We do sell these coins with the private key included as an option for those that don't want to use the 2-factor authentication "Coin registration".  Sometime next week, you'll be able to choose to have the private key included when you add the coins to your cart on our site.  I'll make another thread here when we open that up.  We're trying to get ahead a bit on production before selling those, as I would expect they will go pretty quickly based on what this community wants in a physical bitcoin. 

As I've said before, trusting us to provide that 2FA service seems to be a benefit for people just learning about bitcoins, as opposed to a drawback.  We've even had people that asked us to set up their wallet for them when they redeemed their coin.  I was HAPPY to do that, because it means that they're looking to spend some bitcoins and are now officially part of our community.  It also meant that they were trusting our company (and myself) implicitly.  I'm OK with that trust because I know i'm not going to abuse it, but I appreciate the fundamental reasons to avoid those situations.   

I like the idea of symmetric keys a lot!  The only drawback is that the loss of one of the keys makes the coin's unredeemable.  Perhaps that is an unavoidable consequence of 2-factor authentication, but this is the kind of dialogue that the community needs to keep going.  I'm confident that there is a long term solution and we're working on one now that we think will solve these problems.


 

I think he (or she) may be referring to the laws in some countries regarding creating virtual currencies that are exchanged for real goods.  I'm just guessing at the objection though.  China for example has limitations that were put in place after QQcoin became so popular there.  I seem to recall Germany having some regulations regarding companies/websites that offer digital credits that are redeemed for real goods.

Wopwop, if you could be more specific I'd be happy to do some more research.  I'm fortunate enough to have a lot of legal resources and counsel at my disposal.  If there are laws to the effect that you're suggesting, I think most physical bitcoin makers are going to be in violation since many governments are now recognizing bitcoin as currency.

I have an entrepreneur in my network that may be interested.  The price of $10MM+ needs a little more justification.  Are you using the net present value approach to get to that valuation?

The material is Goldine.  It has a distinctly different appearance from the brass coins that we have here, but it may be closer to brass than it is to cupronickel.  The phrase cupronickel apparently covers a range of alloys that can have varying appearances.  It's likely that Goldine has both zinc and nickel in the alloy, but I honestly hadn't looked for the specific composition breakdown until this conversation.  

The foundry that is supplying the blanks described this alloy as a "copper-nickel alloy" and it may have been designed specifically for coin production.  It was marked as a 230 alloy on some of the documentation we received.  If this is referring to the 230 alloy range for brass, then it may mean that it has a much higher copper content (85%+).  The next time I talk to the supplier, I will make sure we get this clarified.  

We chose this particular material both because of its superior appearance and its resistance to "dulling" over time.  However, the other denominations are different alloys.  

Both the coins that have a private key under the hologram and the ones that use our 2-factor authentication system have BTC stored at an address, waiting to be redeemed.  For coins with 2 Factor Authentication, they are redeemed through our website.

There was some confusion in the other thread.  We're NOT operating a fractional reserve as some have asked or suggested.  At any time, you can verify that your coin has its BTC backing by looking at its address on the blockchain.  Just scan the QR code on the back of the coin to view its status page.

Do you have a specific legal precedent that you're concerned about on our behalf?  I think I'll have trouble addressing your concerns from a legal standpoint without some more particular detail.  I have discussed our model at length with representatives from FinCEN and we're working towards compliance as an MSB under the rules for a currency exchange.   

In regards to our 2-factor authentication and cold-storage, we're a service provider.  When you purchase a Titan Bitcoin, you are getting the BTC that goes with it.  It is stored on a single address until such time as the coin is redeemed, at which point the coin is transferred to the address of your choosing.  For those that don't want to take advantage of that service, we'll also be offering coins with the private keys included underneath the hologram shortly.

Feel free to PM me with questions.

Happy to explain data security.  We use Rackspace for hosting the front end of the website at the moment, with an edge server for DDOS protection in front.  Amazon Web Services is a backup.  The database servers where coin info is stored are encrypted 5 layers deep.  This is a system of encryption that was developed by researchers at MIT and decryption keys are issued based on access levels.  Access is granted to decrypt certain parts of the database in stages, as the client enters in protected information.  Root access info is not stored on the server in any form, so there isn't any way for someone to get the info from the database even if they have a complete copy of the server code and DB.

Besides that though, the private keys for these coins are in cold storage and are not kept on the servers.  Each coin basically has its own wallet.  

  

  

I respect your opinion, but humbly disagree.  In regard to the legality, we're classified as a currency exchange according to U.S. law. 

If there were a governing body limiting the forms that bitcoin could take, then perhaps we might run afoul of that institution.

Fortunately, the bitcoin community isn't "big government".

Thanks Ninja!  We're pretty confident that we can keep the website open for many years, even if the company that runs it went under tomorrow.  We've got redundant server systems with prepaid hosting and some other tricks.  

