Virgin Coins

[logger]

This topic was discussed extensively a couple years back here on forum so you may want to search there. The Eligius pool always used to mine directly to your address. I think they still do as I checked their most recent block and it has a split gen transaction. I haven't used them in years. Other than that you would need to make a deal with a miner or pool and to my knowledge there hasn't been any settling on premiums.

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[NotAtOld]

You'd have to trust the person you're buying the private key from to not know it in any which way shape or form.
Instead, use a split key generation method. This is similar to split key vanity addresses, with the only difference being that you don't really need to bother with the 'vanity' aspect (though you still could, for a premium, say). Google around for how that works.
I don't know what premium would apply to minted coins - especially since the service in question would still be involved.. could just as well use a tumbler.

Whether that, in turn, would constitute a laundering service depends on who you talk to.
If the service does use split key, then it would not be appropriate for meat space, due to timing constraints.

[cccarnation]

Can you mine bitcoins to an address where you only got the public key?
If only i had the private key i would maybe pay like 101 BTC for 100 BTC mined to my address.
So yes there could be a market  

You only need the address for mining not the private key. The problem is that most mining pools do not disperse shares directly from the generation (coinbase) transaction, so for most pools you would get some mix of non-virgin coins. As mentioned above Eligius and P2pool both directly split the coinbase into shares paid. The downside is this takes 120 confirmations before they can be spent (unless that was changed, I haven't really followed it). In any case whether you or someone else mines the coins go to an address provided.

If you wanted to provide a service providing virgin coins then you would accept a customer's address and mine to that address for them. If you wanted to pre-mine such that they can just buy them (without waiting) then they have to trust you as any split key method would requires they provide a public key such that you generate a shared private key that is trustworthy. In which case why not just mine to their address.

[littlebeetle]

Even when mining, bitcoins come from the pool's website. They are not truly virgin coins. Unless you had one of these massive Chinese facilities full of miners, solo-mining would likely not be profitable. It could take many decades before finding a block.
I don't think people would pay a premium for virgin coins. Many people already pay extra for coins on LBC, craigslist, and BTM's. Adding another premium for virgin coins just doesn't seem worth it at that point.

[applesRyummy]

Can you mine bitcoins to an address where you only got the public key?
If only i had the private key i would maybe pay like 101 BTC for 100 BTC mined to my address.
So yes there could be a market  

You only need the address for mining not the private key. The problem is that most mining pools do not disperse shares directly from the generation (coinbase) transaction, so for most pools you would get some mix of non-virgin coins. As mentioned above Eligius and P2pool both directly split the coinbase into shares paid. The downside is this takes 120 confirmations before they can be spent (unless that was changed, I haven't really followed it). In any case whether you or someone else mines the coins go to an address provided.

If you wanted to provide a service providing virgin coins then you would accept a customer's address and mine to that address for them. If you wanted to pre-mine such that they can just buy them (without waiting) then they have to trust you as any split key method would requires they provide a public key such that you generate a shared private key that is trustworthy. In which case why not just mine to their address.

I believe it is actually 100 confirmations now, but this is not the point. You always need to have the block "mature" before the mined coins can be spent, this will always be the case.

There is already somewhat of a market for this, is is leased mining hashpower. See betarigs.com and leaserigs.net - you can "rent" other people's miners to be used at the pool of your choice.

[ticoti]

is there any parsing way to see "virgin" bitcoins?

[jamesg]

is there any parsing way to see "virgin" bitcoins?

https://blockchain.info/block/00000000839a8e6886ab5951d76f411475428afc90947ee320161bbf18eb6048

"No Inputs (Newly Generated Coins)"

[mb300sd]

I have approx 300 eligius coins, willing to sell.

[AaronCraig]

I hope something like this never catches on, it would ruin the fungibility of Bitcoin, and would disqualify it from ever being called money.

[Soros Shorts]

I have approx 300 eligius coins, willing to sell.

Are these technically any different from p2pool coins? I have a quite a bit of those. I don't think there is a premium for fractional block virgin coins though.

[jbreher]

I hope something like this never catches on, it would ruin the fungibility of Bitcoin, and would disqualify it from ever being called money.

Nonsense. Like other virgins, they don't regrow their hymen. Once transferred, they are no longer virgin, and therefore their previous virgin status is irrelevant. Their unique value proposition is destroyed upon the first transfer.

[JWU42]

I hope something like this never catches on, it would ruin the fungibility of Bitcoin, and would disqualify it from ever being called money.

Nonsense. Like other virgins, they don't regrow their hymen. Once transferred, they are no longer virgin, and therefore their previous virgin status is irrelevant. Their unique value proposition is destroyed upon the first transfer.

To maintain virgin status that is why the privkey would be transferred and not the coins.

[paulsonnumismatics]

Hello Bitcoin Community,
I would like to discuss the topic of "virgin" bitcoins. Specifically, I would like to discuss the possibilities of being able to purchase a private key to coins mined directly to paper wallets.
I've always found this topic to be interesting and I look forward to your responses.

Best,
James

I will contact Sir Richard Branson. If he has awaken with the right feet that morning, he could jump on it. And Virgin Empire adopting BTC...
This could be the start of a very crazy, headline-filled , super funny story. 

[jbreher]

I hope something like this never catches on, it would ruin the fungibility of Bitcoin, and would disqualify it from ever being called money.

Nonsense. Like other virgins, they don't regrow their hymen. Once transferred, they are no longer virgin, and therefore their previous virgin status is irrelevant. Their unique value proposition is destroyed upon the first transfer.

To maintain virgin status that is why the privkey would be transferred and not the coins.

And the trust factor is why the privates should not be shared - especially for virgins.

Amidst the slightly obscured truism, there is a funny anecdote lurking, but I can't quite tease it out.

[Jeramom]

I know a person that mines specifically for this purpose.

[digitizedcurrency2010]

I have approx 300 eligius coins, willing to sell.

How many would be you willing to sell and where are you located ?

[JWU42]

A friendly bump back from the dead 

Curious if opinions have changed and whether a market exists today.

[jbreher]

A friendly bump back from the dead 

Curious if opinions have changed and whether a market exists today.

Sure. I'd be interested, but how to accomplish it?

I'd be willing to deposit oh... say... 13.5 BTC with a trustable escrow of mutual choosing. Release to miner upon block solved with coinbase block reward to that address. Release back to me as to null and void if unfulfilled by the block halving. All address and other details to remain private, known only to miner, escrow, and me.

[JWU42]

I was speaking of this in the past tense - blocks already mined.

[jbreher]

I was speaking of this in the past tense - blocks already mined.

There is no way to transfer existing virgin coins unless one is willing to put full trust in the source not to spend them out from underneath. Even the scheme I list above requires putting trust in the source not to reveal the address or other parts of the transaction.