all of this is pretty shit at the moment IMO... Gensler sucks, the SEC sucks, the FED Sucks and ofc banks are just trying to keep up etc... ???

I imagine for Ballet, even obtaining an MSL in every state (if that was the case)? must have cost a shit-load, but if the major banks won't work with a major company because they have or are "branded" as "crypto", I suppose it does no real good.

I wonder if this moment is an inflection point on what the SEC and FED are doing, not necessarily banks because they are just trying to stay within the "law" which is clearly cloudy af right now in the USA.

We have Politicians trying to shutdown crypto again, and all sorts of other shit like CZ/Binance shit, the coinbase stuff, the unfinished XRP dilemma, ... The list is long.

maybe so but last I looked buying Bitcoin is not illegal so banks should let people buy it if they want to buy it.

are the crypto debit/credit cards also affected by this?
i don't think so, because then you could e.g. use your wirex/binance/... card for the order to avoid this madness...

the people that have those type of cards wouldnt be wanting to buy these wallets - it would be cheaper to buy it on the exchange - these are the wallets for those without exchange accounts.

I knew there was an issue with credit cards purchasing crypto but whats the problem with debit cards? Debit card is whst you use on the exchange?

some debit cards/credit cards have issues with exchanges as well. people should not have any limits on their spending other than that they have to have it to spend it.

Debit cards have a higher success rate than credit cards, but still too many are being rejected. Feel free to give it try.

Have a question for BalletCrypto regarding the PRO series: Why shipping is free for international orders and costs $25 for domestic (i.e. US) orders. Looks strange to me. Can you please elaborate on this? Thanks.

almost all ballet cards ship from the US - the PRO ship from overseas - that would be my guess as to why.

please note - tomorrow is the last day to order a PRO series - for some odd reason they are discontinuing them.

Are there any patterns you can identify regarding buyer country location?

Hi everyone,

Happy April!

We are gearing up for a public launch of the physical bitcoin "cards" (aka "Loaded PURE Series") later this month.

For the last four years, Ballet has been selling "empty" cold storage wallets... And now, buy selling "loaded" physical bitcoins to would-be investors, this is new territory for us!

We obviously are appreciative if the collectors community, especially all of you in this forum. However, for the long term success (and longevity) of Ballet, we cannot merely cater to collectors, and have to tap a broader market. This is the fundamental reason that we are shifting to selling bitcoin in physical form. (We will soon also offer buy-back service, where investors can sell their physical Ballet bitcoins to us, and we will send them the proceeds to their bank accounts.)

Our mission is to enable a greater part of the population to invest and HODL Bitcoin (and cryptocurrency), and that's why we started Ballet over four years ago, and that's why we are now shifting to selling bitcoin directly to consumers and investors, in physical and tangible form.

*** CALL TO ACTION ***

Come join our mission and help us make a successful launch of this new business:
Encourage YOUR OWN friends & family, to buy bitcoin as an investment, and buy it directly from Ballet (rather than using the traditional route of buying on an exchange and withdrawing it after).

Remember, even after you buy from Ballet, you can still directly transfer the bitcoin out of the Ballet cards, and onto whatever hardware/software wallet you prefer. There's absolutely NO OBLIGATION for you to hold your bitcoins in the Ballet cards, even though many people may choose to just leave them on Ballet until when they're ready to sell.

Please help us out! Buy some physical bitcoins yourself, and also refer your friends and family to:
https://bitcoin.ballet.com/


thanks,
Bobby

Currently the product is only available in the United States, so we don't have any information about other countries.