I like the idea of paper wallets, but a little underwhelmed at the visual results from the usual BitAddress.org and BitCoinPaperWallet.com (no offence) and wanted to mesh the vast world of origami to the idea of a paper wallet.

The basic idea of a paper wallet is to produce two key bits of information, and much of the time in two formats (QRcode and it's alpha-numerical human readable form) - one public key and one private. At first I wanted a design of which could be animated to reveal the hidden key, such as with the following:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROIc0nxxXhI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B6gCEoPPas

But I began to think that they hidden private key may reveal itself a little too easily, but the design wasn't bad. However, for better protection, and to make better use of the myriad of designs that would otherwise be overlooked for not animating, to go with something static and simply hide the private key inside the folds, so that it would have to be completely de-constructed to access it.

For that I decided to experiment with a sheep, which I will call "Torres" after its creator. Torres is capable of looking cute and having enough space to present both the QRcode and the human readable alpha-numerical on the outside. Naturally there is enough room on the inside of all the folds to put the private key, but crucially it must be placed on a part with several folds to prevent show through on cheap paper, otherwise it's not hidden very well.

I have the following design:

http://www.ultraimg.com/image/J72N
http://www.ultraimg.com/image/J72i

The following sketches show where everything would be when printed:

design (public key): http://www.ultraimg.com/image/J729
design (private key): http://www.ultraimg.com/image/J72F


I would like to amend the trusted method from BitAddress.org to spit out the design, or perhaps one at random with several to choose from (obviously linking to videos showing how to fold them) with all of the fold lines dotted on already as a guide (once folding this design a couple of times it's like second nature and can be done from memory).

The original video can be found here:

http://www.origamispirit.com/2015/01/origami-sheep/


I would like to know what people think, how it could be improved, thanks!

Thanks everybody for your input!

I would hasten to add that I was referring to wallet<->wallet transactions, not via a third party, those are of course free.

I wouldn't advocate a third party anyway, that would look commercial and, above all, compromise security, which is very important.

I didn't want a QR code because it would confuse the recipient, this person is of an older generation.

But, it was fine for what I wanted and if anybody else needed to do something then they too could work from this template and add the suggestions you've all contributed.

Thanks!

Here's what I ended up with:

http://imgur.com/hbyJLNl

Thanks for your reply.

It's to an older generation that does understand email, but has a need for anonymity. Just the general aspects of BitCoin like anonymity and that it can be changed into National currency, if needed.

With a link to the .org site I suppose.

Just something with the logo on and a few key overall points about the technology for the layman.

I suppose I could make it myself, but if something exists then I'd be saving time by printing it out. However, I probably could have done it by now..

I would like to hand out business cards to people to promote BitCoin and wanted to know if there was anything official, or recognised, as being a decent piece of information on a business card size card?

Nothing like a well attended forum. Thank you all for your suggestions, I will have to take time to digest all the ideas, but I do like the one where I deposit coins, I could use a VPN so my IP won't link me to anything, I don't mind because I'm only playing with small amounts right now but in the future might look to DashCoin as its got mixing built in I read.

Now I need to spend my BitCoin I don't feel safe unless I mix it, can anybody recommend an honest mixing system please?

Looking forward to getting the new BitCoin version 0.9x as I know this will be a lot faster, however I still don't know how to verify the SHA256SUMS.asc file against the bitcoin-0.9.1-macosx-setup file. There is a nice explanation video on the BitCoin.org site but no real help (video required in my opinion) for verifying the download.

I am trying to encourage friends to use it as well as being safe with it, the point of download is the most vulnerable part in my opinion and there's no easy to find information on the website as to how to go about verifying it.

perhaps that could be done for v 0.10x?


Thanks.

Just the ticket.

Oh, this thread's run away with itself. Thank you all for your replies.

I meant that in order to access my data, from a USB stick (of which I intent to keep the wallet and OS on), I would need a visual interface to do so i.e. a laptop, one which does not connect to the internet.

So I rather fancied one of those mini-laptops, but was not sure about removing the modem, what with everything being SoC these days.


Thanks again.

I've done some research on what USB to get for Cold Storage, but am actually finding it difficult to find the right kind of laptop.. Oh, a cheap one is no problem, even first hand (which is safest), it's just that nobody seems to sell them without Wi-Fi any more!

Imagine asking Asus or Compaq (he he) for a laptop without a modem in, yea, imagine!

So, it seems that some tinkering will be required?


I really wanted something small and portable, especially for confirming transaction face-to-face, something like a Mini Laptop from Asus or Acer e.g.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/Acer-Aspire-One-Netbook_Laptop_review
http://www.tlbhd.com/asus-1018p-eee-pc-review-white-version-what-a-mini-laptop-4157/


But even if they had a physical "off" switch, could I rely on that?


Has anybody got a solution to this, I think it's overlooked, too much focus on the USB side of things from what I've found.


Thanks in advance.

Thanks guys. Since then I have been looking at the "LaCie XtremKey USB 3.0" or the USB2U USBs in order to run Linux from (on a computer that doesn't connect to the internet of course):

http://www.lacie.com/UK/products/product.htm?id=10612
http://www.usb2u.co.uk/articles/2011/06/bullet-proof-usb-flash-drives-–-ideal-for-students/


Of course, the LaCie is a great product as it's resistant to the heat/cold and drops from 10m while the other is, well, unproven.

Anyway, the LaCie has AES 256-bit encryption so it's approaching the others in terms of security features, but ticks a lot of "real world" boxes, if you see what I mean.

E.exchanger: I am not so keen on biometrics for the long term, sure on my iPhone, but in a SHTF situation, even in a post EMP-epoch (this USB's going in a Faraday Box by the way) I don't want the mechanics to fail on me and a telephone number to have to be rung or something.


Thanks.

What USB stick is best to use for cold storage please?

I read a review for the following:

Imation Defender F200 Biometric
Kanguru Defender 2000
CMS Products CE-Secure Vault FIPS
Kingston DataTraveler 4000 Managed DT4000M
Apricorn Aegis Secure Key


They are held to Military specifications, speed, durability and cost, the top reviews came to "Imation Defender F200 Biometric" and "Kanguru Defender 2000". However I would like to know if anybody had any other suggestions or comments on the ones mentioned here thanks.


ref: http://www.pcworld.com/article/254816/the_best_encrypted_flash_drives.html