With that being said, I totally agree that some people aren't going to be comfortable relying on our website being around.  For people that choose not to take us up on the 2-factor authentication service we're providing, we'll be rolling out coins with private keys included underneath the hologram next week.  These coins will work just like any other physical bitcoin (with all the same vulnerabilities) and we'll gently recommend that people don't resell them, but I'm happy to be flexible with what this community is looking for.

I totally see your point.  We didn't decide on this particular implementation lightly.  With any product, saying yes to one benefit often means saying no to another.  

For new bitcoin owners, the ease of use is the biggest hurdle.  Email registration is something that is familiar and easy to understand.  We ARE working on a more advanced, decentralized solution, but innovation takes time  Fortunately for us, the benefits of these coins seem to outweigh the drawbacks for many.

For security, we used a closed system that tracks coin ownership, with 2-factor authentication built in.  The big benefit for this comes into play when you're buying from a third party.  Because of the ease of hacking or counterfeiting other phsyical bitcoins out there, we're providing a solution that limits redemption of the coin to the person who currently owns it.  You need access to the email address registered to the coin in order to redeem.  New owners can change that registration as soon as they buy, protecting themselves from buying a coin with a compromised private key.

I totally understand that this isn't for everyone and for people that don't want that extra protection, we'll be offering coins that include the private key underneath the hologram. 

For new bitcoin owners, we're finding that the 2 factor authentication provides a peace of mind regarding the safety of their investment.  For existing members of the community, we're happy to be flexible.

Chaang Noi, we created a closed system to address the security concerns with buying other physical bitcoins like Casascius coins from private parties.  Because it's relatively easy to both hack and counterfeit, there's no good way to know if the private key has been compromised on standard Casascius coins.  Our solution for now is to offer Coin registration.  The coin can't be redeemed without access to the email address that is currently tied to the coin.  When a coin is sold, the new owner can change the email address to one they have exclusive access to, and the coin's value is protected.

This is a service for those that want it or who don't necessarily know enough about bitcoins to understand how to keep their wallet truly secure.  I fight for decentralization myself, and we'll be offering coins with the private key included shortly.  We're also working on other solutions to the two-factor authentication issue and I'd love to have input from valued members of the community like yourself.

Thanks!  Silver and Gold are coming shortly.  We have 6 different denominations that we'll be releasing and the higher denominations (5 and 10) will be offered in Silver and Gold.

 

I think these are cheaper than Casascius coins, for the moment at least.  The price probably will go up tomorrow, unfortunately, as we buy the bitcoins to load onto these coins at current market prices.  BTC is going up.

For people just getting started with Bitcoin, the ease of just buying one of these versus having to learn about the technology and install a wallet is worth the price premium.  Its a quick way to bring them into the community.

Oddly, I've actually heard from a few people that think we should be charging more.  Go figure.

Thanks Fat Magic!  There's no artist I know who doesn't like a good ego stroking, so I'm forwarding these comment on to our sculptor and designer.

We're working on the silver version of this coin now.  As you can imagine, its expensive to get production started but I expect we'll at least have the silver one ready to sell sometime in November.

Thanks for the compliment, Cypherdoc.   That means a lot coming from you.

We actually started out the project by consulting with one of the current engravers for the U.S. mint who is producing the latest line of quarters.  Interestingly, The legal team at the U.S. Mint told him he could no longer be involved with our project because they felt that bitcoin was a foreign currency.  Since engravers at the U.S. mint can't work for foreign countries, his working with us was deemed to be a violation of his non-compete clause. 

The U.S. Mint legal team called bitcoins "foreign currency".  If that isn't evidence that bitcoin is real money, I don't know what is.

Each coin is registered to an email address and password.  You need access that that info to redeem the coin, so its serves as a second form of authentication.  You can change the registration info at any time if needed.  For example, if the coin changes hands privately, the new owner will want to register the coin with an email address and password that only he or she has access to.

It's protection against the hacking and counterfeiting that has been done to Casascius coins.  

To answer the question publicly, yes it fine to PM me for sales instead of going through the website.

You can pay with 1.45BTC per coin to the address below:

1PEsVxSS27aLgM25wwWwhTTfWZT9EjR7ca

Escrow is fine for larger transactions.  Just PM me or email sales@titanbtc.com.

The image below is the first of 6 coin denominations my company will be releasing this year, designed with "ease of use" as paramount.  For security, we used a closed system that tracks coin ownership, with 2-factor authentication built in.  For those that don't want that service, the private key can be included underneath the hologram as an option.


Titan One physical bitcoin, Front


Titan One physical bitcoin, Reverse


Current price is $269 or 1.39 BTC. as of October 22 @ 20:30 GMT

Shipping is included.  

http://www.titanbtc.com/product/titan-one/

This is a new system, and a little different than what Casascius has done, so please ask anything you like here.

Yes.  Our coins are available for sale now.  Feel free to PM with questions.